Texas Insurance Complaints Lowest in 7 Years, Trade Group Says

Information obtained from the Consumer Protection division of the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) shows the number of consumer complaints with insurance companies is the lowest since 1999, the Insurance Council of Texas reported. Insurance complaints in Texas have come down every year since 2003.

Health insurance led the list among consumer complaints. TDI complaint figures show there were 13,185 closed complaints in fiscal year 2006 with health insurers, compared with 7,098 auto complaints and 3,739 homeowner complaints. There were 1,516 consumer complaints with life insurers.

“This year’s number of property and casualty complaints represents less than one percent of consumers who were dissatisfied with the handling of their claim,” said Mark Hanna, a spokesman for the Insurance Council of Texas. “This also means that there were 1.3 million Texans or 99.2 percent of policyholders who had no complaint with their personal auto or residential homeowner claims. This clearly shows that agents and companies are continuing to do a good job in handling the needs of their policyholders.”

Hanna said the industry knows that educating policyholders is the key to fewer complaints. “We can’t emphasize enough that every policyholder should have a clear understanding of what coverage they have and turn to their agent or insurance company for advice.”

The Insurance Council of Texas makes a concentrated effort in educating consumers on the various coverages offered in property and casualty policies. This summer, representatives from the Insurance Council of Texas joined TDI, the American Red Cross and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) discussed insurance in stops at every city along the Texas coast. Representatives reached consumers through civic organizations as well as newspapers and radio and television stations by explaining the various homeowner coverages and learning more about their existing policies by contacting their agents and companies.

ICT also offers Texans advice on everything from conducting home inventories to preparing for catastrophes on its Web site at www.insurancecouncil.org/consumertips.asp. An ICT video, Auto Insurance 101, gives consumers a clear understanding of auto insurance as well as how to file a complaint. The 18-minute video can be downloaded at www.insurancecouncil.org/consumertips.asp#49.

TDI’s Total # of Complaint Cases Closed

1997 17,650
1998 18,829
2000 28,005
2001 28,996
2002 34,364
2003 41,294
2004 29,505
2005 24,132
2006 24,122

Source: Insurance Council of Texas