The British Columbia Financial Services Authority (BCFSA) has published its second annual consumer complaints and investigations report showing a 10 per cent increase in the number of complaints it received about regulated professionals in the province between April 1, 2024 and March 31, 2025.
The insurance industry generated the second highest number of complaints – 16 per cent of all complaints the regulator received – second only to those made in the real estate sector.
All told, 301 complaints were made about insurance companies during the year. “This segment generally generates the second highest number of complaints, following real estate services, across all BCFSA regulated sectors. This remained consistent in fiscal year 2024/25,” they write in the report entitled Protecting Consumer Confidence: BCFSA Consumer Complaints and Investigations Report.
Insurance Compagnies in details
“A significant number of complaints in the fiscal year 2024/25 were related to personal property insurance, followed by home warranty insurance,” the report note.
Broken down, 26 per cent of complaints were related to policyholders’ dissatisfaction with claims, followed by dissatisfaction with policy and contract terms and conditions (24 per cent, up nine per cent relative to the year prior) and dissatisfaction with an insurers’ business practices, including the complaint process or delayed claim settlement (22 per cent up four per cent).
The regulator says it collected $200,000 in lieu of administrative penalties during the year, up from $30,000 in 2023 and 2024. It also recovered $27,000 in investigation costs, up from just $4,000 the year before.
