Don't Make Me Work So Hard To Correct YOUR Mistakes!
Written: Feb 19 '02 (Updated Feb 28 '02)
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Pros: Competitive rates, well-established company
Cons: Poor record-keeping, snippy, no-service agent
The Bottom Line: State Farm doesn't seem to be the meticulous insurance company I once believed them to be. They are definitely not service-oriented toward their customers. Shop around!
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| XSarenkaX's Full Review: State Farm Group - Auto |
Ahh, State Farm Insurance. Makes you think of that commercial jingle, doesn't it? Gives you that warm, secure feeling. "...State Farm is there." Well, it turns out, this large company has become a "fat cow" over the years, content to put forth the minimum effort required to keep their business going. Well, that's my opinion anyway.
You see, I've been insured with State Farm since I began driving. My parents have been State Farm customers forever and I decided that, since they hadn't had any complaints, that I should go with them once I became independent. And things were fine for years. I hadn't had any accidents, the rates had gone up here and there, but reasonably so. Basically, I didn't really need to think about my insurance other than every 6 months when paying my premiums. I had a roommate for a few years and even recommended he switch his auto insurance to State Farm.
Well, he did, and we shared the same agent. This roommate of mine had unfortunately, since then, been in 3 accidents (which were not all his fault). You'd think this wouldn't have affected MY policy at all, right? Well, it has recently come to my attention, and only because I'd gotten a quote from another insurance company, that my records indicated that I had been listed as "at fault" for at least one of the 3 accidents that my roommate had. Having this on my record affected my competitive quote by about another 100% premium. WHY?
Well, State Farm has a tendency to track other drivers in your household, for some odd reason. They list other drivers on your statements, but mention that it is strictly for information purposes only, and that it does not affect premiums whatsoever. Well, my roommate was another household driver, so he was listed on my policy as such. Stupidly, though, State Farm can't seem to read it's own disclosure statements or something. Months ago, when one incident occured, I was a passenger in my roommate's car, and he was driving. It defies all logic, but I was recorded to be at fault for that accident.
Now when I found this out recently from my new Allstate agent (the one who quoted me), he told me that these records are acquired by insurance companies from a third-party database named CLUE. "Can you correct it?" I asked. He informed me that this mysterious CLUE is simply a supplier of information submitted to it from insurance claims, and on top of that, he couldn't get me in touch with them because he had no idea how to reach them.
What he instructed me to do is ask my agent for a "Letter of Experience" from State Farm, stating the correction for that incident. This letter would absolve me of all fault for Allstate's records, and ensure I'd get the premium rates I deserved.
Okay...so I called my State Farm agent to see if he could correct the records and send me the letter I needed. I figure the incident was on a State Farm claim, so State Farm should be able to submit a correction to CLUE. Sounds like an easy fix, right?
Wrong. First of all, my agent asked me "why this" and "why that" so eventually it came out that I was considering another insurance company. Ever since then, Mr. Rick Witt, my former State Farm agent, located in Des Plaines, Illinois, has been nothing but snippy and uncooperative with me.
First, he told me that this kind of stuff is handled by the Claims Dept. at State Farm's headquarters in Bloomington, IL, and that I must call there to resolve this issue. I had to ask to get the number there on top of that. Then I asked for the Letter of Experience, clearing my name of the incident, for the purposes of getting my quote from Allstate straightened out. He told me to call the HQ for that, too. (Apparently customer service is not in this guy's interest, despite the threat of my leaving State Farm for Allstate.)
Next, I called into Bloomington asking for some help. Mind you, their office hours are strictly 7:30am-4:00pm, so there's no doing business with State Farm HQ after normal business hours. When my call finally bounced around to the right person in the office who could do something for me, I asked for the letter and explained my story to an underwriter. (No, not the claims dept., as Rick would have me believe. Thanks again, Rick.) The underwriter promised to take care of the letter promptly. I hung up the phone finally feeling satisfied.
Well, weeks went by and my Allstate quote was getting stale without that darn letter from State Farm. Unfortunately, I never got a name from the underwriter who promised to send the letter, so I had to call HQ and get bounced around until a different underwriter answered my call. I asked if there was any way to check the status of that letter. I explained my story yet again. Again, I was promised that this letter would be sent right away.
Well, the second underwriter did his job and I received the letter after a few days. I was glad to see it until I read the details on the incident. The correction was not made and the letter stated again that I was at fault for my roommate's accident! GRRRR!!! What IS it with these people!?!
By the time I found some time to call yet again, taking time out of my busy workday, to beg for some justice and an actual correct document from this company, the first underwriter's letter finally arrived as well. At first I thought maybe it was a correction to the letter I'd received, but when I read this letter, I found different errors in it. I had two Letters of Experience and neither of them was accurate!
Finally I called back and asked for one of the underwriters who signed the letters I had. I begged and pleaded for another letter from him with the corrections made. Only then did I finally receive a letter worth showing to Allstate. GEEZ!
I finally got insured under Allstate (big surprise) but still haven't received my cancellation or refund for the remaining policy period from State Farm. I called Rick Witt, my former SF agent, the day I made the decision to switch and asked him to cancel my policy for me. He quickly responded that he'd take "care of it" and hung up the phone. I called back to ask for the refund amount due me. He called me back an hour later with an estimated amount. Snippy as he was, I was happy to, at last, finalize the relationship with him at that moment. It was just a matter of receiving the cancellation and money in a few days...or so I thought.
Over a month after I called Mr. Witt for the cancellation, I had not received a single piece of mail or a single cent from his office, much less a phone call or message. I decided to call Rick up and ask about my cancellation. Rick told me that I needed to call Bloomington for the cancellation.
WHAT?
This leads me to believe that he never lifted a finger to cancel my policy when he promised he would, a month back. Of course, it's totally out of the question for me to expect him to even suggest making the call for me to get the ball rolling. HA! How was I to know he'd be such a no-service agent?
So, I called State Farm Headquarters in Bloomington AGAIN and asked for my cancellation and refund amount. Luckily, a very nice lady named Ann Ruhrup spoke with me and promised me this would get done. I told her what a jerk my agent was being and she apologized, reminding me that I can always switch agents, and that she hates to see me leave State Farm. I was aware of the agent option, but I also had problems with ST HQ, like the repeated mistakes on the Letter of Experience, the inability to be transferred to the right person at the office, etc. And on top of that, Allstate did a better job with getting my premiums down and offering me more sensible and effective coverage for my needs. Rick Witt never made any suggestions about how to get the most coverage for my money. In fact, I hardly even spoke with the guy. It seemed like any time I need to call him, a different assistant was the only person working there that day, and she had limited knowledge to help me with my issues.
After about 2 weeks after speaking with Ann at HQ, I am happy to report that I have finally received my refund and cancellation from State Farm. I can't tell you how relieved I am to be finally be rid of this whole sticky ordeal with State Farm.
If you are signed up with State Farm, I sincerely hope you have better luck than I did. Pay close attention to your correspondence and be sure there are no errors. And for Pete's sake, if you have Rick Witt as your agent - SWITCH!
Recommended:
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Epinions.com ID:
XSarenkaX
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 - Top 1000 |
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Member: Bonnie ("Benia")
Location: Chicagoland, IL
Reviews written: 43
Trusted by: 36 members
About Me:Got married in Jamaica and we keep coming back.
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