What are the main duties of the Office of the Insurance Ombudsman?
Since its inception in 1998, the Ombudsman’s Office has worked closely with the Department’s Office of Consumer Protection Services to identify consumer issues that may be in need of close scrutiny and monitoring or are emergent in nature. We have focused primarily on the investigation of consumer complaint issues regarding, among others, comparative negligence settlements in automobile insurance, automobile insurance scoring, homeowner’s cancellations and nonrenewals, underground oil tank pollution claims, and mandated health insurance coverage problems. The Ombudsman’s Office does not, however, intervene in Personal Injury Protection (PIP) claims filed under a personal automobile insurance policy due to the arbitration provisions allowed in current law. The office also monitors insurance company compliance with insurance laws and responds to electronic or regular mail inquiries from consumers about insurance issues including, but not limited to, those regarding policy provisions and
