Insurance Company Complaint Ratios

The mission of the Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services (DIFS) is to provide excellent customer service and effectively regulate the financial institutions, lending, insurance, and securities industries. Part of that customer service and effective regulation is to receive and respond to complaints or questions about insurance companies from citizens of Michigan.

DIFS receives thousands of complaints every year regarding insurance companies. Complaints about health insurance (excluding HMOs), automobile, life, homeowners, and other types of insurance have been counted and compiled into ratios. Complaint ratios are created by dividing the dollar amount (in millions) of written premium into the number of filed complaints. The resulting ratios provide complaint information that can be meaningfully compared across insurance companies, regardless of size.

Why Publish the Complaint Ratios?
The complaint ratios in this report have been made available to provide consumers with a way to compare complaints filed against an insurance company that has taken into account the size of the company. The report lists insurance company ratios by similar types of coverage (e.g. automobile insurance, health insurance, life insurance). A complaint ratio was established for any company writing more than $1,000,000 in premium. Detailed information on HMO complaints is available in our HMO Consumer Guide.

Compare Insurance Companies by More than Just Complaint Ratios
Complaint ratios are provided as a tool to help consumers choose an insurance company, but other factors such as the following, should be used when comparing companies:

  • Premiums charged
  • Benefits provided by the contract
  • Financial stability of the company
  • Levels of service provided
  • Health insurance reviews for HMOs posted with the HMO Consumer Guide on this web site.

Again, the complaint ratios should not be the only factor used to choose an insurance company, but access to the information may be useful for the consumer. It is important to know that this report does not indicate a finding of fault of either party to the complaint; it is just a summary of complaints filed taking into account the amount of business the insurance company does in Michigan.

We hope that you find these complaint ratios helpful in selecting the insurance company that is right for you.