Guides
What your state insurance department does
What state insurance regulators do for drivers: licensing, rate and form review, solvency checks, complaints and fraud, plus contacts for all 50 states and D.C.
Your state insurance department is the government agency that licenses the companies and agents that sell you car insurance, reviews the rates and policy forms they use, checks that they can pay claims, and takes consumer complaints. It is the place to go when an insurer will not respond, misapplies your policy or breaks state claims rules. It is not the agency that suspends your license or registration for driving uninsured; that is your motor vehicle department.
Why every state has its own regulator
Insurance in the United States is regulated by the states, not the federal government. A 1945 federal law, the McCarran-Ferguson Act, leaves "the business of insurance" subject to state law, so each state and D.C. runs its own state department of insurance under a chief regulator usually called the insurance commissioner (titles vary: superintendent, director or administrator). In most states the governor appoints the commissioner; in some, including California since Proposition 103, voters elect one. The history and the limits of federal involvement are in Why insurance is regulated by states, not Washington.
The names vary too. Some are stand-alone departments; others are divisions of a commerce or financial regulation agency, such as New York's Department of Financial Services, Michigan's Department of Insurance and Financial Services and Virginia's State Corporation Commission, Bureau of Insurance. Florida splits the job: the Office of Insurance Regulation regulates insurers, while the Department of Financial Services handles consumer help.
What the department does
Licenses companies and agents. An insurer must hold a certificate of authority in your state to sell you a standard policy; licensed companies are called admitted insurers. Agents and adjusters need state licenses too. Most departments let you look up a license online, which is the quickest way to check that a company or agent is real (see how to spot a fake car insurance company).
Reviews rates and policy forms. Insurers file their prices and rating rules in a rate filing, and the department checks that rates are not excessive, inadequate or unfairly discriminatory. Depending on the state, rates need approval before use or can be used once filed; how car insurance rate approval works explains the systems. Departments also review policy forms, so the wording of your auto policy has usually been filed with the state.
Watches solvency. Financial examiners review insurers' annual statements and examine companies on a schedule, with the aim of catching trouble before an insurer fails. If one does fail, the state's guaranty fund pays covered claims up to set limits; see what happens if your car insurer goes insolvent.
Polices market conduct. Market conduct examinations look at how a company treats customers: claims handling, cancellations, underwriting and advertising. Most states base their claims rules on NAIC models that set deadlines for acknowledging and deciding claims (for example, the NAIC model regulation gives 15 days to acknowledge a claim). Fines and corrective orders follow violations.
Handles complaints. Every department takes consumer complaints, sends them to the insurer and requires a written response. Complaint counts feed the NAIC complaint index.
Fights fraud. Many departments house a fraud unit or work with a separate state fraud bureau; see state insurance fraud bureaus: who investigates and how to reach them.
Oversees programs of last resort. Departments supervise their state's residual market for drivers insurers will not take (assigned risk plans: insurance of last resort) and, where they exist, low-cost auto programs.
Publishes consumer guides. Most post auto insurance buying guides, rate comparisons and explanations of state-specific coverages.
Who handles what
| Problem | Where to go |
|---|---|
| Insurer delaying, underpaying or denying your claim | State insurance department, after escalating with the insurer |
| Policy cancelled or nonrenewed and you think it broke state rules | State insurance department |
| Checking whether a company or agent is licensed | State insurance department's license lookup |
| License or registration suspended for no insurance; SR-22 questions | Motor vehicle department (DMV, MVD, BMV or RMV) |
| Insurance verification letter saying your car is uninsured | Motor vehicle or revenue department that runs the system; see state insurance verification systems |
| Suspected insurance fraud | State fraud bureau or the department's fraud unit |
| Dispute about who caused a crash, or a lawsuit | The insurers involved, then a licensed attorney or the courts |
How to use your department
- Try the insurer first. Ask for a supervisor or the company's complaint unit and keep notes of dates and names.
- File online. Have your policy and claim numbers, a short timeline and copies of letters ready. The step-by-step version is in how to file a complaint against a car insurance company.
- Use the right state. Complain to the department in the state where the policy was issued, usually where the car is garaged.
- Check the consumer pages. Departments publish state-specific rules on minimum coverage, total-loss handling, glass, rental and repair-shop choice. The state car insurance requirements lookup summarizes minimum coverage by state.
- Look up rate filings when a renewal jumps, through the department's site or the NAIC's SERFF Filing Access system where your state uses it.
A department cannot act as your lawyer, award damages or decide fault in a crash, but it can make an insurer follow state law and its own policy.
State insurance departments: contacts
Consumer lines and websites as listed in each state's guide on this site. Some departments also run separate complaint or hotline numbers.
Key takeaways
- Each state and D.C. regulates insurance through its own department, led by a commissioner who is appointed in most states and elected in some.
- Departments license insurers and agents, review rates and forms, monitor solvency, examine market conduct and take complaints.
- Driver's license, registration and SR-22 issues belong to the motor vehicle department, not the insurance department.
- File complaints in the state where your policy was issued, after giving the insurer a documented chance to fix the problem.