The Life Insurance Consumer Advocacy Center (LICAC) has filed a lawsuit against the California Department of Insurance (CDI), alleging that the agency is unlawfully withholding consumer complaint data despite multiple requests for access.
According to the lawsuit, filed under the California Public Records Act, LICAC claims that the department initially responded by stating that the requested data did not exist.
The group later pointed out that the same data appeared in a 2023 report issued by the insurance commissioner. Following that, the CDI cited a public records exemption, but did not provide a specific justification when asked for clarification.
LICAC executive director Brian Brosnahan (pictured above) said the organization turned to legal action after months of correspondence with the department failed to produce the requested information. He said the group is asking the court to address what it views as a violation of public records law.
The consumer advocacy group said it is requesting the complaint data to support its work on policy reform and consumer protection. According to LICAC, the data could help establish benchmarks for tracking complaints over time and evaluate the effects of recent legislative changes, including Senate Bill 263.
The CDI has faced scrutiny regarding the transparency and accessibility of its consumer complaint data.
Despite these criticisms, the CDI points to its Consumer Complaint Center where consumers can file complaints and track their status. Additionally, CDI said that the Center for Data Insights and Innovation (CDII) publishes annual reports on health care complaints made by California consumers, including those submitted to the CDI.
However, specific figures for insurance complaints filed with the CDI in 2024 are not readily available in the public domain. The most recent accessible data pertains to 2021, during which the CDI reported receiving 23,455 consumer assistance calls related to health care issues and reviewed 3,608 jurisdictional complaint cases.
Senate Bill 263, enacted in 2024, revised disclosure and "best interest" standards for agents selling annuities.
LICAC has opposed the law, claiming it allows insurance agents to claim they are working in consumers' best interest while maintaining business practices that may not align with that standard.
Brosnahan said at the time the bill passed that the measure enables agents to present themselves as free of conflicts of interest when that may not be accurate.
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