Video: State investigates insurance company for unpaid refund

Larger screen

SEATTLE – Washington state insurance investigators are looking to see if a company called Heritage should have been writing certain policies after customers started complaining when repair work or refunds went unpaid.

"This is my home away from home. This keeps us out of the weather and I take very good care of this baby," said Ron Suslick about his RV.

The Tacoma man says he was able to buy a little bit of insurance for the RV in the form of a $2,400 service contract from Heritage. If anything went wrong, it would only cost Ron $50 to fix his baby.

"This warranty was supposed to cover everything except tires and brakes," said Ron.

If he made it seven years without using the policy, Ron could get his money back.

Well, time’s up.

The policy’s been unused.

And that promised money back?

It never came.

When Ron called us, we went straight to the state insurance commissioner’s office in Olympia. They told us they’re not even sure Heritage’s policies are legal.

"Service contracts, by law, have to be backed up by an insurance company authorized to do business in this state and that's something else we're looking at to make sure the company was actually authorized to sell the products in Washington state," said insurance commissioner spokeswoman Stephanie Marquis.

She says they need help from anyone else who’s had problems with Heritage.

"We actually need to hear from the consumers and see their contracts," said Marquis.

We’ve also learned that the state of South Carolina, where Heritage is based, has found hundreds of people like Ron who have complained about paying lots of money and getting nothing in return.

"I have given it to you in good faith and you have not given back to me in good faith," said Ron.

We contacted Heritage, and next thing you know, Ron got a partial payment of $1,000. That’s still $1,400 shy of what the policy said.

KING 5 will stay on the case, but now that state investigators are involved, there may be more money coming Ron’s way.

If you have a consumer concern, call Jesse Jones toll-free at 866-51-JESSE or e-mail him at getjesse@king5.com.