Who can we get to pay attention? If Allstate Insurance Company will not, perhaps Kim Holland, Insurance Commissioner for the State of Oklahoma will. We sent her a letter last week and copied it to Allstate.
Ron's accident was April 2, 2009, nine months ago. Some of you will remember the grief they put us through on replacing our Van that was totaled. Finally agreeing on a price for our vehicle we continued on into the medical portion of the claim.
We have talked with two medical adjusters and their two assistants and delays have occurred as the adjuster has been changed and the new adjuster needed to be brought up to date. We sent them what we believed would be the last of Ron's medical bills on November 2, 2009 and mailed them under a delivery confirmation number so they could not claim non-receipt. We spoke with them before Christmas and expressed hope this could be resolved before the holidays. They assured us they received the bills and only needed to make one more phone call to our Primary Care Physician.
We have received two more form letters from them since November that assure us, "We are looking into the matter".
I have read one devastating story after another about the shady way Allstate Insurance Company handles their claims. A recent show done by Anderson Cooper on CNN gave the best summary and it seems to be what we are experiencing. This explains how they handle claims under the three D's, delay, deny, defend.
If you are injured in an automobile accident and the responsible party has Allstate Insurance you best be prepared to turn it over to an attorney immediately. Our kids encouraged us to do that but we couldn't see that benefiting anyone but the attorney and we are not all that fond of our overly litigious society. However that is looking more and more like the way we will need to go.
Our lives were disrupted. We were thankful that no one was killed. We only want fair treatment. The Allstate Insurance adjusters seem to rejoice in adding insult to injury.
Is there anyone out there who believes they received fair treatment from Allstate Insurance or any other insurance company regarding settlement from an automobile accident? If so, how in the world did you manage it? Did you have to hire an attorney?
I have State Farm and so far have not had to use it...so sorry for this. I know years ago Allstate was considered a very good insurance group but maybe things have changed. Hope it gets all cleared up soon!
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry. I wish I had some advice but I have none. Good luck to you.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about your troubles. Don't have any experience with Allstate. We have Nationwide ourselves.
ReplyDeleteMore and more I think that the only way to get along with any insurance company is to just pay the premiums and hope to God you never need it.
I work at the State Farm building and claims are settled in front of me every day. The majority of the people seem really satisfied. I have to tell you that we do have some claim handlers that seem to drag their feet for whatever reason. But State Farm seems to weed these people out eventually. I do know that last year we had an agent from Allstate leave that company and trained to be a State Farm agent. That should tell you something. And I'm not pushing State Farm because I actually have Progressive Insurance, but knock on wood haven't needed it.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad I came over here and read this post. Allstate has about driven me crazy lately sending letters, phone calls, etc. to change my insurance carrier to them. I had given it some thought if they were able to give me a better rate but won't after reading this. I have not had to collect on any claims so can't give you any help but do wish you luck. Thanks for coming by my place, too.
ReplyDeleteThat's really awful.
ReplyDeleteI had an accident about 4 years ago and I couldn't believe how fantastic the insurance company was. We had the cheque a week after the accident and it was for more than we had expected.
Do you have a financial ombudsman in the US? If so you could contact them, seems like you have a good case.
In the UK if we are unhappy about any financial matter, including insurance we can complain to the financial ombudsman. It's an independent expert service set up by Parliament to do this and the service is free to consumers.
Best of luck!
Granny Annie ~ Thanks for stopping by my blog and commenting! Glad you liked the place and I hope you'll stop by often. I too miss JD and her humor! She's a very sweet lady. ~ jb///
ReplyDeleteAll insurance companies suck. Good for you for being persistent - I think they count on most people not fighting back to make their money. Keep me posted.
ReplyDeleteAlthough we weren't in an auto accident our storage shed burned down in Dec. We have American Family and we had a check for the shed in just a week. It has been so icy here we can't get to the shed's contents but I feel as soon we give them a list they will take care of it.
ReplyDeleteChanges/Monica -- Our insurance company is great. Wish this claim was on them. It is, however, on the insurance of the driver at fault and that was the teenage girl texting when she hit Ron. Our insurance had a portion of the medical and got their insurance checks to us immediately. Southern Insurance is our wonderful company.
ReplyDeleteOGO -- I wish you had some advice too. If you think of anything, let me know.
Cube -- I just wish our good insurance company was the responsible payer. It's the other driver that has Allstate.
thesouthernlady64 -- It is so funny because I am getting loads of mail too soliciting me as a customer for Allstate. LOL
Winifred -- Wow, it sounds like the UK really has a good answer for these kind of dilemmas. Wish we had ombudsmen.
LZ Blogger -- Thanks for dropping by my blog too:)Maybe JD will be back with all of us soon.
Riot Kitty -- Insurance companies only suck when they have to pay out. As long as we are paying in, they are happy as clams -- greedy clams.
Stella -- I too actually have some good stories about my insurance agent of the past 40 years but sadly he isn't responsible in this case and Allstate is the insurance for the girl who hit Ron. Sadly I hear they don't treat their own clients any better in paying claims.
Annie,
ReplyDeleteI was involved in a car accident last month which left my vehicle totaled as well. The other driver, who was 100% responsible, has Allstate and it has been absolutely wretched dealing with their adjusters. I've never chewed out anyone on the phone the way I took it to this scheming, lying person.
In other words, I feel your frustration- but in the end you need to bring in the "guns" and have an attorney. It's the only way you can protect your rights. I wish you and Ron the very best.
Adam -- can you believe that President David Palmer could let us down? Everytime I see him (Dennis Hasbert) advertising for Allstate I want to contact him to have all this cleared up. Yep, your response sounds like what I expected. Sorry you had to deal with the jerks also. You would not believe how I acted toward their auto adjuster. He brought out a side of me I did not even know existed.
ReplyDeleteYou forgot the 4th D: defraud!
ReplyDeleteGive 'em hell!!!!
I have been with Geico for 12 years now and they handled both accidents I was in quickly, fairly and compassionately. One accident was a hit-and-run, but I got the license plate of the car that rear-ended me. The agent told me, "Oh, good, this will be quick and easy. That car is insured with us." I gave her the number of the accident report and the name of the Officer I spoke to. She told me where to take our car for an appraisal and three days later I had a check in hand.
ReplyDeleteThe other accident left me unable to walk for several days. The appraiser came to my home to take my statement and returned two days later to give me a check for my totaled car.
I was hit from behind by a truck, that was hit by another truck, and they slammed me into a BOAT that was on a trailer in FRONT of me. Try figuring THAT mess out! I had State Farm and my car, although totaled, was completely rebuilt from the bottom up. I didn't take the replacement money because I couldn't have gotten a car as good as the one I was driving at the time.
ReplyDeleteWhen I went to the hospital, I handed them my health insurance card.
They later told me to always hand in my CAR insurance card............like the hospital would take THAT???
I dunno, but I'm sticking with State Farm.
Allstate, and Farmers, have bad records.
I think all car insurance companies...heck all insurance companies are trained to be scammers...I don't think it matters which one you're with.
ReplyDeleteI also think you should get a large chunk of your money back if you go without an accident for an entire year...and I don't mean 10% I want 50%...that's fair. I paid you 100% I didn't use it so give me back half!!!
Annie,
ReplyDeleteBoth Allstate and State Farm suck in Canada. Sorry that I put it so bluntly, but it is the truth. I would never use either of these companies as it takes years to settle with them.
We have Grey Power, but have never had to put in a claim. We recently moved there because our insurance was bilking us with high premiums...a raise of $600 this year and we haven't had a claim in 20 years.
So if I were you, I would avoid both Allstate and State Farm. You need an attorney if you hope to get any money from them. Too bad that only the lawyer prospers.
Blessings,
Mary
We had an awful problem as well with them and I'd never recommend Allstate I heard this is their MO and I'd file a complaint with your state insurance agency watch group and call your state and federal senator and assemblyman and ask them to send a letter (copy you) and have each of us send them a letter for you on your behalf that we know what's going on. Send us a mass email with the address and contact person and we'll do it..
ReplyDeleteDorothy fromg grammology
grammology.com
Send them this link to see what your doing...
Hugs and good luck
Dorothy from grammology
grammology.com