A consumer study of the nation's state insurance department Websites has found 18 out of the 51 were "inadequate" when it came toproviding the public with useful information.

The vast majority of state insurance departments require Website improvements to effectively arm consumers with the necessaryinformation to make intelligent auto and homeowners insurancedecisions, according to a Consumer Federation of America (CFA)analysis.

CFA in its report, "State Insurance Department Websites: AConsumer Assessment," in addition to determining that 18 sites were"inadequate," found 15 additional Web sites were "fair" and 12 Websites rated "good but not excellent."

Only six Web sites--California, Georgia, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texasand Utah--were rated as "excellent." Those sites, CFA said, "havecomplete, up-to-date information that is easy for consumers touse."

Web sites rated "inadequate" include: Alabama, Connecticut,Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts, Minnesota,Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Rhode Island, SouthDakota, Tennessee, Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming.

CFA's report is broken down into two main sections. The firstoffers links to certain information, if it is available, on the Websites of all 51 jurisdictions. The information includes:

o "Buying assistance" information for both auto and homeownersinsurance, such as types of coverage, price information andsolvency ratings.

o "Public enforcement," such as market conduct exams, consumeralerts and search functions for both companies and agents showinglicensing and disciplinary information.

o Complaints and claims assistance, which includes claimsettlement tips.

The second part of the report is a chart ranking thejurisdictions and showing which Web sites have current informationon a variety of topics and which ones do not. Rankings were basedon a point system based on the information provided by eachjurisdiction.

A CFA statement said the consumer group is going to send thereport to all departments of insurance, and a letter to all of thedepartments not rated "excellent" asking them to makeimprovements.

J. Robert Hunter, CFA's director of insurance, said in thestatement: "States with inadequate Web sites do not have toreinvent the wheel. They need only use the excellent sites alreadyin use by other states as a guide for improving their ownsites."

In a teleconference explaining the report, Mr. Hunter noted thatdespite being under budgetary constraints, states can still improvetheir insurance department Web sites. Three of the states rated"excellent," he noted, are small states with low budgets.

Mr. Hunter added the report has two goals: helping consumers bymaking important information easily accessible, and helpinginsurance departments by showing them where they can improve.

Citing the importance of informative department Web sites,Stephen Broback, executive director of CFA, said consumers pay alot of money for insurance, but information is scarce. "Mostconsumers think they can rely on insurance agents, but theseprofessionals typically don't shop the market; they have close tiesto one or two insurers."

And, said Mr. Broback, "if consumers shop on their own, theyquickly learn that policies have many different variables and thatthey are priced individually."

Mr. Hunter added that when he was the Texas insurancecommissioner, he had 25 people come in with auto policies. Thedepartment gave the consumers shopping guides, including priceinformation and a telephone. Mr. Hunter said the consumers then hadone hour to shop for coverage. The average consumer out of those 25saved $125. A similar experiment with homeowners insurance led toan average savings of $85. "Knowledge is power," he said. "Wecalled it the 'hundred-dollar hour' in Texas; it's still calledthat on their Web site."

To access the report, visithttp://www.consumerfed.org/pdfs/state_insurance_websites.pdf.