Insurance is a complex purchase — policies are hard to understand, the reputations of insurance companies can be difficult to determine and what exactly you’re paying for isn’t always clear. Making an informed decision amid the overwhelming amount of information takes some effort, diligent research and, sometimes, a bit of luck.
As it turns out, there’s an agency in your state government that should be able to help with all these things: your state’s department of insurance. But these agencies vary widely in their ability to give critical time- and money-saving information to residents, or even to answer a simple question about insurance in your state. A new NerdWallet analysis looked at insurance departments across the country, evaluating their online offerings and how helpful their websites are to consumers in their communities.
We found most of these websites fall short in serving consumers by not providing key information, such as insurer rate comparisons and complaint data, as well as easy access to consumer assistance and educational materials. But we also identified states like Texas, whose insurance department website is a model of excellence that the lower-scoring states would do well to emulate.
Key Findings
For this study, NerdWallet examined the websites for all 50 states and the District of Columbia, looking for information that would benefit consumers the most. We also called consumer helplines and emailed each insurance department. We then graded each agency on more than 20 factors that added up to a 100-point scale.
What did we find? The vast majority of departments had plenty of work to do to improve the consumer information they offer and how easy it is to find it.
- States are split on sharing rate comparisons: Twenty-seven department websites featured car insurance rate comparisons at the time of our scoring, and 24 did not. As for homeowners insurance rate comparisons, 21 websites shared the data, and 30 did not.
- Complete complaint data are scarce: Just nine department websites offered consumers the ability to compare 2015 complaint data across insurance companies for all four major lines of insurance — auto, health, homeowners and life. Twenty-three departments shared no complaint data.
- Calling for help can be cumbersome: We called all 51 departments and asked a basic, state-specific auto insurance question. Though 19 answered our question in less than two minutes and 36 in less than 10 minutes, 15 either didn’t answer the question at all or took long enough that consumers could have found another source of information during that time.
It’s important to note that state insurance departments do much more than provide help and information to consumers. They also handle licensing, monitor and regulate rates, and deal with complaints. Our analysis focused only on their websites and helplines. Spokespeople for many of the lower-scoring states said their website offerings are limited because of staffing and budget constraints. A handful of state spokespeople we interviewed said they didn’t see value in offering the things we scored. For example, Ohio Department of Insurance spokesperson David Hopcraft said the agency does “not view its website as a shopping mall for online insurance comparisons,” when asked about why the department didn’t post rate comparison data.
Of the lower-scoring departments that responded to our requests for comment, several announced coming or in-progress improvements, including New Mexico, the lowest-scoring state in our analysis.
See also:
The Insurance Implications of Social Networking Websites, Part 3
“Your project has motivated us to improve the consumer elements of our website,” wrote Alan Seeley of the New Mexico Office of Superintendent of Insurance, whose department made several consumer-centric adjustments before publication.
The Analysis
In 1999, the Consumer Federation of America graded state insurance department websites and reported that three states lacked an online presence. Now, all departments have websites, catering to how Americans prefer to get information. But these sites vary greatly in their offerings, their ease of use, how well they’ve kept pace with advancements in design and how folks get information online.
NerdWallet analyzed each website based on four categories:
- Insurance rate comparisons
- Complaint data
- Consumer assistance
- Consumer education and resources
For a comprehensive look at our methodology, including weightings,
click here.
Here’s why we chose these metrics:
Insurance Rate Comparisons
States accept rate filings from insurance companies, which alert the department to changes in pricing and coverage. Typically based on these filings, premium comparisons shown on insurance department websites are not meant as quotes — as numerous factors go into pricing a policy — but consumers can use them to get a general idea of what they might pay for coverage or which company offers the lowest price.
Complaint Data
States are tasked with accepting and investigating consumer complaints against insurance companies. Comparing complaint rates across companies can be a useful shopping tool for auto, homeowners, health and
life insurance customers.
Consumer Assistance
When insurance customers have questions about coverage and laws in their state, they should be able to call the agency responsible for insurance regulation and receive answers. For this metric, we called all 51 departments by using the phone number that consumers would be most likely to dial. We asked a basic state-specific insurance question: “What are the minimum
auto insurance requirements in this state?”
Consumer Education and Resources
Insurance is a complicated topic, and with so many resources online, it’s difficult to know whom to trust. People should be able to go to the state agency tasked with insurance regulation to get unbiased information to help guide their insurance decisions.
Why It Matters
Insurance in the U.S. is regulated at the state level. This is in contrast to many other financial service providers, such as banks, other lenders, credit card companies and debt collectors, which operate under significant federal oversight. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is also looking out for the interests of customers by accepting and resolving complaints, as well as serving as a liaison between citizens and financial institutions. However, the trillion-dollar insurance industry is by and large an exception.
Fifty-one different regulating bodies make for a widely varied approach to insurance regulation and consumer services. Generally, however, these state insurance departments have the task of regulating the industry to protect consumers, the primary goal of state insurance regulation, according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, or NAIC.
Robert Hunter, director of insurance at the Consumer Federation of America and former insurance commissioner for Texas, led an analysis of state insurance agencies in 1999 that was similar to this study. The motivation then: Consumers were complaining they couldn’t find crucial information, which Hunter says these department websites are in a unique position to provide.
See also: ACA: Complication for Websites
“These departments are — at least you hope, and it’s almost always true — independent of insurance companies,” not subject to biases that might come from state commissions staffed by industry insiders, Hunter says. “Plus, they have a lot of information for consumers that no one else has, information that no one else can really help you with.”
Departments of insurance are clearinghouses for consumer complaints against insurers in their state. Most also require insurers to file rate changes and policy form updates, making them an ideal primary source of insurance policy information. These agencies, better than any national organization, know the unique challenges and legal requirements consumers in their state face, and they can provide this information without any self-serving interests.
“Consumers shouldn’t have to rely 100% on the insurance company or its salesperson for information,” says Amy Bach, executive director of United Policyholders, an insurance consumer advocacy organization. “There should be a neutral source of information available to the consumer to help them make good decisions surrounding this very complicated product.”
In our analysis, we found many states’ websites rely on the NAIC for educational information and details about complaints filed against insurance companies. This trade organization was established almost 150 years ago to bring some uniformity to the patchwork that results from so many regulatory bodies, and has developed some useful consumer resources. States can save time and money by passing these resources on to their residents. But NAIC resources are no substitute for the kind of localized information that state insurance departments provide, according to Birny Birnbaum, executive director of the Center for Economic Justice.
“It’s ridiculous to have an auto insurance buyers guide that lacks state specifics, that says, ‘In some states… .’ How does that help me?” Birnbaum says. “It’s wrong for a state to limit the resources that their insurance department has by simply relying on the NAIC. States need to supplement the tools that the NAIC provides.”
NerdWallet contacted the NAIC for comment but didn’t receive a response in time for publication. However, the NAIC consistently refers consumers to state insurance departments for information specific to where they live, both on its website and its educational site InsureU. When it comes to complaint data, the NAIC’s Consumer Information Source does the same, directing visitors to their state agency for complete information and accuracy.
The Results
Here’s how each state’s department measured up. An asterisk (*) denotes a tie in the rankings. For details of what went into each score, click on your state’s name or navigate to
this page.
