State Farm, What a Scam.

[Acard7]

I’ve been with State Farm insurance for 18+ years. Love our agent we use. But I’ve lost confidence in them after this past hail storm producing claims for my truck and the wife’s jeep. Not that I’m naive for the fact that insurance companies make their money by NOT paying you, but the discrepancy between estimates blew my mind.

Professional estimate on the jeep was $10k, and $6,900 on my truck. Adjuster calls wanting to do a video chat to do the estimate on my wife’s jeep. I told him the video call would not properly show the true damage and the lighting conditions outdoors are not appropriate either. The adjuster agreed and warned me that his estimate would likely be lower. We both agreed damage was quarter size or larger for hail, and the jeep got annihilated. Estimate comes back at a whopping 2,800 bucks. ?? He even put in his report that it was dime and nickel sized dents. My dent guy has already filed for the supplement.

Called and talked to them today to let them know I don’t feel comfortable nor qualified to do the video call estimate on my truck, and they could either go off the estimate or send someone to me. Especially if they are going to lie about the dent sizes anyways.

Rewind 6 years ago we had a hail claim on the house and vehicles, State Farm adjuster came out and was very fair on the estimates, and the process was smooth as butter. Now this has become a process of waiting on hold for 45-60 min just to talk to a claims rep. Safe to say I’ll be dropping them from everything after the hail is fixed.

 

[suke]

I have not heard good things about State Farm. I had them and in the middle right now of switching. We had a fridge water line break and ruined our wood floors and a cabinet. We called State Farm and they said ok, get a quote and we'll go from there. We were in the middle of renovating our house anyways, so it took us a bit to get that done. We got a quote and they said ok, we'll send out our guy now. This was all over a matter of weeks. Their guy comes out and says yup.....that's water damage. You should definitely file a claim. Uhhhhhh, thought that's what this was. Anywho, formal claim now started. They denied it saying it was "old" damage. WTF!? So we paid to have our floors replaced and that cabinet replaced. I'm not confident if I needed them they'd actually be there for me. So I said eff this noise when it is time to renew I'm going somewhere else. Went with my local Farm Bureau. Granted my guy has not been great at getting back to me to get everything set up. They were slightly cheaper, though, than State Farm.

 

[Acard7]

I have not heard good things about State Farm. I had them and in the middle right now of switching. We had a fridge water line break and ruined our wood floors and a cabinet. We called State Farm and they said ok, get a quote and we'll go from there. We were in the middle of renovating our house anyways, so it took us a bit to get that done. We got a quote and they said ok, we'll send out our guy now. This was all over a matter of weeks. Their guy comes out and says yup.....that's water damage. You should definitely file a claim. Uhhhhhh, thought that's what this was. Anywho, formal claim now started. They denied it saying it was "old" damage. WTF!? So we paid to have our floors replaced and that cabinet replaced. I'm not confident if I needed them they'd actually be there for me. So I said eff this noise when it is time to renew I'm going somewhere else. Went with my local Farm Bureau. Granted my guy has not been great at getting back to me to get everything set up. They were slightly cheaper, though, than State Farm.

We have a local farm bureau we plan on going through as well! Just insane how much changed in 6 years from my last actual claim! They are scam artists now.

 

[suke]

Another tidbit about State Farm. We have those roofing companies come around our neighborhood a couple times a month trying to replace roofs with "damage". We generally just don't answer the door, but TWO different ones caught me outside the last few weeks. The second they hear I have/had State Farm they said oh, yeah, don't bother they won't approve anything for a damaged roof. LOL!

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

Sorry for your issue but it is happening with all sorts of insurance carriers. I recently had a serious run in with AARP united health care insurance for prescriptions through Walgreens .
I had that for many years I seldom used it and hated Walgreens real nasty people, any time I asked important questions about a prescription and it's side effects I would get answers like " oh so now you are going to be your own doctor, or if I mispronounced a name of something they would sarcastically tell me I pronounced it wrong but they were close and that insurance said I had to go to them alone or it was not covered so I kept the insurance . in late November or early December I received a notice that my prescription insurance was going to double in price as of the first of the year. I sent them a note in my bill that I was done with them and I had no intention of continuing the coverage .
Even though I had a hip replacement surgery scheduled for January. I felt that I was being held hostage by these people and it really rubbed me the wrong way!
Several months went by while I recovered from my hip replacement surgery, and then I received a notice and a bill saying I was not allowed to drop my insurance as it must be done with Medicare approval and the time to file for that had just expired "COINCIDENCE??"
So I would need to wait until next year to do that and I was forced to keep my insurance and pay for the previous months.
Then I learned that when I signed up for this insurance years ago it was somehow put through Medicare and I was paying them an additional monthly fee of more than 80 dollars as well.
I tried to get with Medicare to confirm all this but never had any luck so I wrote them a check for the amount they said I owe and then a few days later I finally got through to Medicare.
I was told that Walgreen informed them that I filled out a request to drop them but never signed it. I did fill out one after I was told of Medicare's involvement but I signed it so I have to wonder what was going on. And it was after their time limit anyway so now I think that was a C Y A for AARP They had me do it months after the time frame expired.
Medicare told me that I did need to file with them to drop my prescription insurance coverage but I could drop the AARP insurance any time I wanted with no involvement with Medicare.
So I had to stop payment on my check to them and tell them what bus stop to get off. Medicare also wanted me to keep in touch with them and to keep them informed .
Now I believe this was a scam, doubling your insurance cost and telling you just after the time limit expired that Medicare won't let you drop them coverage as the time limit was expired .
This was criminal in my opinion and I suspect that many people had the same reaction that I had, if that is true there is probably grounds for a class action lawsuit and possible criminal charges of crimes against the elderly.
I am posting this so if you or a family member had the same thing occur with this insurance you will know it must have been a lot of people being scammed.
I received a letter from Medicare that they were refunding my last few payment for the extra insurance I was paying them for since I dropped the Walgreen AARP coverage.
I never asked for a refund from Medicare and I never filed the request during the limited time frame either. So what caused them to refund the money and discontinue the coverage perhaps this surfaced and a lot of people were ripped off and contacted them. I no longer trust anything AARP says and will avoid them in the future. So just a heads up for you or your family members if you experienced similar issues with their insurance and was also told you could not drop your insurance. That Medicare had to approve it and you had to do that in their time frame etc.

 

[OCMD]

Insurance companies are in the business of profit. Delay delay delay payment; and if they do pay, it is always a below market price. Why? Because they can get away with it. Most people don't have the time or the savvy on how to deal with these clowns; or just take the low offer as they need to move on with life. My kid's Kia Soul lol got swiped in Seattle. 8 weeks ago Of course, recovered 2 days later in a hood - destroyed. Been fighting Geico since then. Car valued at about 9500 plus tax and tags. Geico says 7k and provide proof the value is as I claimed. Solid proof provided, including the used vehicle director at a major conglomeration of dealers (gold standard value); car gurus (we don't accept that valuation); cars.com (we don't accept that valuation); carmax (we don't accept that valuation.) WELL WHAT DO YOU ACCEPT? Temu? Geico assumed I needed the 7k to get a new vehicle. Nope. It's principle. Since I can't sue their ass in Seattle from Maryland it is on to the next step up the food chain to the Insurance Commissioner. F ing thieves and they prey upon those who can't afford to deal with the low ball nonsense. And they say I am an ambulance chaser by trade. Man I love taking insurance company's money on a weekly basis. Make 'em pay! How many millions do they blow on paying celebrities to tout their crap product? That's why you have to go local, such as a farm bureau or a company which doesn't advertise. Finger's crossed - haven't had a lick of an issue with Erie in years.

 

[suke]

Insurance companies are in the business of profit. Delay delay delay payment; and if they do pay, it is always a below market price. Why? Because they can get away with it. Most people don't have the time or the savvy on how to deal with these clowns; or just take the low offer as they need to move on with life. My kid's Kia Soul lol got swiped in Seattle. 8 weeks ago Of course, recovered 2 days later in a hood - destroyed. Been fighting Geico since then. Car valued at about 9500 plus tax and tags. Geico says 7k and provide proof the value is as I claimed. Solid proof provided, including the used vehicle director at a major conglomeration of dealers (gold standard value); car gurus (we don't accept that valuation); cars.com (we don't accept that valuation); carmax (we don't accept that valuation.) WELL WHAT DO YOU ACCEPT? Temu? Geico assumed I needed the 7k to get a new vehicle. Nope. It's principle. Since I can't sue their ass in Seattle from Maryland it is on to the next step up the food chain to the Insurance Commissioner. F ing thieves and they prey upon those who can't afford to deal with the low ball nonsense. And they say I am an ambulance chaser by trade. Man I love taking insurance company's money on a weekly basis. Make 'em pay! How many millions do they blow on paying celebrities to tout their crap product? That's why you have to go local, such as a farm bureau or a company which doesn't advertise. Finger's crossed - haven't had a lick of an issue with Erie in years.

I had Eerie for a while and they seemed great. Never had to make a claim, so not sure on that front.

 

[captainhook]

I’ve had Erie for a many years (close to 20?), my agent is great and bends over backwards for me, and I am not an easy customer (I expect people to work, most people don’t appreciate that quality of mine in any industry). I have had some claims over the years, including last year on another driver with Erie who nicely crashed into my wife’s brand new Wrangler in a parking lot. All have been very good. I was low balled by a lot on the Wrangler claim last year but when I sent them an estimate they immediately paid up.

My homeowners went up significantly on this year’s renewal, since I am not too keen to spend almost five thousand dollars for that, I promptly called around and talked to a nice well known local agent who sells multiple carriers including Nationwide and she advised me that every carrier had gone up substantially and that Erie was not only competitive, but they may in fact not even offer me coverage if I was not an existing customer. She recommended moving to $5k deductible (which she’s already doing with her existing clients) so that’s what I did and got back to about $300 more than last year’s rate ~$3600). I didn’t want to move anyway because in my past experience, nobody can touch Erie’s auto rates.

 

[OCMD]

Erie paid 25k for a roof for me about 8 years ago because of hail damage. Didn't get jammed with an increase until about 2 yeas ago but that was just the horrible inflation revving up.

 

[Jim_in_Delaware]

I’ve been very happy with USAA and they have insured our cars and home for over 20 years. Their reps are very pleasant to talk to and they often make me laugh. Daughter’s car (8 year old Chevy Sonic) was totaled in a hit and run two years ago, and they offered me a check for $9500 (fantastic for a car I paid $14500 for).

Somewhat different experience with Allstate. For 5 years had them insure our off-road toys. E-mailed my agent and had him cancel the policy when I sold the UTV’s. Called Allstate HQ and got a call center (in India?). i was told by the rep that my agent cancelled the policy a couple of days after the next payment was due and I owed a month’s payment ($35). I explained that I cancelled the policy on time and would be happy to send them the agent’s confirmation of the cancellation. Call center rep was downright rude and told me there was nothing she could do (wtf?). Agent fixed the issue, but if Allstate reps are such assholes, I will never willingly do business with them again.

Jim

 

[Acard7]

Update: they have made it right on our jeep. Partly due to my local agent calling headquarters I believe. The supplement was approved so we got the full professional estimate amount of 10,800 dollars, minus the 1000 dollar deductible! Very happy that was resolved within a week. Now we wait to see what they will do with my truck…..

 

[Farmdog267]

I used Erie insurance while I was self employed for all my business insurance and the service and value was always good. We've seen some tropical storms and hurricanes come up the east coast and even has a couple of tornados touch down just a few miles from my house. I've heard nothing but horror stories from Erie customers and allstate customers about how dificult the process was and has been ever since and its approaching the 2 year mark since the tornado came through.
My wife was rear ended by a contractor who had zurich insurance and that process was also a nightmare. Trying to get full value of her 2018 Equinox after the accident was met with all sorts of nonsense and Zurich just flat out wouldn't speak to the independent adjuster we hired, said we don't know of this agency so we have no need to speak with him, despite his agency being fully licensed accredited and all that jazz.. Just more money down the toilet...

 

[Pantherburn]

Sorry for your issue but it is happening with all sorts of insurance carriers. I recently had a serious run in with AARP united health care insurance for prescriptions through Walgreens .
I had that for many years I seldom used it and hated Walgreens real nasty people, any time I asked important questions about a prescription and it's side effects I would get answers like " oh so now you are going to be your own doctor, or if I mispronounced a name of something they would sarcastically tell me I pronounced it wrong but they were close and that insurance said I had to go to them alone or it was not covered so I kept the insurance . in late November or early December I received a notice that my prescription insurance was going to double in price as of the first of the year. I sent them a note in my bill that I was done with them and I had no intention of continuing the coverage .
Even though I had a hip replacement surgery scheduled for January. I felt that I was being held hostage by these people and it really rubbed me the wrong way!
Several months went by while I recovered from my hip replacement surgery, and then I received a notice and a bill saying I was not allowed to drop my insurance as it must be done with Medicare approval and the time to file for that had just expired "COINCIDENCE??"
So I would need to wait until next year to do that and I was forced to keep my insurance and pay for the previous months.
Then I learned that when I signed up for this insurance years ago it was somehow put through Medicare and I was paying them an additional monthly fee of more than 80 dollars as well.
I tried to get with Medicare to confirm all this but never had any luck so I wrote them a check for the amount they said I owe and then a few days later I finally got through to Medicare.
I was told that Walgreen informed them that I filled out a request to drop them but never signed it. I did fill out one after I was told of Medicare's involvement but I signed it so I have to wonder what was going on. And it was after their time limit anyway so now I think that was a C Y A for AARP They had me do it months after the time frame expired.
Medicare told me that I did need to file with them to drop my prescription insurance coverage but I could drop the AARP insurance any time I wanted with no involvement with Medicare.
So I had to stop payment on my check to them and tell them what bus stop to get off. Medicare also wanted me to keep in touch with them and to keep them informed .
Now I believe this was a scam, doubling your insurance cost and telling you just after the time limit expired that Medicare won't let you drop them coverage as the time limit was expired .
This was criminal in my opinion and I suspect that many people had the same reaction that I had, if that is true there is probably grounds for a class action lawsuit and possible criminal charges of crimes against the elderly.
I am posting this so if you or a family member had the same thing occur with this insurance you will know it must have been a lot of people being scammed.
I received a letter from Medicare that they were refunding my last few payment for the extra insurance I was paying them for since I dropped the Walgreen AARP coverage.
I never asked for a refund from Medicare and I never filed the request during the limited time frame either. So what caused them to refund the money and discontinue the coverage perhaps this surfaced and a lot of people were ripped off and contacted them. I no longer trust anything AARP says and will avoid them in the future. So just a heads up for you or your family members if you experienced similar issues with their insurance and was also told you could not drop your insurance. That Medicare had to approve it and you had to do that in their time frame etc.

Thanks for posting this! I will be 65 next year. What’s the best way to go about evaluating supplemental coverage and prescription drug supplement? I know to avoid the advantage care plans, but wow, what a morass!

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

I wish I could tell you the answer to that Question I don't trust any insurance now especially anything involving AARP The world is full of rip-offs.

 

[Pantherburn]

I wish I could tell you the answer to that Question I don't trust any insurance now especially anything involving AARP The world is full of rip-offs.

Thanks! I’ve heard that each state has something called SHIP Home that is supposedly an unbiased good resource which I have planned to at least check out before I make a decision. Such a shame that ethical business practices have become less prevalent, more widespread AND unfortunately expected.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

I have American Family, house, truck, motorcycles, RV, boat and umbrella policy. I’ve had two claims on my truck, both were totally my fault, both times I took my truck to ABRA and the claims were approved within a couple of days, repairs were made within a week once I got the truck in which took a couple weeks for an opening at ABRA. The owner of the office called on both occasions after a couple days to make sure things were moving forward. I’ve never experienced such good customer service with an insurance company.

Yes the rates went up this year which was not surprising. But at least the coverage and customer service is great.

 

[jamesk]

Filed a 15 page complaint letter with my state insurance commision. Encompass/Allstate (2)Hail and (1)boat damage claims....too long to get into the details..... but really really bad!! Erie has been great so far....

 

[Ed255fsh]

All the big companies ate not paying claims.
I just got screwed by boatus insurance . it was cheaper for me to scrap the boat then fix it.
So now new 255

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

So in an interesting turn of events.. I got a check from a class action lawsuit against State Farm. This was for their shister whole life insurance policy wherein the holder was promised a modest monthly return at age 65 for the rest of their lives if the policy was not cashed in of course. What State Farm did not tell you that after you reached age 45 I think it was, the monthly premium you were paying was not enough to cover the increasing policy cost, so at the age of 65 you had nothing, zilch point poo poo, no life insurance and no retirement check.

The plaintiff was awarded $65M that was dispersed over all affected parties, my take was under $200 pro rated as once I found out about this scam I got rid of it. Still, I only had the policy for 5-6 years, and it gives one an idea of the magnitude of their scam if my take was only $200 out of $65M.

 

[granpachuck]

Thanks for posting this! I will be 65 next year. What’s the best way to go about evaluating supplemental coverage and prescription drug supplement? I know to avoid the advantage care plans, but wow, what a morass!

Having gone thru this and a licensed agent, I can share what I did and it seems to be working with zero issues.

I have traditional Medicare, A and B, and do not care for Medicare Advantage, except for specific cases.

Most companies use attained age pricing on the medicare supplement plans. If you search your states dept. of insurance site, you may find a list of all companies licensed to write coverage, and the age based rates.
I went with Mutual of Omaha, Plan G. My wife will too , next year.

The online platform for helping choose a Part D plan was very helpful. I listed scripts I take, or might be taking in the future. Its a good idea to list 5 or more pharmacies. I choose Humana, and while they are Walmart affiliated, I have not filled any scripts there. We have Harris teeter near us, and they are competitive, and have great service. I also use Walgreens, but not a major fan. The Humana website tells you the price you can expect to pay before you get the item filled. I had to call customer service once, and they helped me immediately, and the rep was very knowledgeable. I think the experience will vary greatly depending on the amount of meds one takes. I have been fortunate so far to take very little .

For the folks in their 50's, if you have access to an HSA, max it every year. This will act as a cushion for unexpected medical expenses, rise in rx costs, etc.

Best of luck to you !