Jayce writer

The two states I am using are New Mexico and Colorado.  On both state sites the consumer sections give you a lot of information.  Both New Mexico and Colorado allow you to use a comparison tool or report to see what your insurance coverage,  premium, and deductible is compared to what else is offered or being offered in the state.  It allows you to set why type of insurance you want to compare.  For example renters, auto, life, workers compensation, etc. the list goes on.  Then you would enter the information it asks for.  An example would be selecting how much your liability coverage is for as well as bodily injury.  This example deals with auto insurance.  Then it would give you a comparison of premiums to compare yours with or just to see what is being offered.  Along with this, service rate reports are also available.  The main service that is offered in my eyes is the request assistance or file a complaint service.  This allows you to get answers regarding your policy.  Also  you can file a complaint about your insurance company if it doesn't fulfill your expectations.  A complete list of types of insurance, what is covers, and how premiums are assessed is also available. 

     The aspects of the sites that I thought was most interesting was that you could file complaints about your insurance company and also view past complaints that have been filed by others.  I never knew there was a state site that you could use to compare all the policies and basically see which ones are viewed as professional or which ones consumers have had problems with.  Colorado's site also had a section for claims on disasters and severe weather.  This sections gives instructions on what to do, how to document, and what all could be covered.  I think this section is especially helpful and interesting considering Colorado suffered heavy flooding last year with severe damage to property, roads, as well as many other things. 

     One of the most important features on both states sites is Statutes and Regulations.  This is probably the most underutilized section when it should be the most.  It gives every law  and code that is specific to your state.  It could take research and work on the consumers part, but this section allows them to see the regulations that govern the insurance industry for their state and if it is being followed when dealing with an individual policy. 

 Post 2

I looked up New Mexico (the current state I reside in) and Oregon (a state on my acceptable move to list).  I opened up both states in separate pages so that I could easily compare the two websites.  As soon as I opened them I noticed that the website for Oregon provided much more information in an easier to locate and read manner.

New Mexico

-Contained a consumer alert section, but no alerts have been posted since June 25, 2013.  Is this because there are no important alerts, or because the state has been too lazy to update their website?  Like other city and state websites, I have always noticed that New Mexico does not keep their website current.

-Consumer Premium Comparison Guide was present.  Provided a “best fit” risk analysis to provide individuals with estimates for premiums.  This is useful to get a ballpark feel for what an insurance policy could cost the individual.  I found this helpful and ran a couple of different types of insurance.

-Easy access to the Superintendent of Insurance.  One click file consumer complaint button.  I used this earlier this year.  Once the complaint was submitted it took 4 days for me to hear back from someone from the office and the phone call was only to let me know that my complaint had been received.

 Oregon

-The setup was much more user friendly.  Information was set up separately depending on if you’re an insurance adjuster or an insured.

-State legal information is available and easy to access.  In addition, the website provides more contact information for state help, Medicare, etc.  The website also offers email alerts and current info headlines.  Also provides information to stay safe during various summer activities or weather conditions.

-The filing a complaint is easily accessible.  I have no idea if their process of dealing with complaints is better or the same than New Mexico.

-The website appears to be updated regularly.  Information of current and upcoming information for the next year is also available.

Reply

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I haven't viewed Texas's website but New Mexico's site definitely needs some work.  It seems to lack a user friendly interface.  Also like Jennifer said it seems to not be consistently updated.  It does provide the same information as most of the other state websites but i think accessibility is part of how successful or helpful a website can be and as far as New Mexico is concerned, the information is there but I don't believe its getting to consumers.  I don't think this contributes to a lack of insurance knowledge on the part of the consumer but it isn't helping get information out effectively either.  My last complaint about New Mexico's website when compared to other states is the lack of professionalism.  Our state's website looks very unprofessional and doesn't have that clean look about it.