Office of Insurance Commissioner recovered $11.3 million for consumers in 2016

An OIC consumer advocate helps a caller
with an insurance question.
Photo courtesy OIC

From the Office of the Insurance Commissioner

A big part of what we do is to help protect consumers from financial harm.

In 2016, our consumer advocates:

• Fielded 7,195 consumer complaints and helped recover $11.3 million for consumers. 
• Answered 67,405 calls to our consumer hotline. 
• Responded to 5,449 written inquiries from consumers. 
• Responded to 1,676 consumers via our live-chat feature on our website, which started in March. 
• Mailed 1,905 insurance publications to consumers who requested them. 

 Our consumer advocates can help you:

• Answer questions about home, auto, health, life, annuities, business and other insurance. 
• Understand your insurance rights, including your health insurance appeal rights and the process. 
• Look into complaints against insurance companies. 
• Find information about your insurance options. 
• Verify if an agent, agency, or company is authorized to sell insurance in Washington state. We share information of interest to insurance consumers on this blog and through our social media channels. Many of our blog posts are generated by questions we field from consumers. 

More resources for consumers:

• Reach us by phone at 1-800-562-6900 or online. 
• File a complaint against an insurance company or agent. 
• Read more about consumer advocacy at OIC. 
• Read more about your insurance, including home, life, auto, health, annuities and business.