AutoWarrantyInsight.com » Extended Warranties / Service Contracts

Florida Insurance Commissioner Orders Three Entities to Cease and Desist Sale of Unlicensed Products

Gregg — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 22:24:45 +0000

Florida Insurance Commissioner Orders Three Entities to Cease and Desist Sale of Unlicensed Products

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Contact:

Jack McDermott Brittany Benner
850-413-2515 850-413-2515
Jack.McDermott@floir.com Brittany.Benner@floir.com

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty yesterday announced the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (Office) has issued cease and desist orders to three entities, including their subsidiaries, for the unauthorized sale of warranty products and service agreements. These companies include an order to National Home Protection, an order to Nationwide Home Warranty, and an order to National Automotive Services.

Office investigators determined National Home Protection and Nationwide Home Warranty conducted home and service warranty transactions in Florida without a license. Investigators also found National Automotive Services, Inc. and its subsidiaries (Warranty Financial Inc., Warranty Financial O.R.G. Inc., Warranty U.S.A., and Warranty Services) sold motor vehicle service agreements without a license.

“I commend our investigators for their work in halting the unlicensed sale of warranty products and service agreements in the State of Florida,” remarked Commissioner McCarty. “The Office is committed to protecting Florida consumers from purchasing products that are sold by unlicensed entities that do not comply with Florida law.”

The entities are required to submit letters of certification, within 30 days, stating their company no longer provides services in Florida. The orders also require that the companies honor and fully service all valid claims and fulfill their contractual obligations.

Consumers may determine if an insurer or warranty company is licensed in Florida by visiting the Company Search tool on www.floir.com.

About the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation
The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (Office) has primary responsibility for regulation, compliance and enforcement of statutes related to the business of insurance and the monitoring of industry markets.

###

Heritage Warranty Is In A Legal Tangle With South Carolina

Gregg — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 21:34:41 +0000

Risk Retention Reporter newsletter is reporting that Heritage Warranty is in some kind of legal battle with South Carolina.

In the highlights of their August 2008 issue it mentions that court documentions filed by the director of the South Carolina Department of Insurance in a case against Heritage Warranty RRG (Risk Retention Group) have been sealed.

No other information is available at the moment. If you want to see highlights of the Risk Retention Report article, click here and make certain you’re looking at the highlights for the August 2008 issue.

Attempts to get a comment from either Heritage Warranty and South Carolina Department of Insurance have been fruitless. If someone from either Heritage Warranty RRG or the South Carolina Department of Insurance would like to talk to us to give us their side of the story, just drop us an email so we can talk. Click on the Contact link at the top of the page to find out how to get a hold of us.

Extended Warranty Solicitations

Gregg — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 20:04:55 +0000

The last few months have brought a lot of stories online and on TV about service contract / extended warranty solicitations.

The solicitations are coming in by both phone and in the mailbox. You even get them in your email too but who really gives them a look?

The solicitations usually tell you that your warranty is about to expire and they’re going to offer you a really great deal on a warranty.

Don’t buy into it. They don’t know if your warranty is up or not. They would have to have a great database to pull that information from or get the information from the automaker or dealer and none of that is happening.

No one really seems to have a handle on where they’re coming from but it’s likely from a few to maybe as few as one company responsible for it all.

If you do get solicited for a warranty by phone, you’re better off not answering the phone at all and if you do, just hang up. There’s no reason to listen to someone reading a phone script telling you that you’re warranty is about to expire when your only vehicle is likely well past the warranty period.

You will also want to throw out any of the mailings you get.

It’s unlikely that companies that solicit extended warranty coverage this way will be there for you when the time to make a claim comes.

Report of Heritage Warranty Risk Retention Group assets being seized

Gregg — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 04:06:55 +0000

Automotive News is reporting that the South Carolina Department of Insurance is seizing the assets of Heritage Warranty Risk Retention Group.

No news of this is posted on the South Carolina Department of Insurance web site yet. More to come.

Update 7/28/08: The Automotive News report says that the South Carolina Department of Insurance filed suit against Heriage Warranty Risk Retention Group asking a state court to shut down the company and turn over its property to the Department of Insurance.

I sent an email to Ann Roberson, Public Information Officer for the South Carolina Department of Insurance, asking her if there was any information she could provide me on this. Her response was “I do not have any iinformation regarding your request for information.”

An email to Scott Richardson, Director of the South Carolina Department of Insurance, went unanswered.

The hunt for information goes on.

Update: Read our latest information on Heritage here:

http://www.autowarrantyinsight.com/2008/09/04/heritage-warranty-is-in-a-legal-tangle-with-south-carolina/

Note: I’m seeing a lot of visits from a network that looks like it’s the network for Heritage. I’d appreciate it if someone from Heritage would contact me so some of information I’m hearing can be clarified.