The car insurance industry is a consumer-oriented industry. While it may be seen as a numbers game of statistics and data for accidents, driving habits, geographic regions, etc., the bottom line is the consumer. After all, a company can’t issue car insurance policies if it has no customers. The existence of the car insurance complaint may serve to reinforce this philosophy. If a customer is dissatisfied with the service they received at the hands of their insurance carrier, one of their options is to file a complaint with their state’s insurance commissioner.
A car insurance complaint can arise for a number of reasons. An insurance carrier may have provided substandard service to a customer. If the result is the customer’s frustration, it may be channeled to the state insurance commissioner in the form of a complaint. A complaint could also arise from a customer’s dissatisfaction with the manner in which the insurance carrier may have resolved a claim-or failed to resolve a claim. If a customer had undergone extensive medical treatment following a car accident and then found that the carrier determined that the bills should not be paid, such an instance could be grounds for filing a complaint with the state commissioner of the insurance. Keep in mind that it is not the “commissioner” who reads each complaint. A customer’s complaint is likely to arrive on the desk of a customer service rep at the insurance department. The customer service rep will review and analyze the complaint. Therefore, it is important for a customer to draft a complaint in an organized and well-written fashion. The complaint should outline the who, what, where, when and how aspects of the matter being complained about. The “what” of the complaint should factually describe the event which acted as a catalyst for the complaint. Customers should keep in mind that there may be certain timelines for submitting complaints. And even in states that may not impose strict timetables, if a complaint is not filed within a reasonable time, it could lose credibility.
The insurance department will review a customer’s complaint and determine what action, if any, should be taken. One possibility for those filing a complaint would be to contact the insurance carrier and inquire about the grounds for making a decision. However, many complaints never even make it that far. Sometimes a customer will file a complaint because they are dissatisfied with the determination of an insurance carrier on a claim. However, if the determination has been made based on logical reasoning, the complaint could fall flat since it is not a carrier’s duty to handle claims in a manner that always leaves everyone satisfied in the end.
