Mass. OCABR: Insurance Topped List of Consumer Issues in 2014

The Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation (OCABR) issued its top five consumer issues of the past year.

OCABR noted that overall, it received and responded to over 34,000 consumer inquiries and complaints in 2014. Among them, insurance was again the top issue consumers called and e-mailed the agency about, as it has been for the past few years.

OCABR is a state agency that oversees the Division of Insurance, Division of Banks, Division of Professional Licensure, Division of Standards, and the Department of Telecommunications and Cable. The top five consumer issues for OCABR last year were:

The agency said a total of 12,898 total consumer inquiries and complaints in 2014 were insurance-related. Of these 12,898 insurance-related inquiries and complaints, 898 were described as formal complaints.

Formal complaints represent cases that are opened in-house to resolve the issue, while inquiries involve questions or concerns that are addressed without opening a formal case, an OCABR spokesperson said.

The agency said it keeps track of subcategories for formal complaints only. Insurance-related formal complaints last year consisted of:

“The OCABR empowers consumers by providing information and giving consumers the tools they need to make market-driven decisions,” said OCABR Undersecretary John Chapman.

OCABR said the Division of Insurance’s Consumer Services Unit assisted in recovering nearly half a million dollars from insurance companies in 2014.

Recoveries resulted from issues such as delays in claim processing, inappropriate denials, and improper agent claim handling, according to the announcement.

OCABR also said the Division of Insurance’s Market Conduct Unit collected over $1.4 million in monetary penalties through regulatory settlement agreements last year.

Additionally, the Division of Insurance’s Special Investigations Unit assessed $54,400 in enforcement fines and penalties against insurance sellers for unethical conduct and violating state law, OCABR announced.