Daniel Veroff | Property Insurance Coverage Law Blog | May 10, 2019
When Oreganians are mistreated by their insurance companies, they can turn to the state government for help. Oregon’s Division of Financial Regulation has the authority to accept and investigate complaints by consumers.
Filing a consumer complaint can be done on the Division’s website and is an easy process. The website includes a fillable form that asks some basic questions about the insurance at issue. It then asks for a description of the issues, and for the insured’s thoughts on what would constitute a fair resolution.
According to the Division, most complaints are resolved within 60 days. The Division states:
Once we receive a complaint, an advocate will:
• Let you know in writing that we received your complaint
• Send a copy of your complaint to the insurance company, agent, or both
• Obtain a detailed response from the company, agent, or both
• Analyze the response and any supporting documents (the company or agent must respond within three weeks)
• Determine whether more information is needed or there is a possible violation
• Advise you of our findings.
The Division’s website also cautions as to what it can and cannot do in response to a compliant:
Oregon also offers a neat tool on its website for searching to find complaint comparable to yours.1 If you find that your insurance company is treating many customers the same way, you may be able to use that as leverage against your insurance company or with the Division to get extra help. The website also has other information about past complaints that can be helpful, including annual summaries.2
To contact the Division, you can go onto their website, the links in the footnotes, or contact as follows:
Phone: 888-877-4894 (toll-free)
Email: DFR.InsuranceHelp@oregon.gov
If you are not certain of your insurance claim rights or if you have questions about your policy benefits, please do not hesitate to call Merlin Law Group attorneys.
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1 https://dfr.oregon.gov/help/complaints-licenses/Pages/complaint-compare-search-tool.aspx
2 https://dfr.oregon.gov/help/complaints-licenses/Pages/complaint-information.aspx