A look at the case files from our consumer hotline

Little-known fact: We staff a toll-free hotline where Washingtonians with insurance questions or problems can get help from our experts and analysts. The phone number is 1-800-562-6900.

What do people call about? A lot call us looking for help finding health care. And we get a flurry of calls after wind storms, floods, etc. In many cases, we help the consumers recover thousands of dollars in wrongly denied or delayed claims.

Here's a look at some cases from June, for example:

-A staffer helped an 87-year-old woman get a $3,420 claim paid on a vehicle service contract. The company said she hadn't gotten the neccessary pre-authorization. In fact, she'd called 11 times.
-We helped settle an $8,253 homeowners claim that had been delayed due to multiple revisions of repair estimates.
-Another staffer helped a consumer recover $9,506 in a third-party property damage claim for a consumer whose car had been destroyed by poor workmanship at a repair shop.
-We helped clear the record after a insurer wrongly tagged a driver's file with an at-fault accident.
-A staffer helped convince an insurer to agree to total a truck and pay an additional $54,219 on a claim, after initially paying $17,000 for the repairs.
-We helped collect an additional $7,685 in long term care benefits re: hospice care for a recently deceased parent.