Who Ya Gonna Call?

Regular reader Holly R tipped me to this interesting factoid:

"The Ohio Department of Insurance says its consumer hot line can help when Ohioans have trouble with their insurance companies...Callers must be fully insured and complaints must involve disputes of at least $500."

So far this year, the hotline has received some 1,500 calls (at $500 a pop, that's over three quarters of a million dollars, at least, so far). And what kinds of complaints does the Hotline typically get?

I called, and spoke with Larry, who was quite helpful. Larry told me that the health side of the business gets the most complaints (no real surprise there, although I had thought it might have been auto). The most frequent complaint? Delay of claims; interestingly, this cut across all lines of business, even life.

Larry wasn't aware of what percentage of reported problems were ultimately resolved, but he did tell me that the number of complaints has gone up each year, as more folks become aware of the service.

So now you know.