WA Insurance Commissioner Kreidler Urged to Resign After Abuse Allegations

Normally the office of Insurance Commissioner in a state is like the Secretary of State. A quiet, ho-hum job. But not in WA.

 Insurance Commissioner Kreidler pressed to resign after staff allegations

Mike Kreidler has held the position for nearly two decades in WA, he was re-elected in 2020 by a wide margin, but that was before he became controversially politically 'active.'

Recently, abuse allegations have surfaced from current and former staffers, who claim Kreidler "had engaged in a pattern of abusive behavior. One former employee claimed that Kreidler’s office has been in “disarray,” while another spoke of “many instances of bad behavior.”  (Northwest News). 

Kreidler has gone from being known as a tough toe-to-toe opponent of insurance companies to someone who perhaps overstepped his boundaries when it comes to political activism.

Kreidler, who is NOT a licensed insurance agent (several Mid-Columbia agents told us that) is behind the controversial attempted ban on credit-based insurance scoring.

For decades, study after study has shown insurance customers who have good credit, higher-paying jobs, are financially responsible, and don't have a criminal record are far less likely to file claims.  This system usually saves lots of money for responsible people, especially drivers. Kreidler demanded that 'safer' more financially stable drivers should have to offset the higher costs of lower-income higher-risk motorists as part of his social justice crusade. 

 Kreidler joined the social justice bandwagon over the last 18 months.

However, Kreidler, perhaps at Gov. Inslee's bidding the last 18 months, decided credit-based scoring was discriminatory and racist. His attempt to have this practice banned ended badly for him when a judge threw out his ban--which was enacted without voter or legislative approval. 

Kreidler has also taken positions that from his position as Insurance Commissioner, has no real business commenting on or attempting to influence policy.

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Now, he's in hot water again. According to MyNorthwest.com and Northwest News Network, a former worker said about his treatment of subordinates:

“I’m talking about meanness, deliberately cutting people down publicly to humiliate them, not letting bygones be bygones..."

Kreidler issued a statement of apology, but Republicans have been calling for him to resign even last year after he compared Texas Republicans to the Taliban for their passage of restrictive abortion law.