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state farm Insurance

jimbo64

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1964 RED CONVERTIBLE
Better be sure that you have what you think you do. Check comments on State Farm in C-2 section.
 
Watch out if you get hit by one of their customers too. Their adjusters, who are State Farm employees not independent adjusters, are known for all manner of skulduggery.

Several years ago a woman tore the front end of my thunderbird off after speeding around a curve in the wrong lane. She had State Farm insurance. I contacted the State Farm adjuster that day and from the start he told me nothing but lies and tried to cheat me out of a fair settlement.

At the end of the 30 day settlement period he illegally sold my car to a salvage yard without my authorization to try and force me to take a ridiculously low settlement check. I threatened him and his supervisor with criminal prosecution before I was able to get a fair settlement.

A customer of mine who's an attorney had warned me about the crap they like to pull so I was prepared for the scumbags.

In the 1990s they lost a huge lawsuit for telling customers that their cars were repaired using only genuine OEM parts and then ordering the body shops to use only cheap, inferior, and unsafe knock off parts.
 
Were you a S.F. policyholder at the the time?? How in h*** can an agent of a company take posession of your car and sell it? A salvage yard has to receive a clear title in order to buy a vehicle and if the car was damaged to the point of not being able to drive it, how could the other party's insurance determine where the car was to be taken. I would have not "threatened" them with a lawsuit and criminal prosecution, I would have done it!

One nice thing about living in WA is that according to state law, a vehicle owner can have body damage repaired at the shop of their choice and you are not required to get multiple estimates.
 
My insurance was and still is through Cotton States. The woman at fault for the accident had State Farm insurance.

The only thing I had agreed to was to verbally consent to let a local body shop tow it to their shop so the State Farm Adjuster could evaluate it. Two people had warned me about State Farm. Both of them had told me that State Farm would sell/tow your car without consent to a scrap yard as a pressure tactic to make you accept a lowball settlement.

Being a poor struggling college student at the time I had to have a car to get to my full time job and school. If I'd actually pressed charges and/or gotten a lawyer then I would have had to wait who knows how long before being compensated for the wreck. The settlement I got from the adjuster after he figured out his weekend plans were about to be drastically altered was what I'd originally asked for at the beginning of the whole ordeal. The way I did it I got enough money to get a slightly nicer newer Thunderbird similar to the one that was totaled the same afternoon that I walked out of the adjusters office.

My lawyer friend later told me I could have gotten a very nice settlement if I'd pressed charges and gotten a lawyer. It kinda made me weak in the knees when he ball parked what the settlement amount could be.
 
wilezcoyote said:
and tried to cheat me out of a fair settlement.

At the end of the 30 day settlement period he illegally sold my car to a salvage yard without my authorization to try and force me to take a ridiculously low settlement check. I threatened him and his supervisor with criminal prosecution before I was able to get a fair settlement.

A customer of mine who's an attorney had warned me about the crap they like to pull so I was prepared for the scumbags.

In the 1990s they lost a huge lawsuit for telling customers that their cars were repaired using only genuine OEM parts and then ordering the body shops to use only cheap, inferior, and unsafe knock off parts.

How did they try to cheat you out of a fair settlement when, by your own admission, you ended up with "enough money to get a slightly nicer newer Thunderbird similar to the one that was totaled." The whole principle behind insurance is to put you in the position you were in before the loss, less any deductibles (if they apply and in your case they don't). Truth is, they did you one better.

Second, your brief recitation of the case " In the 1990s they lost a huge lawsuit for telling customers that their cars were repaired using only genuine OEM parts and then ordering the body shops to use only cheap, inferior, and unsafe knock off parts." is so far off the facts, it's laughable. That case revolved around the quality of Non OEM parts. Comments like these make the rest of your whining smell suspiciously like out and out lies. c4cruiser was more to the point in sniffing out the lack of truth in your story..."How in h*** can an agent of a company take posession of your car and sell it? A salvage yard has to receive a clear title in order to buy a vehicle and if the car was damaged to the point of not being able to drive it, how could the other party's insurance determine where the car was to be taken." Truth is, they can't. If you had had an actionable claim, you should have filed it. Truth is, you didn't. truth is, you ended up in a better position than you were before the accident.

State Farm, and any other large corporation, has had disagreements with claimants/customers and policyholders. Name one corporate giant that hasn't. GM has, Ford has, all of them have. But State Farm would not continue to remain as the largest insurance company in North America year after year and have the JD Powers satisfaction rating they have, if they did business the way you suggest. So the next time you feel so slighted and want to play David to their Goliath, retain the attorney and go for it. But don't come whining about how poorly you were treated as you drive off in your "better than before the accident" settlement.
 
Hey ZRGator, yes I got what I thought was a fair settlement out of State Farm... after threatening to have the adjuster arrested for auto theft. If my threat was without merit why did he suddenly change the amount on the settlement check? Why would his supervisor let him change it? Because they're just really nice guys, right?

No, because they got caught doing something wrong and they knew it. If I was blowing smoke they'd have told me to put it in a pipe and smoke it. You called it an "actionable claim". I acted upon it to get a fair settlement myself because I needed a car now, not six months or a year from then.

I said I was lied to. Let me list them for you.

1. The day after the accident when I contacted the adjuster in charge of the claim to get the ball rolling. He told me I'd have to provide him with a copy of the accident report before anything could be done. The woman at fault had already reported the accident to them and admitted fault and provided them with copies of the tickets the G.S.P. had issued her. I know this because I 1st contacted her State Farm agent and the secretary told me before refering me to the adjuster.

Four days later when I told my agent about the accident and what the adjuster had said he told me that the State Farm Adjuster was "full of crap". The State Patrol post commander had not signed off on the typed up "official copy" of the accident report yet. I called the State Farm adjuster and demanded a rental car and that we procede with handling the claim.

2. He tried to tell me that the only rental car I was entitled to was a Geo Metro. I called my insurance agent and asked him about this. I then called the State Farm adjuster back and demanded a rental car comparable to my Thunderbird, a 2 door, v-6 sport coupe that I was legally entitled too under state law.

3. The next morning the rental car agency called me and told me that they didn't have any cars comparable to mine. All they had was a Geo Metro or a Geo Prizm. I told the girl "Gee, that was odd, you had 3 Monte Carlos parked in front of their office 15 minutes ago."

"Ummm....(really long pause) I can't rent you one of those without approval from the Adjuster" The car rental girl replied. I told her to call him immediately.

4. Five minutes later the adjuster calls me whining about all the woman at fault for the accident's policy covered was a $25 a day rental car (i.e. Geo Metro). I told him that my agent had informed me about the state law regarding rental cars. He capitulated and I went to pick up a Monte Carlo.

5. It took the adjuster about a week to make the first settlement offer. It was very low. (i.e. not enough to buy a car like mine and in comparable condition) I told him his settlement offer was way off and that if we couldn't agree to a cash settlement then they could pay to have my car fixed as required by state law. (again, something my ins. agent told me)

I had recently replaced the engine, transmission, shocks, tires, brakes, fuel pump, etc.. on the car within the last 10 months with new or rebuilt parts. The adjuster said he could adjust the settlement offer higher if I could provide receipts for the parts. I had done all of the labor. The next day I gave him copies of all the receipts.

For the next 2 weeks the adjuster didn't call me. I called him several times and all he would say was "they were still evaluating the information about the claim".

Well the 30th day after the accident rolls around. At 8am the body shop owner, who I've known all my life, told me to come get my license plate, in-car cellphone, and other stuff. I asked him why. He told me that "State Farm sold your car to the auto salvage auction yard. I asked him who told them they could do that. He said he didn't know but, the adjuster had called him yesterday afternoon to notify him and the salvage yard picked up the car that morning. I went to pick up my stuff.

Note: even if they didn't legally "sell" they moved it 35 miles without my knowlege or consent. That, folks is what we call auto theft in Georgia.

At about 9am the rental car agency calls me and tells me that the car has to be back at their office by 5pm or it's on my dime. I tried calling the adjuster immediately afterwards to see what the heck was going on. All I got was voicemail.

At approximately 10 am the adjuster calls and tells me to meet him at his office at 2pm to settle up. He refuses to answer any questions about the settlement. I call my neighbor, the sheriff, and tell him whats going on and ask him what I need to do to press charges against the adjuster. At 1pm I stop by his office on the way to the adjusters office and pick up the forms to swear out a warrant. I take them with me.

When I get to the adjusters office he presents me with check for the original low ball amount that I had rejected and a form to sign. I tell him that I won't accept it and that he can either increase the offer to an amount or fix my car. He told me that he couldn't fix my car it had already been "sent" to the salvage yard for disposal at auction and the ccheck he had was their finall offer and I "could take it or leave it".

At that time I pull out the forms from the Sheriff's office and ask the adjuster, "How bad do you not want to go to jail today?"

He's puzzled by this and tells me I can't do that. I show him the forms and assure him that I can and will. He leaves the room and comes back in with his manager/supervisor. The manager tells me I can't have the adjuster arrested. I ask him if he knew about my car being towed and offer to put his name in the warrant affadavit. They leave the room and stay gone for about 20 minutes.

When they come back they have a check for the amount that I had told them what I thought the car was worth( not a wild guess, I'd researched it) at the 1st settlement meeting two weeks prior. I'm happy and they're relieved that I'm happy.

Later that afternoon I went to pick up a Thunderbird from a family friend who was also a used car dealer. He gave me a really good deal on a car 2 years younger than my old one. It also had a V-8. I had found other cars the same year model as mine for $1000 more than what paid for my replacement T-bird.

As I stated before in a previous post, If I'd actually pressed charges and/or gotten a lawyer then I would have had to wait who knows how long before being compensated for the wreck.

I'm complaining about the thorougly dishonest and belligerent treatment I received from a State Farm Insurance Company employee for 30 days after some idiot ran over me and my car.

Since I've heard several accounts of very similar behavior by State Farm insurance adjusters in other cases. At least 2 of the people did not know the law and took the low ball settlement. I hope that others can learn from my experience and are now better prepared if they find themselves in a similar situation, since there appears to be a pattern of shady practices.

ZRGator, I do not appreciate being called a liar by someone completely ignorant of the facts. You obviously work for State Farm or in the Insurance Industry. I can understand you being upset about someone apparently dissing your profession/company. But, this did happen to me 8 years ago and the fact that others have told me of similar experiences with the same company at different locations tells me that its probably not just a single "rogue" adjuster.

Now lets talk about the class action (that means they ripped off a lot of people) lawsuit that State Farm lost and had to pay a record breaking settlement. As you said, "That case revolved around the quality of Non OEM parts.". Yup, poor quality knock off parts that, among other things, lacked the safety features like built in crumple zones that absorb the shock of an impact in an accident. State Farm was sued in a class action suit for misrepresenting (that means lying) the quality of the non oem (dangerous) parts in some cases and substituting them without the knowlege of the car owner in others.

ZRGATOR, you can play sematic games to attempt to mitigate and obfuscate the facts all day long but that won't change a thing. Yes big companies have disagreements with ordinary people every day. Every day some people in some corporations use their vast reserves of money and legal muscle to do everything possible to deny any wrongdoing and prey on the naiveitte of consumers to get the most favorable terms. Fairness and doing the right thing be d@mned.
 
This is going to get good!!! :argue
 
WileZ

I love your style, man! I would have loved to have seen you press charges, but understand your need to 'move on'.
 
Be cautious before you believe all that is contained in this thread. I am an attorney for State Farm, and much of the information in the originator's posts is incorrect. State Farm does not have the "bad" reputation alleged. In fact, the very opposite is true. Remember, there are two sides to every story, and you are only getting one side here...
 
My State Farm story:
I was traveling on a two lane road (55mph limit) and noticed a car sitting on the shoulder of the lane in which I was traveling. I noticed the person sitting in the car was looking at something to their right and not paying attention to traffic, so I began to slow down. When I got within 50' of the car the driver started to make a U-turn directly in front of me. I "t-boned" her at an estimated 25mph. We both had State Farm insurance. Totaled her Chevette and damaged the front of my car. NCHP gave her a ticket for something like "Not assuring intended move could be made in safety". Withing a couple of days I received all the accident investigation documents and drove my car to State Farm to see the estimator and adjuster. When they finished I received no information, just "we will call in a couple of days". After 5 days I called and was told not to expect a resolution to "my problem" for at least two more weeks. State Farm was now going to do their own investigation of the accident and see if there was contributatory negligence on the part of both drivers, and if so the car repairs would be covered by each owners Collision coverage. I told them I would not accept this as the SHP had declared the other driver to be at fault and they were at the accident scene. And it would be in State Farm's best interest to declare both drivers at fault, they would financially benefit because 1)the collision deductable would apply and 2) our rates would be increased by 40% for the next three years. They basically replied "Too Bad". I called the NC Insurance Commissioner's office and complained. That afternoon the State Farm rep. called me back and told me their investigation was now complete and the other driver was found to be at fault. Her liability fixed my car. Strange how two weeks suddenly became two hours.
And let's not discuss State Farm homeowners insurance. When Hurricane Fran hit NC in '96 my property was badly damaged. When I finally got through to State Farm, their rep spent the first 5 minutes of the call making sure I knew what NOT TO EXPECT State Farm to cover. Wonderful customer service. And yes, I did complain about the attitude of the rep as far up the ladder as I could go. But my service was still slow and the repairs to my house and property ended up costing me $45,000 out of pocket. Homeowners is set up to cover fires and not much else.
All insurance companies believe in the principle of saying NO the first time where it is right or wrong (especially health insurance companies). If any customers don't dispute their decision then they win. And if they do dispute the decision then they can still win by wearing the customer down to the point they accept less than they are entitled to. SOP and everybody knows it.
Mike
 
Just to offer another view. I've had State Farm for my houses and cars for many years. Any claim I've made has been paid promptly and to my full satisfaction with no hassle whatsoever. On my last auto claim, I had a check in hand that covered the full repairs 12 hours after the accident.

Another example: My wife wiped out our day care lady's garage door. She had paint left from painting the house trim and wanted to know if they would pay for the paint. She was told to find out the current price of the paint and add it to the bill for replacing the door. They paid her promptly and even added in extra money for her time to paint the door although that was never asked for.

I could give more examples, but they have all been as easy and as much to my satisfaction as an insurance claim can be.
 
My girlfriend was involved ina wreck last summer. She and the other moron woman both had state farm. Abby (my g/f) was making a right turn through a green light at a busy intersection. This other moron was turning left over 2 lanes of oncoming traffic plus the right turn lane (to get into a car dealership). Abby never saw her comming as a truck had stopped to let this other girl pass infront of it. POW. Abby was pushed off the road into a giant metal light pole that fell on top of her car. She was very lucky to have only bruises from this accident. Anyhow, the cops sighted the other chick with a bunch of stuff.

When it came time to process the claim they kept calling abby and asking her for her side of the story. They told her that it was her fault and that she was liable for the damages. I got on the phone and set them striaght... it took a number of days. We had the same issue with the rental car as another stated above... finally got a check for the value of the car plus a little. Then they started rejecting her hospital bills. We finally dumped her state farm and put her under my Allstate policy. It was 1/2 the price and I have never had an issue with a claim.

Here is a pic of Abbys wrecked Accord. Good thing she had GAP insurance on her lease!

attachment.php
 
Well I'm with Greenie LT1 on this one. All insurance companies have good and bad agents. I have had State Farm for 33 years, same agent. Never had a problem with a claim or the customer service. If they were all so crooked, why does my insurance rate drop without me asking for it to. This has happend many times to me over the years. I am fortunate to have an agent that takes care of me. Thats what I pay for. And thats why I'm still with him.
 
It's good to hear a variety of opinion in this thread.

The original thread, over in C1/C2 focussed on the specific matter of "agreed value" coverage, or lack thereof, on our old Corvettes. The discussion here has gone somewhat far afield, however.

I'm not trying to stop the discussion.............just lend some clarification to it. ;)
 
67HEAVEN said:
The discussion here has gone somewhat far afield, however.

I'm not trying to stop the discussion.............just lend some clarification to it. ;)

The original tread in the C1/C2 section was very informative for me and I'm sure many. It made me pull out my policy and check. I was glad to see I have "stated value" on mine. That said, this tread turned into a state farm bashing. While I feel the pain of those who have had problems, I simply wanted to point out that all insurance companies have good and bad stories and good agents can make all the difference in the world. I think its been healthy :w
 
:L


(pssst SF dudes: why fan the flames? every big insurance group has mishandled a claim here and there, all you are doing is essentially asking the members of this likely small group to come forward with their stories. As for the lawyer who works for SF who had the wisdom to state that the info contained in some anonymous posters' rant was incorrect, well that's some fine due diligence in advance of opening your trap, counselor. No job in my law department for you!)
 
Billybeau1 said:
The original tread in the C1/C2 section was very informative for me and I'm sure many. It made me pull out my policy and check. I was glad to see I have "stated value" on mine. That said, this tread turned into a state farm bashing. While I feel the pain of those who have had problems, I simply wanted to point out that all insurance companies have good and bad stories and good agents can make all the difference in the world. I think its been healthy :w

Actually, perhaps a review of the linked thread is in order - you should be less than glad when you see "stated value" on your policy, the point of the linked thread was that, for appreciating collector cars, you likley want "agreed value". Of course, I do not know if your Corvette would qualify for the collector car class. It might very well be the case that your SF Stated Value policy is the best coverage, at the best price, for your situation.
 
jester said:
Just to offer another view. I've had State Farm for my houses and cars for many years. Any claim I've made has been paid promptly and to my full satisfaction with no hassle whatsoever. On my last auto claim, I had a check in hand that covered the full repairs 12 hours after the accident.

Another example: My wife wiped out our day care lady's garage door. She had paint left from painting the house trim and wanted to know if they would pay for the paint. She was told to find out the current price of the paint and add it to the bill for replacing the door. They paid her promptly and even added in extra money for her time to paint the door although that was never asked for.

I could give more examples, but they have all been as easy and as much to my satisfaction as an insurance claim can be.
I have State Farm for all my insurance needs, home, cars, and life, and have never ever had a problem. When my son totaled our Camry I had a check within a few days. We have had insurance with them for 14 yrs. I am quite happy with them.
 

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