State Auto Insurance Regulators Reclaimed Millions for Consumers in 2010

Missouri’s Department of Insurance (DOI) recently announced that it reclaimed a total of nearly $9.5 million dollars on the behalf of insurance policyholders in 2010. Regulators recovered the sum while acting as a mediator between Missouri insurers and consumers who had filed complaints against their carriers. 

A total of 4,200 formal complaints were filed with the state’s department last year. The majority of them were related either to denial of claims (1,077), delays in the processing of claims (816), and dissatisfaction with settlement offers from insurers (462).

Health care providers saw the most grievances filed against them, while auto insurance providers had the second largest amount. A total of 956 formal complaints were filed against auto carriers.

An example of the regulators helping a policyholder resolve their dispute with a car insurance company in Missouri was one woman’s reporting to the department that her carrier had wrongfully denied her accident claim. The insurer said they had done so because the policyholder had failed to make one of her premium payments, and her policy was consequently canceled the day before the accident took place. With the department’s help as an objective mediator, it was discovered that the woman had in fact paid her premiums, but that the sum had been misapplied. “The company agreed to pay the claim and cover damages and a rental car — for $9,000,” according to the DOI.

Source: http://www.insurance.mo.gov/


To learn more about car coverage issues and news, readers can go to http://www.onlineautoinsurance.com/missouri/ where visitors will find informative resource pages and a free-to-use quote-comparison generator that can help consumers track down the lowest rates for coverage.