More Transparency, Please

The letter was written in response to requests for comment from the Treasury Department and FIO on how the industry should be modernized and regulated going forward.

The consumer representatives said they wrote the letter "to help bring consumer concerns to the forefront of the debate on insurance modernization and as a neutral voice in the continuing battle between advocates for state or federal regulation of insurance."

 "Consumers need access to policy forms and other information including producer compensation and market conduct data that is routinely available in other financial sectors," the letter said, adding that the FIO should require insurers to affirmatively address climate change issues, and that regulators need to be more proactive in investigating insurer handling of claims, enforcing claim handling laws and empowering consumers to better protect themselves.

Moreover, the letter said, the FIO should increase the amount of insurance company data and statistics that are publicly available, as is the case in other financial sectors.

The letter also voiced concern that, "after a short period of abashed docility – and successful requests for a government bailout exceeding many hundreds of billions of dollars – the financial services industry has returned to its mantra that the best regulation is usually the least regulation."