Let’s help people complain

By Kent Sullivan
Insurance Commissioner

If helping people complain sounds like an odd business tactic, consider this: The Harvard Business Review found that customers whose complaints were handled quickly were willing to pay even more for services from that company in the future.

For the Texas Department of Insurance, consumer protection is our core business. Everything we do – reviewing insurers’ financial solvency, licensing agents, investigating fraud – is ultimately about protecting consumers. That’s why addressing the agency’s complaint backlog was a priority when I took over as Insurance Commissioner 18 months ago.

TDI’s technology and processes had remained essentially unchanged over many years as the number of complaints increased. The result: A backlog developed in 2015 that grew as the gap between the number of complaints received and the number resolved widened. We’re now closing that gap.

We modernized our business operations, increased automation, and emphasized processing center best practices to increase the number of complaints we can process. We assigned more staff to health complaints, which make up 75% of all complaints. We also improved the information on our website to help consumers understand what types of complaints we can help with and their other appeal options.

TDI can help consumers when insurance companies fail to comply with state law or the terms of their policies. But some issues require the courts or another dispute resolution process. For example, TDI can’t determine who’s at fault in an accident or how much roof damage was caused by a storm instead of normal wear. We recently developed a list of free and low-cost legal resources to help consumers with these types of disputes.

We plan to do more to help consumers understand their rights and connect them to legal resources. My focus on improving access to justice began long before I joined TDI. I’ve long encouraged expanding access to legal resources to help consumers represent themselves in court proceedings.

As Insurance Commissioner, I hear too many stories about consumers who have trouble finding out what they can do to protest a company’s decision. Failing to provide clear, easy-to-find information about how to complain only leads to more calls and costly disputes in the long-run. Helping people complain – and resolving disputes fairly – is a good business practice. It’s also the right thing to do.

More to come...