The North Carolina Department of Insurance has levied a big fine against the states biggest health insurer for web and information technology snafus that resulted in a myriad of consumer problems during the 2016 enrollment season in January. The glitches generated more than 3,000 complaints Blue Cross of North Carolina continued to work on through the summer to resolve.

The department fined Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina $3.6 million because of problems consumers experienced with incorrect billings and crediting of premium payments, policy cancellation notices, difficulty in obtaining premium refunds and with receiving timely notices of policy renewals with explanations of coverage changes.

This is the largest fine the North Carolina Department of Insurance has ever given out and almost double the previous largest amount against a single company, says North Carolina Department of Insurance commissioner Wayne Goodwin. Since January, NCDOI has received numerous complaints from BCBSNC customers which included allegations that BCBSNC customer service department was not readily available by telephone or through their website.

The department of insurance began a formal investigation of North Carolina Blue Cross in February after more than 1,000 consumers complained of problems using the companys website and customer support service to sign up or re-enroll for health insurance coverage last fall.

Blue Cross of North Carolina began experiencing problems in January after switching over to a new claims processing and enrollment system at the end of 2015. Blue Cross continued to enroll new plan members and renew existing plan members despite system outages, downtime and data mistakes on its new platform, while consumer complaints mounted, according to the department of insurance.

In a voluntary settlement agreement signed by Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina CEO J. Bradley Wilson the plan agreed to pay the fine from a cash surplus and has made restitution in the amount of $11.3 million to some policyholders for overpayment of premiums and related issues. It also has made interest payments of $8.3 million on some claims made by healthcare providers.

We are prepared to pay the amount for our technological problems, Blue Cross of North Carolina says in a statement. Weve actively addressed these issues.