(The Center Square) – Through its consumer advocacy, compliance, and enforcement teams, the Oregon Division of Financial Regulation recovered $5,675,543 for Oregonians in the first half of 2024.
The DFR consumer advocates and compliance teams recovered $5,195,749, and the enforcement team ordered $479,794 in restitution, according to a press release from DFR.
“DFR consumer advocates help Oregonians in a variety of ways, depending on the issue,” the release said. “They handle complaints and questions from Oregon consumers who are experiencing difficulties with insurance, mortgages, banking products, securities, student loans, and a variety of other financial services regulated by DFR. Advocates have extensive industry knowledge across many platforms, and they analyze and resolve complex issues.”
In the first half of 2024 alone, DFR received 2,827 complaints, most of which were insurance-related (1,733 complaints).
DFR handled 4,852 complaints in 2023, including 3,140 insurance cases; it recovered over $8.3 million.
DFR highlighted some examples of its recent work in the release.
Here are a few examples:
During the January 2024 ice storm, two seniors suffered damage to their home. Their power was out for a couple of days when a neighbor checked on them. They were suffering from signs of hypothermia due to the 18-degree temperature in their home. They were taken to the hospital, and after returning home, they found a water pipe had burst, pouring water onto the floor and causing damage. They filed a claim with their insurer, which denied the coverage, stating that they were responsible for maintaining heat or taking precautions such as draining the water system. DFR’s consumer advocates got the company to reverse its decision, and the consumers were paid more than $19,000 for their claim.A person died within the two-year contestable period of their life insurance policy. The company denied the claim, stating that medical conditions were not disclosed on the application. After reviewing the phone recordings between the agent and the person, there were incomplete medical questions asked during the application process that did not match the questions on the physical application. Because the agent omitted pertinent medical questions, the advocate convinced the insurer to pay the death claim – $304,697, including interest.A consumer filed a complaint after the auto insurer wrote a low initial estimate ($1,123) off photos only. The insurer’s estimator admitted the estimate was low but planned to update it as the work was done. After receiving the complaint, our office requested the insurer send an on-site estimator, which resulted in a new estimate for $7,491.90, consistent with the shop’s estimate for the known damage.
Andrew R. Stolfi, Oregon insurance commissioner and director of the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services, said those are examples of how their staff works to help ordinary people.
“These stories illustrate just some of the many issues that come into our office every day and the multitude of ways that our consumer advocates can help,” Stolfi said in the release. “Our staff work hard to help people sift through insurance and financial issues that are often extremely complex, and we encourage the public to reach out to us with questions and concerns.”
Oregon Governor Tina Kotek expressed gratitude for how the division helps those in need.
“My administration will always be on the side of Oregonians when they need help,” Kotek said. “The team at Oregon’s Division of Financial Regulation works hard every day solving complex cases and putting money back into the pockets of Oregonians.”
DFR receives, on average, over 1,200 complaints per quarter. However, when consumers reach out with issues outside of DFR’s regulatory authority, it refers them to agencies with jurisdiction over the matter.
So far this year, the compliance teams have opened 86 cases so far in 2024 and recovered almost $43,000 for Oregon residents. The compliance team has taken 49 actions thus far this year, ordering nearly a half million dollars in restitution.
“Our team of people looks out for Oregonians. Our employees are extremely knowledgeable in a cross-section of industry and believe strongly in what they do,” DFR Administrator TK Keen said. “Their work has generated more than $20 million back to consumers in the past two and a half years, and the number of complaints continues to rise each year.”
