Complaint Review: State Farm Insurance

My wife and I were state farm insurance customers for approximately 3 years with no claims when our car was stolen. The police recovered our car a few miles away with all contents removed of course.

We put in the claim for our personal items and the damage to the car (around 1800 total)and were surprised when we received a phone call from our "good-neighbor" insurance agent asking us to go down to the local stereo shop so they could verify that the vehicle did have the various stereo components we put in our claim.(they wanted to make sure the equipment was actually installed in the car and that we werent making it up)

We went and the shop said everything was as we said it was in relation to the stereo equipment. A few days later we receive another phone call from our agent this time he says "Our experts have looked at your car and they say because there is no damage to the steering column or apparent damage to the ignition that it is impossible for our car to have been stolen".

We were then further advised from our agent that if we wished to proceed with the claim we were going to have to "get a lawyer". I then figured out that you could start the car with any key of the same shape no matter the make or model, as the ignition had been jammed (completely obliterated on the inside).

When i showed this to the insurance adjuster he cut me a check on the spot, it just kind of made me wonder how many people had actually fallen for this line from their insurance company. The lesson here is that they do not have to have the last word, if you are in the right they will pay just do not allow them to bully you into giving up.

Mike
racine, Wisconsin
U.S.A.