More than one-third of complaints taken in by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners or NAIC deal with auto insurance, according to a report by the San Francisco Chronicle. Data collected over the past three years shows that accident and health coverage gets the most complaints and makes up about 40 percent of the total number of grievances.

If you’ve got an issue, it’s a good idea to take it to the top. According to California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones, the California Department of Insurance has recovered $63.8 million in 2010 for consumers who complained about conduct of insurance companies. “Our goal at the Department of Insurance is to be the best consumer protection agency in the nation,” Commissioner Jones said in a news release. “I’m proud to announce that our hard work has led to us recovering more than $63 million for consumers for calendar year 2010. Through our consumer complaint services and our market conduct exams, we will continue to be responsive to the needs of consumers and proactive in looking for any and all activities that hurt policyholders.”

In California, complaints come in through calls to the hotline. Typically there are 200,000 annual calls in to the (800) 927-HELP line. The Claims Services and Rating and Underwriting Services bureaus are the ones who investigate and resolve claims for consumers. The Consumer Services Division recovered close to $90 million in 2009. About one-fifth of that came from resolving issues with the wildfires of 2007 and 2008. Officials say resolving those types of claims can take more than a year because of the complexity of the issues.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, regulators are necessary for acting as a mediator between the insurance providers and the policyholders. Consumers who feel that they aren’t being treated properly or haven’t received adequate coverage can report their complaints to their state regulation departments as a way to try for recourse. Some of the biggest sources of complaints are settlement disputes, claims denials and rating issues. Consumers also complain when settlement sizes are too low or there were delays with service.