Jerked around by your insurance? The WA Insurance Commissioner really works.

I got an insurance with HomeDepot for my washer/dryer. Lo and behold, when it’s time to file a claim, we got jerked around. The agents on the call were quite nice, they just couldn’t move the case forward. We kept calling and emailing between Aug 2024 and Jan 2025. Each time they promised to process, but nothing happened.

In Jun 2025 (nearly a year after my machine broke), I filed a complaint with the [WA Insurance Commissioner](https://www.insurance.wa.gov/). Filing took me 30-45 min, mostly to get the timeline in order with supporting emails.

A mere 2 days after I filed a complaint, insurance sent me a check for the agreed amount. In their explanation to the Commissioner, they said the issue was “Unfortunately, due to an error matching the date of his repair invoice with the date of Mr. AromaticExchange’s claim, there was a delay in processing his reimbursement,”

I’m usually a pro-market guy (e.g. in housing issues), but credit where credit’s due: in situation/market like insurance where it’s hard for consumers to shop around, the government played an important regulatory role here. I also like that the gov is merely enforcing the contract that the insurance company freely enters into. So instead of the usual gov vs market framing, it is the gov that is upholding market function in this case.