State Farm

Detestable people, horrible service, nothing but money grabbing pigs who dont care about the people they work with. After 20 years as a customer never giving them a dime ever again.

Reasonable prices for auto coverage but doesn't cover you if you have an accident even if you carry just liability for the other driver, this has been the worst experience I've ever had dealing with an insurance company

Summary:
I want to share our story regarding the extremely negative experience that we had with State Farm recently. It first started with a water leak under our kitchen sink that resulted in water damages. An insurance claim with State Farm was filed. The entire process of attempting to settle our claim took place over the course of nearly four months. Ultimately, the claim was DENIED (due to State Farm stating this was a “long term leak”). I am extremely frustrated with the outcome as numerous professional companies (the plumber, American Water Damage, and an independent public adjuster) all stated that there was no evidence that this was a long-term leak but was a sudden burst. Also, the manner the State Farm adjusters conducted the review was frustrating and absolutely lacked in customer service. We pay a premium each month and when a disaster strikes, we expect the company to help facilitate all activities and provide a certain level of customer service. We were extremely disappointed with State Farm regarding the handling of our claim and wanted to share our story.

There are three primary areas I will focus on: communication issues and delays, denial of report, and the overall inconvenience.

Communication Issues and Delays:
We did not feel that State Farm was sensitive to our situation throughout this journey and overall did not respond in a timely manner. A claim was filed with State Farm when we noticed the water damage. A week passed after the initial filing of our claim with no communication from our assigned adjuster. We reached out to the adjuster at that point and did not receive a response. We reached out to our local State Farm office to aid in contacting the adjuster, but they were also unsuccessful in doing so. State Farm assigned our claim to a different adjuster. The only communication we received from the adjuster was a request for pictures of the damage. They were provided. Another week passed and no response. This was getting extremely frustrating as we did not receive any additional calls from the adjuster concerning updates on our claim and were the ones that consistently had to reach out for responses. We contacted our local agent and advised that we had not received any information regarding our claim. The agent said he would reach out to the adjuster. That then leads us into the denial…

Denial:
In less than an hour of our local State Farm agent contacting the adjuster, the adjuster then contacted us and stated our claim was denied. His email was strictly a restatement of a section of our homeowner’s policy and did not give specific reasons for the denial of our claim. The email stated, “Per our inspection and discussion, the interior water damage is a result of repeated seepage and leakage from a plumbing system and such damages are specifically excluded under your policy.” Here is my major issue: There was no in-house inspection from the State Farm adjuster regarding our claim. He denied our claim based SOLELY on looking at pictures. This was completely unacceptable to deny a claim by only looking at pictures and not evaluating the water damage in person. With the decision to deny our claim with no true substance, this has a major impact on us by costing us thousands of dollars to pay for the repairs ourselves. This felt like State Farm was not truly on our side. The plumber and the project manager of American Water Damage each independently stated that the damage was not caused by a long-term leak.
We were extremely frustrated by this decision and requested an in-house inspection. We also asked the plumber and the project manager of American Water Damage to be there and fight on our behalf (as up to this point, we felt like we were fending for ourselves and had no expertise in the field). When the adjuster arrived, he was very rude and arrogant and demanded the plumber and project manager to remain in their vehicles during his inspection. He did not perform anywhere close to a thorough inspection. He only took a couple of pictures and took measurements and said our claim was denied because it was a "long term” leak indicated by the following two reasons:
1) The adjuster stated the green on the pipe indicates corrosion. Due to “corrosion”, it is considered a long-term leak.
a. The plumber stated that pipes can corrode and weaken over time. In our case he stated that our damage was caused by a sudden burst. He also stated that the green on a pipe does not indicate a long-term leak. When pipes are initially installed and soldered, any flux remaining on the pipe will oxidize and turn green. The green is due to oxidation, not corrosion.
b. The project manager (American Water Damage) stated that the vinyl flooring would be curling up if it were a long-term leak. The vinyl flooring is not curled nor lifted.
2) Water damage was in a drain line, not a pressurized line, therefore it could not be a sudden and accidental leak.
a. The plumber stated that using the garbage disposal can produce excessive pressure in a drain line causing a sudden burst.
b. The project manager (American Water Damage) stated, “In order for that hole to happen, it had to have a sudden burst.”
When the plumber and project manager both shared their professional opinions and observations concerning the leak, the adjuster’s response was “that’s their opinion, they cannot confirm that” and “they are just guessing, not justifying”. My counter to this is that the same could be said regarding the adjuster’s reasons for denial.
Being dissatisfied with the unprofessional behavior of the first adjuster, we contacted the head agent of our local office to share our frustration concerning the improper handling of our claim. This included a lack of timely responses, denial of our claim based solely on pictures, and the disrespect of the adjuster who came to our home. He said he would contact State Farm and get back with us. Days passed without us receiving a response. We felt our claim was not important to him and again relied on us to be the ones reaching out to State Farm. I called and spoke with his assistant on a Friday morning. She replied they were waiting for a response from State Farm head office. As I did not receive a response for the remainder of the day, I again had to reach back out at the end of business hours. She said she had just spoken to the original adjuster (who denied our claim solely on pictures) and was denying our claim for these reasons (that were not previously documented within the denial letter):
 

1) Picture of the green on pipe indicates corrosion and a long-term leak.
a. Again, the plumber had already explained this is not true
2) Picture of the wood underneath cabinets is rotted and swollen.
a. Plumber and project manager agreed that there was no evidence of rot and stated that particle board underneath cabinet will swell when exposed to moisture from a sudden burst.
3) Picture of the insulation behind wall shows leakage.
a. We compared the pieces of insulation near the leak and in another area and they are completely identical, same color and same texture.

We contacted a supervisor and requested another adjuster. The second adjuster came out and performed the inspection. The claim was once again denied and stated to be a “long term leak” for the same reasons given by the previous adjuster.
Still not satisfied (as two professionals both said this was not a “long term leak”), we hired a public adjuster. He performed an on-site inspection and had several conversations with the State Farm adjuster and supervisor. He stated that “per his inspection, he was not able to find any evidence to verify this was an ongoing/long term leak”. After a lengthy ordeal, he received the final denial.
We have three separate individuals/companies (the plumber, the project manager of American Water Damage, and the public adjuster) who all agree that our water leak is not a “long term leak” and should be covered by our insurance.

Inconvenience:
While the claim was an ongoing battle, our kitchen sink was completely unusable for the first two months. During this time, it was very difficult to prepare meals and clean up dishes. This resulted in us having to wash dishes in our back yard, transporting dishes from the kitchen to outside to wash with a water hose, and then take back the dishes back inside. This was by far one of the most inconvenient experiences I have been through.

In conclusion:
From a communication perspective, it was a very frustrating for us, the consumer, to constantly reach out to State Farm’s adjusters and agents the entire duration of this long journey. It really should be on State Farm to reach out and initiate the communication. This is part of the service that we pay for. As for the official denial letter we received (via email), the adjuster did not provide specific reasons for denial. It was just a restatement of the ‘SECTION I – LOSSES NOT INSURED’ portion of our contract. Three different professionals each agreed this was not a “long term leak”. Lastly, this was just a very inconvenient length of time that our sink area was essentially unusable.
We are extremely dissatisfied with the service from State Farm regarding our claim. In our case, it felt like State Farm let us down and was not there for us in any way. We feel State Farm should be on our side and help fight for us. We felt very isolated and helpless throughout this process. We definitely did not feel like a valued customer.

My son was a passenger in a car, driven by a StateFarm customer. Driver had full coverage on his auto. While driving down the road, my son who was a front seat passenger, was hit by two bullets, from a road-rage incident. Neither my son or the driver knew the shooter and they did not get a tag number of the shooter due to the circumstances. One bullet went through my sons arm. One grazed his stomach. StateFarm did not pay for any of his medical bills. No settlement whatsoever. HORRIBLE ! No sympathy for the passengers. No coverage provided for my son at all !!!

Spoke with Jason and he had me switching my policy easily and hassle free. Offered better coverage for a cheaper rate. Kudos to a job well done. I am pleased to be insured with State Farm.

Yvonne McAdams, Our new State farm Agent did a Great job explaining the questions we had about our homeowners and auto insurance we purchased and we found our insurance coverage less than our last insurance company . We feel very confident if and when we need her she will be there to handle our claim, Yvonne McAdams works for the State Farm Insurance
Ken Kearney Insurance Agency
7878 Wadsworth Blvd, Suite 250
Arvada, CO 80003
Phone: 303-425-0555
Fax: 303-422-0944

Laney Wilkerson, who works with Sharron Perren in Atlanta, GA, has done wonders! I currently have life, renters, and car insurance through her. She has kept me informed of all the price cuts and additional coverage since the pandemic. She is always responsive, and I highly recommend!