California Company Ordered to Stop Selling Illegal Vehicle Service Contracts

Washington state Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler has ordered a California-based warranty company to stop selling unauthorized vehicle service contracts in Washington.

Consumer Direct Warranty Services Inc., of Redding, Calif. was ordered to cease and desist “engaging in or transacting the unauthorized business of insurance in the state of Washington,” including advertising, the Office of the Insurance Commissioner said.

Kreidler’s office has received complaints about vehicle service contracts sold by the company, which has not registered as a motor vehicle service contract provider in the state. Neither the company nor any of the other parties listed in the order are licensed to sell insurance products in Washington.

The order also names three other companies and four individuals believed to be affiliated with Consumer Direct Warranty Services, including:

• Warranty Administration Services, Inc.
• Warranty Administration Solutions, Inc.
• SafeData Management Services, Inc. and
• Robert L. Chapman, James C. Sletner, Jennifer Shaw and Tamara Berbena.

All are based in Redding, except Berbena, who lives in Red Bluff, Calif.

The companies were also ordered to turn over a complete list of their Washington service-contract customers, and to notify those customers about the order.

Under Washington state law, the order notes, anyone selling unauthorized insurance in the state remains “individually liable for the performance of the contract and for the full amount of any loss sustained by an insured under such contract.”

Source: OIC