AIG settlement will send $159K to state

Insurer AIG has agreed to pay Hawaii, eight other states and the District of Columbia $12.5 million to resolve charges that some of the company's subsidiaries engaged in price fixing.

State officials say Hawaii would receive $159,000 from AIG, which would go into the general fund. They say the state's share is based on premiums generated in Hawaii and is lower than other states' shares.

How much has been paid to individual casualty insurance customers in not known, officials with the Hawaii Attorney General's Office said.

Deputy Attorney General Rodney Kimura said negotiations had been going on for about a year, after AIG, formally American International Group, reached a settlement with the state of New York.

As part of the $12.5 million settlement with nine states and the District of Columbia, AIG admits to none of the allegations but avoids protracted litigation. It also agrees to prohibitions intended to prevent future marketplace abuses, subject to court supervision and enforcement by the state, for 10 years.

The lawsuit claimed that commercial insurance brokers colluded among a group of insurance carriers, including AIG, to steer business toward the preferred insurers in exchange for commission payments.

The suit lists 19 insurance companies that are part of AIG's insurer lists that sell commercial insurance in Hawaii, including AIG Casualty Co. and AIG Excess Liability Insurance Co. Ltd.

After the New York case, the 10 other plaintiffs are Hawaii, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, West Virginia and Washington, D.C.