NYSID Now Offers On-line Complaint Filing

The New York State Insurance Dept. announced that consumers can now file insurance complaints against companies, agents, brokers and others holding State licenses on its Web site.

“The on-line complaint form was developed to provide improved responsiveness to meet the needs of New York State consumers and is being launched at an important time as New York City residents and business owners get back to work,” said NY Governor George Pataki in a written statement. The new complaint capability will particularly help New Yorkers affected by the World Trade Center tragedies, he added.

NYSID Superintendent Gregory V. Serio called the new complaint process very consumer friendly, and described how it works:

– Consumers access the complaint form on our Web site at www.ins.state.ny.us;
– Consumers are instructed on how to complete the entire form;
– When the application is complete, it is instantaneously submitted to the Department and assigned a case number, and
– Complaints are then electronically sent to the companies for a response.

The number of complaints is rising. The NYSID investigated over 60,000 complaints in 1998, and this year it expects to handle 80,000.