COMPLAINTS TO WIS. DOI DOWN 17 PERCENT:

According to the 2003 Insurance Complaints and Administrative Actions report, nearly 8,000 consumers contacted Wisconsin’s Office of the Commissioner of Insurance (OCI) last year to file a complaint, down 17 percent from the 9,265 complaints it received in 2002. The annual report issued by OCI lists companies with at least six complaints received in 2003 and with a ratio of complaints per $100,000 of premium that exceed the average for their line of insurance. The report categorizes complaints by insurance type into four areas: auto; homeowners, farmowners and tenants; accident and health; and life and annuities. Of the agency’s 7,960 complaints, the type of coverage generating the most complaints was accident and health (4,763 complaints), while the least was life and annuities (816). The vast majority of complaints concerned claims handling. Although OCI received 7,960 total complaints in 2003, only the 7,024 complaints requiring further investigation were used to calculate the ratios in the report.