Required insurance companies to provide prompt payment of charges to doctors, hospitals and other medical providers

Required an annual notice to homeowners from insurance companies of potentially costly gaps in their coverage

Created position of Consumer Services Director to improve and expand response and assistance to consumers with questions about and disputes with their insurance companies

Began crackdown on uninsured motorists, including seizing the license plates of cars found not to be insured, with legislation sponsored by Sen. Sokola and Rep. Stone

Increased fines for repeated and unfair practices by insurance companies, with legislation sponsored by Sen. Blevins and Rep. Keeley

Created committee to recruit additional medical malpractice insurance carriers to the state

Approved first auto insurance premium rate cut in years

Rejected proposed auto and long-term care insurance rate increases for first time in years

Submitted proposal to Governor and General Assembly for health insurance pool for individuals and small businesses, with legislative sponsorship from Sen. Blevins and Rep. Stone

Created system to make complaints against insurance companies public

Prohibited insurance companies from refusing to renew homeowners insurance based solely on several small claims

Began initiative to educate Delawareans on the need for flood insurance

Launched investigation into excessive and contractually prohibited rate hikes by long-term care insurance companies

Engaged an independent actuary to analyze proposed workers compensation insurance rate increases and held public hearings on proposed workers comp rates for the first time

Created new guides for consumers on homeowners and automobile insurance and published them - in booklets and on the internet - in English and Spanish

Revamped the Commissioner's website to make more user-friendly and include more consumer information

Began outreach sessions to provide insurance information and complaint services in community centers, senior centers, churches, etc.

Implemented the State Based System (SBS) for tracking and handling consumer complaints.

A native of Delaware, Matt lives in Newark with his wife Michele and their twin sons, Zachary and Adam. He was elected to a four-year term as Insurance Commissioner in November 2004.

Upon returning to Delaware in 1991 after college and law school, Matt worked for two years with Delaware Volunteer Legal Services, operating free legal aid clinics for those who could not afford lawyers. After leaving DVLS, Matt went into private practice, and ultimately became a partner with the law firm of Young, Conaway, Stargatt & Taylor in 2000. At Young Conaway, Matt argued cases involving insurance disputes, personal injuries, real estate, commercial and corporate disputes, and bankruptcies.

Matt has argued cases in every court system in the state of Delaware, from the Justice of the Peace Courts up through the Delaware Supreme Court. Matt has also received the Distinguished Service Award from the Young Lawyers Section of the Delaware State Bar Association.

In 1998, then-Governor Thomas R. Carper named Matt as the chairman of the newly created Child Protection Accountability Commission, which was set up in the aftermath of the deaths of several children in state care. In that position, Matt helped to dramatically reduce the caseloads carried by child protective services workers, and to initiate a variety of other steps to improve the safety of children.

Matt also served on a variety of boards and commissions during his years in the private practice of law, including Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Delaware, the Wilmington Civil Rights Commission, and the Kutz Home.

As Governor Ruth Ann Minner's legal counsel from 2001 through 2003, Matt wrote several of the Governor's major legislative initiatives, such as the Patients Bill of Rights (regulating health insurance companies), tough anti-terrorism legislation, strong environmental legislation, and legislation protecting school teachers from lawsuits. He also worked with the Governor to see these bills passed through the General Assembly. Matt also represented the Governor on a variety of task forces, including the Governor's Strategic Economic Council and the Governor's Cancer Task Force.

Matt was born in Wilmington and grew up in Hockessin. His father, Morton Denn, was a professor of chemical engineering at the University of Delaware, and his mother helped to run the former Newark Art Gallery before returning to school to earn her graduate degree in psychology. Matt attended Yorklyn Elementary School and H.B. Dupont Junior High School, before moving to California with his family when he was starting high school.

Matt attended college at the University of California at Berkeley, where he graduated with honors. He graduated from Yale Law School in 1991, where he served as a Colker Teaching Fellow in Constitutional Law. He has also served as an adjunct professor at Widener Law School in the area of constitutional law.

The Denn family: Matt, Michele, Zachary and Adam (and Lenny)