Where can you check complaints against a car insurance company?
Start with two official sources. Both are free to use, and both are run by regulators rather than by insurers or review sites.
- NAIC Consumer Insurance Search: the National Association of Insurance Commissioners collects closed complaint data reported by state insurance departments. You can look up information by state, company, and insurance type for the past three years, along with the company's financial condition and how long it has been in business.
- Your state insurance department: the department that licenses insurers in your state can tell you whether a company had many consumer complaints relative to the number of policies it sold. Some departments publish an annual complaint index report for auto insurance.
Look up the exact company name printed on your policy or quote. Insurance brands often operate through several legal companies, each with its own NAIC company code, and each one has its own complaint record. The Kansas Department of Insurance, for example, tells readers to enter the NAIC company code shown next to each company name to pull the detailed complaint report.
What is a complaint index and how do you read it?
A complaint index compares a company's share of complaints with its share of the market for the same line of insurance. The Kansas Department of Insurance explains it this way: an index of 1.00 means the insurer's share of complaints equals its share of business written, an index of 2.00 means its share of complaints is twice its share of business, and 0.00 means no complaints were received. Kansas calculates its indexes for each calendar year.
| Complaint index | What it means |
|---|---|
| 0.00 | No complaints received for that line in the period |
| Below 1.00 | Fewer complaints than its market share would predict |
| 1.00 | Complaints in line with its market share |
| 2.00 | Twice as many complaints as its market share would predict |
Here is how the ratio works with example numbers. If a company writes 5 percent of the auto insurance in a state and receives 5 percent of the auto complaints, its index is 1.00. If it receives 10 percent of the complaints, its index is 2.00. The index adjusts for size, which is why it is more useful than a raw complaint count.
Why do complaint numbers need context?
A single index value can mislead. The NAIC notes that a company's complaint index can change because of shifts in its own complaints or premiums, and also because of shifts in the complaints or premiums of the whole market for that type of insurance.
- Look at several years. One bad year can reflect a single event. A high index year after year is a stronger signal.
- Know which complaints are counted. Kansas notes that its own complaint index differs from the NAIC complaint code reports, which count only confirmed complaints, meaning cases where the department found a violation or found the company was in error.
- Watch small companies. A company with a tiny market share can post a high index from only a handful of complaints, so check the complaint count next to the index.
- Compare the same line. Use auto complaint data for an auto decision. A company's homeowners or life record is a different business.
The NAIC advice is to avoid choosing on one factor and to compare the complaints, financials, and direct premiums written of several companies.
How useful are online car insurance reviews?
Online reviews tell you what a customer experienced, in their own words. That makes them useful for spotting specific problems, such as slow claim payments, hard-to-reach adjusters, or surprise increases at renewal. They are weaker as a measure of overall quality. Reviewers choose themselves, and many sites do not confirm that a reviewer was a customer.
Read reviews with a few rules in mind:
- Focus on recent reviews about claims, since claim handling is the service you are paying for.
- Look for the same complaint repeated by different people, not the single angriest post.
- Note whether the reviewer is in your state. Rules and service teams differ by state.
- Check whether the review site says how it collects and screens reviews.
The NAIC lists delays, denials, and unsatisfactory settlements among the most common reasons consumers file complaints. If reviews point to those same issues and the regulator data shows a high index, the pattern is worth taking seriously.
What else should you check besides complaints?
Complaint data covers service. Three other checks cover whether the company can and will pay.
- License in your state: buy from a company licensed in your state, so you can rely on your state insurance department if there is a problem. The department can confirm which companies are licensed.
- Financial strength: the Insurance Information Institute recommends checking the financial health of insurers with rating firms such as AM Best and Standard and Poor's.
- Price: prices vary from company to company, and the Insurance Information Institute suggests getting at least three quotes. Some state insurance departments also publish price comparisons.
A low price from a company with a poor complaint record or weak finances is not a bargain if a claim goes badly.
How do you file a complaint against your own car insurer?
Try to resolve the problem with the insurer first. If that fails, your state insurance department can investigate at no cost. According to the NAIC, departments look into issues such as unfair claim delays or denials, failure to honor the policy, violations of state insurance law, lack of timely communication, and cancellation or nonrenewal you believe is unjustified.
- Gather your policy number, documents, bills, and records.
- Keep a log of every contact with the insurer, including emails, letters, calls, dates, and times.
- Write a factual account of what happened, quote policy language where you can, and state the outcome you want.
- File through your state department, which usually accepts complaints online, by mail, or by phone.
The department forwards your complaint to the insurer, which must respond with its explanation, and then decides whether the insurer treated you fairly under your policy. If it finds the insurer acted improperly, it can require a correction. The NAIC also states that an insurer cannot discriminate against you in the future for filing a complaint.
Deadlines vary by state. In Kansas, companies are required by law to respond to the department within 15 business days, and the department keeps a record of each complaint for up to three years.
How common are auto insurance complaints?
In Kansas, auto insurance produces a large share of the complaints the regulator handles. In its 2024 report, the Kansas Department of Insurance said the largest number of complaints concerned automobile insurance, at 32 percent, ahead of homeowners and renters at 21 percent and health at 19 percent. The department closed 3,661 complaints that year.
That volume is one reason to check complaint data before you buy rather than after a claim. Ten minutes with the NAIC search and your state report, plus a look at recent claim reviews, gives you a clearer picture than any single star rating.