Updated: 3/10/2010 12:42:55 PM Posted: 3/9/2010 5:38:41 PM
CLEVELAND -- The insurance industry depends on reliability and accuracy.
But a lack of those qualities resulted in a letter being wrongly sent to about 132,000 Ohio insurance agents, telling them "your license is suspended."
Some agents were alarmed.
Parma agent Bob Durante said, "You really don't need to get that kind of letter...a lot of people spilled coffee that morning."
Durante called the state's Department of Insurance to make sure he was in good standing.
Some agents were confident it was a mistake.
"We keep track of our continuing education. We have to. It's our living," Germana said.
The mistaken letters came from Prometric. Prometric is a giant private company that gives, scores and tracks tests and classes for government agencies.
The first part of the letter tallied up class-hours for agents and commended them for meeting their obligation. Agents must take 20 hours of classes over two years to retain their license.
The second part of the letter told agents their license is suspended, because they have not met class requirements.
Huh?
More than 140,000 letters went out. Only 8,600 should have.
Prometric blames the problem on the printing company it uses.
"An honest mistake," Insurance Department spokesman Jarrett Dunbar calls it.
Apology postcards from Prometric and the Insurance Department are in the mail, telling agents who wrongly got the letter that their licenses are valid.
Prometric also used insurance professional groups to reach agents and explain what happened. It's absorbing the cost of this embarrassing, paper-wasting mistake.
What if agents made a mistake like this with clients they insure?
"If you bought an insurance policy from me, you'd expect me to send a policy that had your correct name on it. We'd be in a lot of trouble, "Bob Durante said.
If you are an agent and have questions about your license status, you can call Prometric at 1-800-532-2170 or the Insurance Department's licensing division at 1-614-728-5860.
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