Director of Missouri’s Department of Insurance, Financial Institutions and Professional Registration (“DIFP”), Chlora Lindley-Myers, oversees the regulating and monitoring of insurance activities, companies, and agents in Missouri. She was appointed on April 13, 2017. Within the DIFP, the Division of Consumer Affairs (“DCA”) serves as a resource to Missouri consumers by providing consumers with insurance related information and the investigation of consumer complaints against insurance companies and producers for most types of insurance. DCA provides responses to insurance-related questions and complaints, assistance in resolving complaints, and assistance to Missouri consumers in understanding their options in handling insurance-related matters.
When things go wrong with your insurance company and/or insurance agent(s), Missouri consumers can file a complaint in English or Spanish or by filing out a copy of the Complaint Form and mailing or faxing it to DIFP at:
Missouri DIFP
PO Box 690
Jefferson City, MO 65102
800-726-7390
573-751-2640
TDD: 573-526-4536
The Missouri Consumer Complaint Form requires consumers to provide contact information and requests insurance policy information, related complaints with other agencies, and a narrative about the complaint against your insurance company and/or agent. DIFP also recommends and requests that consumers provide supporting documentation about their complaint. Examples of supporting documentation may include a copy of your insurance policy(ies) and written communications with your insurance company or agent(s). DIFP also provides a list of what it can and cannot do in the insurance complaints process. On the Insurance Complaints weblink, DIFP states the following:
Another DIFP tool to assist consumers is the Consumer Complaint Index (“Complaint Index”), which presents consumers with data on complaints against insurance companies received by DIFP. On April 16, 2019, DIFP released the Complaint Index for 2018. Between 2016 and 2018, DIFP received nearly 8,000 consumer complaints and the most common complaint was claim denials or other issues arising from the claim settlement process.
The department makes this information publicly available in part as a consumer tool to assist in choosing an insurance provider. The complaint index provides comparison of the ratio of complaints to premium sales to the industry average for each insurance company. Companies with a complaint index of 100% or more shows that the department received more complaints than the industry average for that company. Companies with a complaint index of less than 100 % had fewer complaints filed against them than industry average and companies with a complaint index of 100 % were on par with the industry average. For questions about the Complaint Index, Missouri consumers can call DIFP’s Insurance Consumer Hotline at 800-726-7390 or visit insurance.mo.gov.
The Missouri Department of Insurance, Financial Institutions and Professional Registration provides consumers with tools when things go wrong with their insurance company or agent. However, If you are not certain of your insurance claim rights or if you have questions about your policy benefits, please do not hesitate to call Merlin Law Group attorneys.
