Insurer Complaint Data Released by Missouri Insurance Depart

The Missouri Department of Insurance's annual complaint index report has been posted at the department's Web site, insurance.mo.gov, under the Information About Insurers section. Users can search more than 10,000 complaints against more than 600 insurance companies doing business in Missouri since 2006.

Each company listed in the department's online database is assigned a complaint index number. The complaint index helps to explain whether a company has a high, average or low volume of complaints for a company its size. A complaint index of 100 is average. An index of less than 100 means a company receives fewer complaints than average; an index of above 100 means a company receives more complains than average.

The searchable report shows:

• Complaint index rating for a particular company
  
• Rankings by line of insurance, such as auto, home, life and health
  
• Most common reasons for complaints, such as policy cancellation or denial of claims.

The complaint index measures how many complaints the department received for a consecutive three-year period relative to the amount of product-specific premium a Missouri licensed company experienced that same period. The index is based on all closed complaints received for each type of policy. For instance, if a company issues both homeowners and automobile insurance policies, the data would be segmented into a homeowner complaint index and an automobile complaint index.

The higher the index number, the worse the complaint record:

• 100 percent means that the department received the normally expected number of complaints about that company.
  
• 99 percent or less indicates the company was the subject of less than the normally expected number of complaints.
  
• More than 100 percent shows the department received more than the normally expected number of complaints about that company.

For instance, the report showed the number of complaints and the complaint indexes for the period of 2006 - 2008 for the top five property and casualty insurers in terms of market share was as follows:

• American Family Mutual Insurance Company, 568 complaints, complaint index of 110
  
• State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, 303 complaints, complaint index of 79
  
• State Farm Fire And Casualty Company, 301 complaints, complaint index of 99
  
• Shelter Mutual Insurance Company, 208 complaints, complaint index of 117
  
• Farm Bureau Town & Country Ins Co Of Mo, 170 complaints, complaint index of 212.

The two P/C insurance companies showing the highest complaint indexes also had the lowest market share in the state. Both FFG Insurance Company and Northbrook Indemnity Insurance Company had complaint indexes of 9999, but each also had only two complaints for the time period.

The department encourages consumers to verify through its Web site whether a particular agent or insurance company is licensed to do business in Missouri as required by state law.