Missouri Department of Insurance Helps Return $16.8M to Consumers

Missouri consumers received an additional $16.8 million from their insurance companies in 2017 with the help of the Missouri Department of Insurance’s Consumer Affairs Division and Market Conduct Section.

The department said the monies were returned as a result of the Consumer Affairs Division’s mediation work on complaints filed by consumers, as well as the efforts of the Market Conduct Section that examines insurance company operations and practices to ensure compliance with Missouri insurance law.

In 2017, the Consumer Affairs Division, which was established by the Missouri Constitution, handled approximately 35,000 consumer contacts, received 3,574 formal complaints and returned over $8.5 million to Missourians.

Health complaints were the largest portion of the complaints with 1,270. Those included concerns about a company determining that a prescription was not medically necessary or a consumer learning that his or her coverage had been terminated just days prior to a scheduled procedure.

Because of the division’s intervention, an additional review was conducted in each of these cases and a needed drug was approved resulting in an over $112,000 recovery for the consumer and a reinstatement of a policy when it was most needed.

In 2017, the Market Conduct Division recovered over $8.3 million to Missouri consumers.

The Department’s market conduct section focuses on identifying and resolving systemic issues that impact Missouri insurance consumers. In some instances, market conduct actions may originate from consumer complaints that have been filed with the Department’s Consumer Affairs Division. In other instances, the issues are identified through monitoring insurance company activities in the insurance marketplace.

Source: Missouri Department of Insurance, Financial Institutions and Professional Registration (DIFP)

Topics Missouri