Last reviewed: 14 October 2026
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How insurance complaint indexes and ratios work
Short answer: Regulators compare complaints against an insurer with how much business it does, so large and small companies can be compared fairly. For example, California counts justified complaints per 100,000 policies or exposures,[1] and Texas publishes counts of confirmed complaints and policies in force by company and line of coverage.[2] Each regulator's page explains its own method.
The main official measures
| Who publishes it | What it counts | Where to see it |
|---|---|---|
| NAIC (national) | Complaint information by company; see the NAIC's own notes in the tool | NAIC Consumer Insurance Search |
| Texas Department of Insurance | "counts for confirmed complaints and policies in force by company name and line of coverage"[2] | TDI complaint index dataset |
| California Department of Insurance | "the number of justified complaints per 100,000 policies or exposures", using complaints "closed for a given year"[1] | CDI Consumer Complaint Study |
| New York DFS (auto) | Auto insurance complaint ranking; see DFS's page for its method | DFS auto complaint ranking |
How to use them
1. Find the exact company named on your policy, not just the brand. 2. Open the official record (links above) for your line of insurance (auto, home, life and so on). 3. Read each source's notes on what it counts, and compare several companies.
We don't copy or rescore these figures. We link to the regulator's own page.
FAQ
Why do the numbers differ between sources?
They count different things. For example, California uses justified complaints per 100,000 policies or exposures,[1] while Texas publishes counts by company name and line of coverage.[2] Check each source's notes.
References
- [1] CDI, "Consumer Complaint Study", https://www.insurance.ca.gov/01-consumers/120-company/03-concmplt/index.cfm (accessed 2026-10-14).
- [2] TDI, "Complaint data resources", https://www.tdi.texas.gov/consumer/complaint-data.html (accessed 2026-10-14).
What you can do next
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