State Farm: Like a good neighbor? Perhaps not...

There is an elderly woman in my family who has had her homeowner's insurance through State Farm for 42 years.

Recently, she needed a new roof and she hired a licensed and insured roofing company. She was home while they were working. At one point, they knocked on her door and asked if they could take a look in her attic. When the guy came back d own, he asked if she had a garden hose. They had set fire to her roof and the house suffered extensive fire and water damage. The home is salvageable, but it needs a ton of work, which fortunately, the contractor's insurance is covering in full. She has been living with her daughter and son-in-law for the past four months.

When it came time to renew her policy with State Farm, they decided that she represents an unacceptable risk and dropped her.

How's that for neighborly?

Insurance companies are up there with mortgage providers, politicians, and lawyers on the slimeball scale.

It could be a mistake. It could also be a business decision. I believe they are a business, and not obligated to provide her with insurance.

lolol property insurance...brought to you by the same industry that lobied to have thier services made mandatory by law in my state.

How does a roofing company set your house on fire, anyway?

Torches and roofing tar.

So there hasn't even been a claim on her policy and SF still dropped her?

@Zomby Woof, yes, it's a business decision but if she's been with SF for 42 years I would argue it's not really a good one, is it? It's not like they're earning a lot of goodwill for this from a customer how's been with them almost as long as I've been alive.

You mean InsuranceMegacorp isn't really your friend?

Zomby Woof wrote: It could be a mistake. It could also be a business decision. I believe they are a business, and not obligated to provide her with insurance.

or they could be crooked, soulless, bottom feeding assbags who deserve to have their faces forced down their esophaguses until they emerge from their own rectums

Maybe she's an unacceptable risk because she hires idiots to work on her house?

It's not anybody's requirement to do business with anybody they don't want to. That includes her. She could have easily decided to quit sending checks to State Farm, even if they gave her great service, and nobody would have cried foul about that.

Zomby Woof wrote: It could be a mistake. It could also be a business decision. I believe they are a business, and not obligated to provide her with insurance.

Ding, ding, ding. We have a winner. There could be a whole lot more to the story than what's here. Not saying that you're hiding anything Woody, but there could be a lot of other factors we/you don't know. Could also have been a business decision, insurance companies are businesses, not banks. I know it's popular to pile on them, but having spent my entire career working for them, I'll say it 'til I'm blue in the face...they're not the evil empire people think.

Sad story, but I've had State Farm since I was 18 years old and they have always done right by me. In fact, my tractor suffered $9k of damage in a fire, a fire that I was partly responsible for creating. They covered it in full and my rates didn't even go up. Just one of several good experiences with them.

In reply to bravenrace: State Farm was ok to deal with on the other side of a vehicle accident I was involved in......granted the other driver ended up with a felony for fraud.

Welcome to the real world, go tell her to shop around. Just stay away from progressive/allstate/gieco.....they're dicks to deal with.

The one thing I hate about insurance companies as a whole, that if you forget one payment, they drop you immediately and you cannot renew with them for an entire year. Happened to me twice in my life. Once on my own and once with my wife. Two different companies. I learned my lesson the second time, so thanks to automatic withdrawal, I don't have to worry about it anymore.

Insurance get real hinky about fires.

A co-worker had a somewhat similiar response from State Farm years ago. He was at work and got a call. "Your house is on fire". He hurries home and the fire dpeartment had aleready put out the fire. A ventilation fan in the attic had caught fire while no one was at home. The damage was fairly minor and State Farm covered it. All was fine until he sells the home a couple of years later and buys a brand new patio home. State Farm refuses to insure the new house because "he is a risk". Not only that, but apparently the other insurnace companies can pick up on this and no one wanted to insure him. He finally got a local agent find him a company that would insure him.

My experience with State Farm and been fine. But we had a water leak claim a couple of years ago and wonder at what point they will cancel my insurance.

SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: The one thing I hate about insurance companies as a whole, that if you forget one payment, they drop you immediately and you cannot renew with them for an entire year.

That's never happened to me, and I have the aforementioned evil State Farm. I got a letter from headquarters saying I missed a payment and as of X date I was not covered. I called my agent, said "Oops", they said "Bring a check by the office tomorrow", and bad-a-bing, I was covered again, with no interruption in service.

This State Farm agent got my business away from Allstate - now she is too busy to talk to me.

Oh how I miss the Allstate guy with the "under the escalator" office at my local Sears. And I miss the popcorn I would buy next to him.

I had a good friend that worked for Allstate most of his life. He had his insurnace (maybe only auto) with another company. I always found that ironic.

I recently left Farm Bureau after a decade with them.....became tired at my insurance rates going up for no reason, and my new agent was a douche. I left and now pay 1/2 of what I did pay for one car for a pair of cars.....derp. The rest of my family parted ways with them over lack of service and increasing rates despite no claims, I don't think that new agent will be getting his boat or lakehouse this year....

Duke wrote:

SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: The one thing I hate about insurance companies as a whole, that if you forget one payment, they drop you immediately and you cannot renew with them for an entire year.

That's never happened to me, and I have the aforementioned evil State Farm. I got a letter from headquarters saying I missed a payment and as of X date I was not covered. I called my agent, said "Oops", they said "Bring a check by the office tomorrow", and bad-a-bing, I was covered again, with no interruption in service.

Well State Farm did it for me back when I was in college 10 years ago. They sent me a letter saying I missed a payment and I was no longer covered. I went home that weekend and went straight to my agent with a check for the payment I missed and the next months payment and they said nope, your policy is cancelled due to nonpayment. I asked how long til I could renew and they said a year.

I always thought it State Farm that only did that, until my wife forgot to make a payment to our insurance at the time (which I don't remember the name) and they did the same thing.

yamaha wrote: I recently left Farm Bureau after a decade with them.....became tired at my insurance rates going up for no reason, and my new agent was a douche. I left and now pay 1/2 of what I did pay for one car for a pair of cars.....derp. The rest of my family parted ways with them over lack of service and increasing rates despite no claims, I don't think that new agent will be getting his boat or lakehouse this year....

To be fair, rates go up without claims because the cost of labor and materials continues to go up. They have to be able to cover the current cost of replacing/repairing.

I went with Erie as well, the agent actually seemed to give a E36 M3.......oh, and they actually call me back if I have questions. I only talked with the new FB agent twice, once to say he didn't know why I was paying more for plpd on a '91 taurus than I was for full coverage on a '05 redline.....and the second time wondering why I left them....lol

spitfirebill wrote: I had a good friend that worked for Allstate most of his life. He had his insurnace (maybe only auto) with another company. I always found that ironic.

my fiance is in the insurance business, she always said that they do that because if you have to sue your insurance company, you don't want to be suing your employer.

z31maniac wrote:

yamaha wrote: I recently left Farm Bureau after a decade with them.....became tired at my insurance rates going up for no reason, and my new agent was a douche. I left and now pay 1/2 of what I did pay for one car for a pair of cars.....derp. The rest of my family parted ways with them over lack of service and increasing rates despite no claims, I don't think that new agent will be getting his boat or lakehouse this year....

To be fair, rates go up without claims because the cost of labor and materials continues to go up. They have to be able to cover the current cost of replacing/repairing.

But increases of 20+% a year???? But if I switch companies, I end up with a lower rate then when I started with the other company????

z31maniac wrote:

yamaha wrote: I recently left Farm Bureau after a decade with them.....became tired at my insurance rates going up for no reason, and my new agent was a douche. I left and now pay 1/2 of what I did pay for one car for a pair of cars.....derp. The rest of my family parted ways with them over lack of service and increasing rates despite no claims, I don't think that new agent will be getting his boat or lakehouse this year....

To be fair, rates go up without claims because the cost of labor and materials continues to go up. They have to be able to cover the current cost of replacing/repairing.

to be fair, mine went up despite age/reduced coverage/etc.....

my dad said just his liability coverage for the farm doubled. Last I checked, medical/building/etc hasn't doubled in price just this year.