Are you really in good hands with one company? Is another one really your friend? Does Flo’s flattery work? And can a lizard be your buddy?
About 1,000 insurance companies do business in Missouri although a half-dozen or so control 60-70% of the business. The state insurance department has compiled the complaints it gets against the companies and is rating them on the basis of high, average, or low complaint volumes.
Consumer affairs director Matt Barton says the department compiles complaint records month by month on each company. At the end of the year, it calculates a score for each company in each category it covers based on the 3,500 complaints it has heard. .
The system can become a factor in buying decisions, he says. .
The department says the index is a measure of how companies treat their policyholders. Barton says the department’s mediation efforts helped consumers get about 19-milion dollars more in claims payments, about one-fourth of that amount going to Joplin tornado victims.
The index can be found at http://insurance.mo.gov/consumers/complaints/compindx.php
