Consumer Complaints on Homeowner / Renter Insurance
Try solving the dispute yourself Insurance is a very competitive business. If you give the company a chance, you will generally find folks are willing if not eager to straighten out problems. • Start with the agent. • If not satisfied, contact the company’s customer service office or claims office; most likely it’s a toll-free number. • If customer service or the claims office falls short of your expectations, ask to speak with a supervisor about the company's procedure for resolving disputes. If you’re still not satisfied, call the Ohio Department of Insurance If your self-help efforts fail, your next stop should be the Consumer Services Division of the Ohio Department of Insurance (ODI). ODI & complaints • If your issue requires follow up with the company, we’ll send you a complaint form and instructions for filing a written complaint. • We generally will send the company a copy of your complaint and ask them to resolve it or explain their side of the story. • By law, companies must respond to the Department of Insurance — most companies do so in a timely manner. • We will review all the facts to make sure the company has upheld its contract with you and has followed insurance rules and laws. Counting complaints In 2007, ODI received a total of 792 complaints about homeowner / renter insurance from Ohio consumers. • If your complaint raises questions that cause us to contact the agent or company, we will register it in our computer as a “complaint.” • A complaint means a customer has been unhappy with the company or agent. • It does not necessarily mean the law has been broken or that anyone did anything wrong. Company complaint records — 2007 The next page shows complaint records for home insurance companies. The “complaint ratio” column can help you make apples-toapples comparisons. Complaint ratio example: if a company's complaint ratio is 1.0, it had one complaint for every $1 million in written premium. The lower the complaint ratio, the better.
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Insurance dispute tip
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2007 Home / Renter Insurance Consumer Complaint Statistics
Total number: In 2007, consumer complaints on home insurance received by the Ohio Department of Insurance... Total number: In 2007, authorized companies that wrote home insurance premiums in Ohio... Total number: In 2007, authorized companies having home insurance complaints... Total number: In 2007, complaints about home insurance involving authorized companies … Total number: In 2007, home insurers that had at least ten complaints…
792
329
113
702
17
Top 10 Reasons for Home Insurance Complaints in 2007
Reason Complaints 1. Claim denial 250 2. Claim / settlement delay 170 3. Unsatisfactory claim / settlement offer 157 4. Coverage / policy cancellation or non-renewal 81 5. Marketing / sales misrepresentation 31 6. Premium amount / rating issues 24 7. Premium refund due, but not paid 20 8. Premium notice / billing issues 3 9. Premium payment not credited 2 10. Policy delivery 2 >> Total complaints represented by the above Top 10 reasons = 740 >> Represents 93% of the 792 total home insurance complaint reasons registered in 2007
2007 Home & Renters Insurance Consumer Complaint Ratios
Notes: Includes every company that received at least six complaints about home & renters insurance in 2007 Market Share is the company's percentage of Ohio's total written home & renters premium in 2007 Complaint Ratio is a comparison of the company's written home & renters premium and complaints in 2007 We've shortened company names by omitting words like Insurance and Company Home & Renters Insurers (in alphabetical order)
Allstate Ind Co Allstate Ins Co American Family Ins Co Auto Owners Ins Co Cincinnati Ins Co Erie Ins Exch Farmers Ins Of Columbus Inc Grange Mut Cas Co Homesite Ins Co Of The Midwest Liberty Mut Fire Ins Co Metropolitan Prop & Cas Ins Co Motorists Mut Ins Co Nationwide Mut Fire Ins Co Nationwide Mut Ins Co Nationwide Prop & Cas Ins Co Ohio Cas Ins Co Ohio Mut Ins Co Standard Fire Ins Co State Automobile Mut Ins Co State Farm Fire And Cas Co Western Reserve Mut Cas Co Westfield Ins Co Westfield Natl Ins Co Total Carriers Above / 2007 All Ohio H & R Carriers / 2007 Above Carriers Percent of All H & R Carriers / 2007
Ohio Written Home Premium $
$97,577,373 $76,090,009 $50,284,204 $44,020,702 $106,838,055 $71,702,181 $27,462,500 $119,934,211 $6,129,400 $46,956,289 $16,956,326 $62,299,658 $83,169,942 $59,309,839 $60,561,129 $1,565,134 $ , , $10,888,430 $32,999,151 $55,835,357 $424,635,296 $14,950,349 $32,689,739 $60,395,441 $1,563,250,715 $2,262,256,363 69.10%
Ohio Market Share %
4.31% 3.36% 2.22% 1.95% 4.72% 3.17% 1.21% 5.30% 0.27% 2.08% 0.75% 2.75% 3.68% 2.62% 2.68% 0.07% 0.48% 1.46% 2.47% 18.77% 0.66% 1.45% 2.67% 69.10% 100.0%
Complaint Ratio
0.50 0.46 0.72 0.39 0.14 0.46 0.58 0.18 2.45 0.51 0.35 0.27 0.40 0.15 0.33 5.11 0.73 0.33 0.25 0.26 0.60 0.34 0.12 0.34 0.31
Total Complaints
49 35 36 17 15 33 16 22 15 24 6 17 33 9 20 8 8 11 14 110 9 11 7 525 702 74.79%