Garamendi Bans 6 Out-of-State Insurance Companies

Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi announced Tuesday that six out-of-state companies that were poorly financed and unlicensed in California have been banned from doing business in the state.

In a related move, Garamendi said he began the process of revoking the license of Raymond Stanley Cowan, a licensed broker who sold thousands of uninsured policies from the banned companies to Californians.

The actions are in line with Garamendi’s stated goal to crack down on fly-by-night insurers since he became California’s first elected insurance commissioner two years ago.

The companies banned Tuesday are West Point Insurance Co. of the West Indies; MacGregor General Insurance Co., formerly Kingham Atlantic National Insurance Co., of the British West Indies; Mabuse Insurance of Uruguay, formerly Universal Security Insurance of the British Virgin Islands; West Arrow Insurance of Uruguay, formerly Criterion Casualty Co. of the British Virgin Islands; Old American Insurance Co. in the British West Indies, and Anchorage Fire & Casualty, also of the British West Indies.

Garamendi’s office estimated that the six companies sold policies totaling “tens of millions of dollars.” One firm, Old American Insurance, took in $2.8 million from state policyholders in 1991 alone.