CRACKDOWN ON AGENTS IN LA.

The Louisiana Department of Insurance Fraud Unit investigators served cease and desist and summary suspension orders to licensed insurance agent Tommy Ray Dean of Shreveport, the day after the department served a C&D and summary suspension to Melisa Lynne Blaisdell and Blaisdell Clarius & Associates Inc. in Alexandria. The insurance department alleged that in one instance Dean accepted $8,467.38 from a Shreveport business and then issued two bogus certificates of insurance as proof of coverage without remitting the money to the company or returning it to the business. The department alleges that Dean also accepted $1,206.00 from another business owner, and again did not turn the money overt to the insurance company or return it to the business. In addition, the C&D names a number of other persons or businesses who have been issued bogus certificates of insurance coverage by Dean since April of 2001. Melisa Lynne Blaisdell and Blaisdell Clarius & Associates were accused of collecting premium payments for a number of insurance companies and failing to remit the premiums to the companies. Blaisdell cooperated with the investigators’ request to examine agency records. According to the department, after one company terminated her authority to conduct any kind of business for it, Blaisdell allegedly continued to collect money for new policies and to accept renewal premiums as an agent for that company. In another case, she allegedly remitted the collected premiums only after the insured contacted the company. Some companies are apparently still waiting to receive thousands of dollars that customers paid her for premiums. Blaisdell is the officer and controlling person in Blaisdell Clarius & Associates, which has been licensed as a property and casualty insurance agency since 1993 and is sometimes known as Blaisdell & Clarius Insurance Agency or Blaisdell & Clarius Insurance Services. Anyone who has information regarding possible fraudulent activities on the part of either Tommy Ray Dean or Melisa Lynne Blaisdell should contact the Louisiana Department of Insurance Fraud Unit at (800) 259-5300 or (225) 342-4956 as soon as possible. Upon request, communication with the Fraud Unit will be kept confidential.

Topics Fraud Agencies Louisiana