N.J. Regulators Recovered $15.7M for Consumers in Fiscal Year 2015

The New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance (DOBI) recovered more than $15.7 million for consumers in fiscal year 2015 which ended June 30, according to an announcement today by Acting Commissioner Richard J. Badolato.

DOBI recovered $15.02 million from insurance companies and approximately $684,000 from banks, real estate licensees and related licensed financial institutions such as mortgage lenders and brokers and real estate agents and brokers from probes into consumer complaints and enforcement investigations.

The announcement said insurance consumers received the payments for infractions that included claims processing delays, improper claims handling, denials of claims and premium refunds due to flawed ratings.

Additionally, banking and real estate consumers received the payments mostly as refunds of fees wrongly collected. Financial institutions made the payments as a result of investigations into specific consumer complaints and errors found during routine regulatory compliance examinations.

DOBI has more than 200,000 banking and insurance licensees which includes insurance companies, insurance producers, banks, mortgage lenders and brokers. In fiscal year 2015, the department fielded over 60,000 phone inquiries and handled more than 8,000 consumer complaints.

“The Department’s mission is to protect consumers and promote the growth and stability of our regulated industries and we take both parts of that mission very seriously,” said Badolato, who began serving as the department’s acting commissioner on Aug. 1.

“On the one hand, we work closely with our regulated industries to lessen regulatory burden and cut red tape, but if our insurance companies or banks violate State laws and harm consumers, we hold them accountable and do everything in our power to make consumers whole,” said Badolato.

Source: The New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance

Topics New Jersey