Unlicensed insurers ordered out of Nevada malpractice business

Nevada's insurance commissioner has ordered three unlicensed companies to stop selling malpractice insurance in Nevada.

Reliance General Insurance, Physician's Exchange Association and Doctor's Liability Exchange are not licensed to sell insurance in Nevada, according to commissioner Alice Molasky-Arman.

At a March 4 meeting with doctors on the medical malpractice insurance crisis, Molasky-Arman warned she expected opportunistic insurers to try take advantage of the publicity and start contacting doctors with deals on insurance.

"As the cost of insurance rises, unauthorized companies take advantage of customers by selling fraudulent insurance," she said.

She said Reliance General Insurance reportedly sold an unauthorized medical liability policy and that another Nevada physician received information from Doctor's Liability Exchange and Physician's Exchange Association regarding eligibility for insurance.

She said those entities have been ordered to fully disclose the names and addresses of any one they have insured in Nevada, the premiums collected, and to pay state taxes on those premiums.

She warned that consumers who buy policies through unlicensed companies "are very likely to find that they have no coverage when a claim occurs."

She also pointed out that the names of bogus companies are frequently similar to the names used by legitimate organizations.