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Missouri insurance regulators say they returned a record amount in insurance claims recoveries to consumers in 2011.

An additional $21 million was recovered from insurance companies by the Missouri Department of Insurance on behalf of consumers; the previous record was $14.6 million set in 2009. A significant portion of those recoveries were related to the tornadoes last year in Joplin ($4.5 million), St. Louis ($640,000) and Sedalia ($250,000), the department said.

Statewide, the department handled more than 3,800 formal complaints and assisted more than 8,500 additional consumers in writing and another 21,000 over the telephone.

The department’s Market Conduct Section managed nearly 150 examinations and investigations in 2011, returning $1.77 million to consumers who were underpaid on claims or whose premiums were too high. Enforcement efforts also resulted in $465,000 in fines from insurance companies.

Topics Claims Missouri