October 4, 2018

OLYMPIA, Wash. – Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler is warning Washington state consumers that the NRA-branded Carry Guard liability insurance policies are a bad deal.

“These policies are a rip-off for consumers,” Kreidler said. “These are highly suspect policies. The primary beneficiary of these seems to be nothing other than the bank account of the NRA.”

Since the product became available in April 2017, a total of 811 policies have been sold to Washington consumers for nearly $260,000. To date, 255 of these consumers have canceled their policies and no claims have been made in the state.

Nationally, the insurer of the policies has paid less than 1 cent in claims for every dollar collected in premiums in 2017 and 2018, according to figures provided to Kreidler’s office.

An agreement amended in December 2017 notes that Lockton Affinity, a licensed insurance producer, agreed to pay the NRA royalties of $2.4 million, or $600,000 a month, through March 2018 for use of the organization’s trademarks and member mailing lists. In addition, the NRA gets a percentage of the premiums and profits. Exact figures on the NRA’s profits will be provided to Kreidler later this month.

“This is very much a case of buyer beware,” Kreidler said. “Consumers need to thoroughly check any type of insurance policy offered them to determine if it has real value and protection, or if it’s junk. This product branded by the NRA obviously benefits several parties financially, but the policies are highly questionable and an extremely poor value for consumers.”

The policies for the Carry Guard program are underwritten through a subsidiary of Chubb Ltd. The company will stop issuing policies in October 2019.

Kreidler ordered an investigation in 2017 and required the NRA in April 2018 to cease and desist selling in Washington four Carry Guard liability insurance products that were offered on its website. The NRA solicited the policies without an insurance producer license, a violation of state law. Kreidler’s order resulted from a consumer complaint.

The NRA made changes to its marketing website in Washington to address Kreidler’s concerns.

Kreidler’s investigation into whether the product violates state law is continuing.

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