Friday, June 27, 2008
Not in Good Hands with Allstate
Jim here again,
I'd like to encourage readers to log in on issues related to buying American, American manufacturing (what's left of it) and the death of customer service as we know it. Anyone who wants to share is welcome.
I'm a consumer just like everyone else and I've got my stories to tell. The latest is about Allstate Insurance Company. If you don't want to read my story, the end is "beware!" I wouldn't use Allstate Insurance ever again, but that's me.
I own a small cottage that has been in my family for over forty years. This year, due to a mix-up, the local caretaker did not close the house for the winter. As a result my pipes froze. I tried to notify Allstate's reporting line, but since I wasn't aware of any damage at that time, they refused to open a file or even document my report.
About a month ago, when we opened the house, we determined that there was damage, not extensive, maybe 2-3 thousand dollars. After 40 years with Allstate, I figured they'd pay for this modest claim. NOT!
First thing the adjuster says is, "There's a timeliness problem with your claim. Pipes don't freeze in June. We may have to deny the claim. So then I told him about how I'd called to report the matter, but they wouldn't take the report. Then the Allstate adjuster said, "How do we know you called us?" It's a good thing I know which phone line I used and that I save my phone records. It took me a while, but I found the actual phone call to prove I had tried to report the claim.
Okay, so I won that battle. Now I naively think, Piece of cake. They'll honor the claim. They'd be embarrassed to come up with another bogus reason to deny it! My optimism was premature. The adjuster then says that since the house didn't have oil, he was denying the claim. I asked him to read me the contract language he was relying on and he did. Turns out the adjuster really had to twist that contract around to deny the claim, but he was unwilling to talk further and told me flat out they were denying the claim. Nasty guy, too!
Now this kind of thing probably works with a lot of consumers. It takes a lot of energy to argue. I can't imagine a little old lady having the energy for a fight like this, and, after all, it's not $50,000. I have a suspicion that Allstate knows people won't fight that hard for a small claim. Anyway, I'm in this for the long haul. I called the supervisor. (The "Denial Letter" is still on its way.)
The supervisor actually returned my call, which I give her credit for. I explained why the oil ran out and how it wasn't negligent for me to have relied on a caretaker who does the same thing every year and has done for decades. She then started asking if I had a written contract with the caretaker! I'm still waiting for her final decision, but the point of all this is that Allstate is not very nice to its customers and you are NOT IN GOOD HANDS with ALLSTATE!
I don't make insurance claims very often (never from Allstate) and I have faithfully paid my Allstate bills over the years - Probably somewhere around $30,000 over the years if you include my parent's payments. Now we make a small claim and they're looking for any excuse in the book. At this point, even if they honor the claim, I've wasted a lot of time. If you have Allstate Insurance, I suggest you take a look at a better company. USAA insures everything else I own and they are very easy to deal with.
I'd like to hear your stories. Also, if you think I'm off-base, let me know that too! My next post will be about a company that went above and beyond to do the right thing.
Jim
I'd like to encourage readers to log in on issues related to buying American, American manufacturing (what's left of it) and the death of customer service as we know it. Anyone who wants to share is welcome.
I'm a consumer just like everyone else and I've got my stories to tell. The latest is about Allstate Insurance Company. If you don't want to read my story, the end is "beware!" I wouldn't use Allstate Insurance ever again, but that's me.
I own a small cottage that has been in my family for over forty years. This year, due to a mix-up, the local caretaker did not close the house for the winter. As a result my pipes froze. I tried to notify Allstate's reporting line, but since I wasn't aware of any damage at that time, they refused to open a file or even document my report.
About a month ago, when we opened the house, we determined that there was damage, not extensive, maybe 2-3 thousand dollars. After 40 years with Allstate, I figured they'd pay for this modest claim. NOT!
First thing the adjuster says is, "There's a timeliness problem with your claim. Pipes don't freeze in June. We may have to deny the claim. So then I told him about how I'd called to report the matter, but they wouldn't take the report. Then the Allstate adjuster said, "How do we know you called us?" It's a good thing I know which phone line I used and that I save my phone records. It took me a while, but I found the actual phone call to prove I had tried to report the claim.
Okay, so I won that battle. Now I naively think, Piece of cake. They'll honor the claim. They'd be embarrassed to come up with another bogus reason to deny it! My optimism was premature. The adjuster then says that since the house didn't have oil, he was denying the claim. I asked him to read me the contract language he was relying on and he did. Turns out the adjuster really had to twist that contract around to deny the claim, but he was unwilling to talk further and told me flat out they were denying the claim. Nasty guy, too!
Now this kind of thing probably works with a lot of consumers. It takes a lot of energy to argue. I can't imagine a little old lady having the energy for a fight like this, and, after all, it's not $50,000. I have a suspicion that Allstate knows people won't fight that hard for a small claim. Anyway, I'm in this for the long haul. I called the supervisor. (The "Denial Letter" is still on its way.)
The supervisor actually returned my call, which I give her credit for. I explained why the oil ran out and how it wasn't negligent for me to have relied on a caretaker who does the same thing every year and has done for decades. She then started asking if I had a written contract with the caretaker! I'm still waiting for her final decision, but the point of all this is that Allstate is not very nice to its customers and you are NOT IN GOOD HANDS with ALLSTATE!
I don't make insurance claims very often (never from Allstate) and I have faithfully paid my Allstate bills over the years - Probably somewhere around $30,000 over the years if you include my parent's payments. Now we make a small claim and they're looking for any excuse in the book. At this point, even if they honor the claim, I've wasted a lot of time. If you have Allstate Insurance, I suggest you take a look at a better company. USAA insures everything else I own and they are very easy to deal with.
I'd like to hear your stories. Also, if you think I'm off-base, let me know that too! My next post will be about a company that went above and beyond to do the right thing.
Jim
# posted by Leatherneck Jim @ 3:32 PM 
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