An investigation by Attorney General Mike Hatch's office of an insurance company seeks to learn whether several well-known Minnesota companies were overcharged millions of dollars for policies.
Hatch filed papers in Ramsey County District Court on Tuesday requesting records from London-based Willis Group Holdings, which acts as a middleman between insurance buyers and insurance sellers.
Hatch said the company has refused to provide the records he needs to determine whether the broker scammed corporate customers out of millions of dollars through undisclosed fees and commissions and rigged bids on insurance coverage.
"You're dealing with big bucks and the big dogs," Hatch said. "We're not suing them for fraud -- yet."
A lawyer representing Willis, Richard Pepperman II, had no comment, and the company's corporate headquarters in New York accused Hatch of making "inflammatory and inaccurate statements."
"We made several attempts to discuss the scope of the attorney general's request, which seek extremely voluminous information on a global basis within a short time frame," Willis said in a prepared statement. "In every other state that has made similar requests for information, the regulatory or governmental agencies have been willing to discuss the terms of their requests. This is the first time any authority has ignored our requests for a dialogue or expressed dissatisfaction with Willis' cooperation."
Willis is considered the third-largest insurance broker in the United States. Companies hire Willis to shop for insurance quotes.
According to Hatch's office, Willis received $81.2 million in contingent commissions just from insurance companies that sold coverage to the top 25 Minnesota clients of Willis North America Inc. and Willis of Minnesota Inc. between 2002 and 2004.
Hatch said other attorney generals are looking into the business, but he is the first to take the company to court.
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
