The main phone number for the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance is 615-741-2241. For insurance questions specifically, call the Consumer Insurance Services hotline at 1-800-342-4029 (or 615-741-2218 locally). Both lines are staffed Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM Central Time, at the department’s Nashville headquarters.1Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance. Contact The Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance2Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance. File a Complaint
Which Number to Call
The main line, 615-741-2241, handles general administrative inquiries and routes callers to most divisions in the agency. If your question involves an insurance policy dispute, a complaint against a carrier, or a coverage interpretation, skip the main line and call Consumer Insurance Services directly:
- Toll-free: 1-800-342-4029
- Local: 615-741-2218
Consumer Insurance Services is the team that actually investigates complaints and answers policy questions, so starting there avoids a transfer.2Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance. File a Complaint The automated system will prompt you to pick the nature of your call; listen for the Consumer Insurance Services or Agent Licensing options. Hold times climb midweek and around midday, so early Monday or late Friday afternoon tends to move faster.
You can also check whether an agent or company is licensed in Tennessee through the department’s online verification tool before you pick up the phone.3Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance. Agent/Producer Resources If the lookup answers the question, no call is needed.
Mailing Address and Fax
For general written correspondence:
Department of Commerce & Insurance
500 James Robertson Parkway
Davy Crockett Tower
Nashville, Tennessee 37243-05651Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance. Contact The Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance
For complaint documents, Consumer Insurance Services uses a different floor and ZIP suffix in the same building:
Consumer Insurance Services
500 James Robertson Parkway, 6th Floor
Nashville, TN 37243-0574
Fax: (615) 532-73894National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Consumer Complaint Form – TN
Sending paperwork to the wrong suite can delay processing by weeks, so match the address to the type of request.
What to Have Ready Before You Call
Representatives pull records using specific identifiers. If you don’t have them in front of you, the call stalls while everyone searches.
- Your policy number, found on the declarations page or on a recent premium bill. This ties your call to a specific coverage agreement.
- The insurer’s full legal name. Large carriers often operate through subsidiaries with slightly different names. The NAIC assigns each company a unique five-digit code, which you can look up through its Consumer Insurance Search tool if you aren’t sure which entity actually issued your policy.5National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Consumer Insurance Search Results
- Your claim number, if you’re calling about an active dispute or a specific decision by the insurer.
- The National Producer Number (NPN) if the call concerns a specific agent. The NPN is a unique identifier assigned through the national licensing system and can be looked up online.6NIPR. Look up a National Producer Number
If you’d rather put the complaint in writing, the department accepts them through an online form hosted by the NAIC. The policy must have been written in Tennessee for the department to take the complaint.7Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance. File an Insurance Complaint4National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Consumer Complaint Form – TN
When the Department Can’t Help
The Insurance Division regulates and licenses insurers and agents, investigates suspected fraud, and can take regulatory action like fines or license revocation against carriers that violate state insurance law.8Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance. The Tennessee Insurance Division What it cannot do is award you money. It is a regulatory agency, not a court. If an insurer owes you a payout and refuses, the department can pressure the company and cite violations, but a judge is the one who can order payment.
One situation catches many callers off guard. If your health insurance comes through a large employer that self-funds its plan rather than buying coverage from an insurance company, the Tennessee Insurance Division likely has no authority over your dispute. Federal ERISA law preempts state insurance regulation for self-funded employer health plans, and complaints go to the U.S. Department of Labor instead.9U.S. Department of Labor. ERISA Your plan documents or HR department can confirm whether a plan is self-funded or fully insured.
ERISA also does not cover plans sponsored by government entities or churches. Those plans fall outside both ERISA and typical state insurance regulation, so ask the plan administrator directly about the appeals process before assuming the state can intervene.9U.S. Department of Labor. ERISA