It’s National Consumer Protection Week

According to the Washington Insurance Commissioner’s site, February 4th to 10th, 2007 is National Consumer Protection Week (NCPW). You are encouraged to “Read up and reach out: Be an informed consumer.”

The Office of the Insurance Commissioner has thousands of pages of information that can help you become a more informed insurance consumer. View our publications in our online consumer publication library or look under “types of insurance” at www.insurance.wa.gov for additional information. If you find something useful, share it with a family member or friend.

If you’ve wondered how earthquake insurance works or if you’ve heard about credit scoring and wonder how it can impact your auto insurance, why not take some time this week to become an informed consumer?

The NCPW site has information from federal, state, and local government agencies, and national consumer advocacy organizations. NCPW highlights consumer education efforts in the fight against fraud in communities across the country. This year, NCPW encourages consumers to read up and reach out in their effort to be informed consumers. By gathering and sharing information, consumers – and their friends and families – can be more confident, savvy, and safe in the marketplace.

According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), consumer information can help people recognize a rip-off, smell a scam, or find a fraud. Fraudulent promotions seek to exploit people’s financial fantasies, needs, and optimism. But informed consumers are better able to see through frauds and deceptions, whether they take the form of questionable claims in an ad, ‘breathless’ offers that come in the mail or email, or schemes that sound like sure-fire successes.

Consumers can find practical – and tactical – tips from NCPW partner organizations about how to make well-informed purchase decisions, avoid scams, protect personal information, and file a complaint at www.consumer.gov/ncpw. Not only can this information empower consumers, but it also can improve the quality and choice of goods and services and enhance law enforcement efforts.