Boycott STATE FARM Insurance

[MeDeMax]

State Farm Insurance, the nation's biggest home & auto insurer is systematically
denying claims that homes were damaged by wind during Katrina.

If you are carrying or shopping for their policy, consider an alternative.
Because litigation will not restore these people's lives.

Watch CNN presents on Sunday Oct 1st at 2 PM eastern :

'The Town that Fought Back'

CNN correspondent Kathleen Koch returns to the town where she grew up, Bay Saint Louis,
Mississippi, to investigate the town's progress following Hurricane Katrina.
In "CNN Presents: The Town that Fought Back," Koch finds that much has remained
unchanged in Bay St. Louis since the storm devastated the town, and that for many,
the lack of an insurance settlement is the reason why.

Tune in Saturday at 3 p.m. ET and Sunday at 2 p.m. ET.

State farm is also suing ex-employees to block investigations :

"State Farm loses shield request in Katrina claim suit"

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0609280181sep28,1,4715998.story

And so is one of its contractors :

"STATE FARM: Katrina adjuster sues 2 ex-workers"

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0609270287sep27,1,6878691.story


--

[TallahasseeGrannie]

1. Easier said than done, really.

Changing insurance carriers (we have home, farm, cars and life) is onerous. And life insurance is especially risky to switch, because you have to get new physicals.

How about if I just spit on my checks and stick out my tongue at them when I walk by them in the mini mall?

[MeDeMax]

7. watch the program tomorrow, if you can

some of the people on the show said they were state farm's customers for 40 years,
and they had promoted them as a great insurer to their friends and neighbors.

What if you have a claim and get denied ?

I know it isn't easy to switch, but if your insurer isn't playing fair and decides
to play the numbers game, won't you wish you had switched, even if it is a pain in the butt ?

Think about it. Btw, there are several blogs claiming unfair practices by State Farm,
google for them...

[TallahasseeGrannie]

12. I will check out some links.

I could change car and farm insurance, but life insurance at my weight... no way.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

14. And another thing...

I wonder if it would be more effective for me to write to them, as a customer, and complain about their practices, tell them how disappointed I am in them, etc.?

[MeDeMax]

19. make some noise thru your agent

It is not easy or practical to switch in many cases, but you can put the fear of god
and light the fire under their smug a**. By calling your insurance agent and telling
him / her that you are hearing terrible things about SF and hope that they plan to
live up to their obligations.

If you and 10 other customers do that, the agent will get on the phone and let them
know that a lot of customers are complaining.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

23. I will do it

our agent is a very nice lady and I think she would take us seriously. I'll also send a letter to the main office.

[MeDeMax]

24. CYA & document stuff with pics

good for you, regarding your agent taking you seriously.

Knowing what you know about SF going forward, document with digital camera pics
if you have any dents or dings on your property (vehicles, home, barn, ... ).

Should you ever need to file a claim, you will not be solely at the mercy and
truthfullness of your adjuster.

In the kansas tornadoes case, they sub-contracted a company that under-appraised
the damage so they didn't have to pay as much.

[countryjake]

11. State Farm - the Grim Reaper

If you think spitting on your checks will help you when you need it, good luck. Those checks are spitting into the wind!

Besides watching CNN presents this weekend on the Katrina survivor's struggle with insurance companies, read this, about Oklahoma tornado victims.

Seven Year Wait for Insurance for Oklahoma Tornado Victims
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/17/lt.01.html

[MeDeMax]

13. thanks ! I couldn't find a transcript -- n/t

[countryjake]

18. The link I gave isn't it...that transcript isn't up yet...too new of show.

Since last night's "Presents" referenced those poor people who lost their lives and homes due to the massive tornado cells that tore up Oklahoma, I thought this may help in recognizing that the problem is not just flood-damage versus wind damage, it's major insurance companies ripping off anyone, at their whim, with lying adjusters and crooked devastation engineers, deciding how serious damage is or why someone lost their life, in order to avoid making any payouts.

[rzemanfl]

2. Where I am in Florida State Farm is boycotting us. n/t

[Dr.Phool]

6. I've got State Farm

And if I switch, my only alternative is Citizens, and their rates are about triple.

[MeDeMax]

9. home owner's right ?

I assume you are referring to home owner's, auto insurance doesn't
increase that much when you switch, does it ?

[MeDeMax]

8. why ? n/t

[rzemanfl]

3. Dupe. n/t

[MeDeMax]

4. Paul Harvey isn't promoting them anymore ...

I was going to suggest that people write to Paul Harvey and ask him to
take them to task since he used to do their endorsement.

I was shocked, Paul doesn't promote State Farm any more & Bush has
decorated Paul to silence him...see pic at his site :

http://www.paulharvey.com/

If you dont know who Paul Harvey is, here is some background :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Harvey

[Greyhound]

5. If we really cared about our country we would eschew the entire industry.

It is the financial source for most, if not all, of the evil that is perpetrated on us today.

[MeDeMax]

10. add drug companies to that list

Okay so we have :

Haliburton, Big Oil, Big Banks, Big Insurance, Big Pharma, ...

for the last few years each of the above has used congress to enact laws
favoring them and screwing us.

[Greyhound]

25. Check out who the largest institutional investors in all of those

industries are...

That's why I said that they are the source.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

16. I tend to think ALL insurance is a scam

My husband and I bought some life insurance at work during an open enrollment. This first pay period (we are in education) the premiums TRIPLED! With no warning! The total was 500! We are cancelling that policy, needless to say. When we called to complain, we were told that...gasp....three people in our district had DIED! HOW DARE THEY?

Yeah, it's the American Scam. It hampers us in health care, and risk management in our schools...it's a mess. Lawyer's relief act.

[Kali]

15. Can you give some names of competitively priced companies

that aren't hard-asses? I mean c'mon, you are talking about INSURANCE companies.

Are there any "blue" companies out there?

[MeDeMax]

20. not an expert, try www.insure.com n/t

[EmperorHasNoClothes]

17. I'm happy to say I switched from State Farm years ago

after they denied two claims in a row. I told them, "Why should I pay premiums to you if you're just going to deny all my claims?"

The first was when the shower wall in my house literally collapsed from moisture that had leaked in around the soap dish that had been installed incorrectly twenty years ago (fifteen years before I bought the house). They said it was a "maintenance issue" and therefore not covered.

The second was when another car in the parking lot opened their door into mine. I was standing there watching when it happened, yet the claim was denied because it was "windy" that day, so obviously it was an act of god, whatever the hell that means. I guess FSM touched the door with his noodly appendage or something.

If anyone who uses state farm has actually managed to get a claim paid, that's great. But if you have them, I wouldn't get your hopes up that they'll ever pay any claim you make. I fortunately haven't had to file any claims with my new insurance company, but it can't possibly be any worse than state farm.

[MeDeMax]

21. everyone PLEASE READ the above, this is what we are talking about n/t

[MagickMuffin]

22. Doing my part

I just threw out a mailer they sent me. No way in hell would I purchase insurance from a company that doesn't HONOR their claims.

Who in this day and age can afford insurance when you realize that they may decide they aren't going to pay out.

You pay in, They Steal your Money, under the guise of offering you protection when you need it.