Winter storm watch -- and info on how to file auto insurance claims

A winter storm watch is in effect from Wednesday morning through Thursday morning for much of western Washington, with snow accumulations of up to 6 inches possible.

Anyone who lives in Puget Sound knows that much-feared snowstorms sometimes turn out to be, well, just more rain. But if this one turns out to be real, and west-siders are trying to drive around in it, here's a link to keep handy. It's our page about how auto insurance claims work -- diminished value, repairs using aftermarket parts,  rental cars, deciding who's at fault, etc.

Also: Many school districts in Washington state use schoolreport.org to put out information on school closures.

Drive carefully.

White Swan fire victims: We may be able to help you with insurance claims

On Saturday, a wind-whipped blaze tore through the town of White Swan, southwest of Yakima, torching 18 homes and leaving 120 people homeless.

If you're one of those families and you had insurance, our office may be able to help. We're the state agency that regulates insurance in Washington state, and we have a toll-free consumer hotline where analysts can help any Washingtonian with insurance questions or problems.

If claims are wrongly denied or delayed, we can contact insurers on your behalf and try to resolve the situation quickly.Call us at 1-800-562-6900 or send an e-mail to AskMike@oic.wa.gov.

If you'd like to help the White Swan families, MSNBC has put together a list of local donation sites. Any Bank of America branch can also accept donations in the name of the "White Swan Relief Fund."

Important note to agents, brokers, insurers and insurance educators

Our office recently adopted new rules that  affect licensees (like agents and brokers), insurance companies, and people who provide insurance continuing education and pre-licensing education.

Under these new rules, licensing must be done online. Licensees must provide a valid e-mail address, which will be the point of contact for all communication from our office, including renewal notices. We will no longer be printing and mailing licensing documents, such as appointments, affliations, etc.

Here's the timeline:

• For licensees (like agents and brokers, which are now known as producers), renewals and applications must be done online starting June 1, 2011.

• For insurance companies, new appointments, appointment renewals and appointment terminations must be done online starting May 1, 2011.

• For insurance education providers, all education courses submitted for our approval must be sent in electronic format (such as an e-mail attachment), starting Feb. 28, 2011.

For more details, please see our "new online licensing rules" page.

Job openings

We have three jobs -- two non-permanent positions, and one project position funded by a federal grant -- that we're trying to fill:

• Communications Consultant 4: This is a project position funded by federal grant dollars from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The project is expected to end on Oct. 15, 2011. The person will work with our consumer protection staffers to develop and manage communication strategies, techniques and tools. The work includes a variety of projects, all of which involve translating complicated health insurance information into materials that can be understood by an average consumers. For more information, see the job listing. Applications will be accepted through Feb. 28, 2011.

• Health Insurance Advisor 1 - Regional Trainer (non-permanent): We're looking for someone who's bilingual in Korean and English to help provide training and technical assistance to volunteer health insurance benefit advisors in Clallam, Jefferson, King, Kitsap, Snohomish and Pierce counties. For details, here's the job listing. Note: The application period ends Friday afternoon.

• Forms and Records Analyst 2 (non-permanent). Among other tasks, this person will act as a publications liaison between a health insurance advisory program and the state Department of Printing. For more details, salary information, etc., here's the job listing. Note: This application period also ends Friday afternoon.

Wind gusts tonight in western WA

Weather Underground is predicting gusts of up to 45 miles an hour in Seattle this evening.

To answer common questions about what storm damage is covered by insurance, we built a web page largely devoted to wind damage and insurance.

Hope you don't need it, but if you do, it may help. (And yes, that ladder doesn't look too safe to us, either.)

"I'm self-employed. How can I get `Group of 1" health coverage?"



We get this question all the time. And we've got an answer for you.

First, a little background: Last year, a new state law law took effect that allows sole proprietors to be considered "groups of 1." This way, they can qualify for small-group health coverage, instead of having to find coverage on the individual market. Small-group tends to have better benefits, lower costs, and no health screening.

To find out who's selling these policies in your area, type in your zip code here and scroll down the page to see a list of insurers, contact information and tips on picking plans. For more information, you can also contact an insurance agent or broker. Here's an online tool to help you find an agent in your city.

Health carrier cutting your commission? Thinking of charging fees?

We've gotten a lot of calls over the past few weeks from agents and brokers deeply unhappy that their commissions are being reduced -- or eliminated completely -- by some insurers.

We've also been asked whether fees can be charged directly to the consumer instead.

For more on this, click here.