The National Association of Insurance Commissioners' (NAIC) has released its annual list of top consumer complaints, and as in recent years, the top three issues reported by consumers were dominated by claim-related issues.

According to the NAIC, the top three reasons consumers filed formal complaints against their insurance companies in 2008 were delays, denials of claims, and unsatisfactory settlement offers made by insurers. These are the same issues that have dominated NAIC's study since 2006. There also is consistency in regards to the lines of insurance that garner the most consumer complaints. Accident and health ranks first, followed by auto, homeowners', life and annuity, and lastly commercial multi-peril.

A total of 195,669 confirmed consumer complaints about insurance companies were reported to the Complaint Database System (CDS) during the 2008 calendar year. The NAIC said that this information is based on the submission of data to them from the state insurance departments. The CDS is continually updated, as new information is received from the states on an ongoing basis. The NAIC does not collect all complaint data from all states.