Washington Insurance (WA)

Washingtonians held 1.8 million ordinary life insurance policies with a total face value of $181.0 billion in 2001. Total value for all categories of life insurance (ordinary, group, industrial, and credit) was $323.5 billion. Death benefits paid that year totaled $729.2 million. As of 2000, there were 26 property and casualty and 14 life and health insurance companies incorporated or organized in the state. In 2001, property and casualty insurers wrote over $6.5 billion in premiums. That year, there were 27,083 flood insurance policies in force in the state, with a total value of $3.7 million.

The Office of the Insurance Commissioner and State Fire Marshal regulates insurance company operations, reviews insurance policies and rates, and examines and licenses agents and brokers. It also conducts fire safety inspections in hospitals, nursing homes, and other facilities, investigates fires of suspicious origin, and regulates the manufacture, sale, and public display of fireworks.