Complaint Review: Red Cross / Farmers Insurance - Tulsa Oklahoma

I am a liability adjuster at Farmers Insurance and here is the thing a lot of people do not understand about claims. We can only concluded the claim based off of the information provided. I do not know how many times I have spoken with a claimant who said our insured admitted fault at the scene and offered to pay for the damages. The problem with this is often times when we call our insured's they completely change their story. Whenever you file a claim on someone's policy the burden of proving that person is at fault falls entirely on you. For a parking lot accident like yours I am assuming the other person stated you were both backing at the same time or they stated they stopped and you hit them. It is extremely unfortunate that so many people today lie and it is definitely the most frustrating part of our job. If there is no further proof that our insured is lying such as a police report or witness statement than our hands are tied. We have to side with our insured because the other party has been able to substantiate their version of the loss. We and all other insurance companies cannot use passengers/friends/family members as a witness as this would be obviously bias.

Every single thing we do and say is documented and recorded so if the adjuster stated he could not get ahold of our insured or the insured is saying something different happened than that is the truth. I have had multiple claimants call me upset stating they spoke with our driver and our driver told them they keep calling me and could not get ahold of me. When in reality they had been dodging my calls and never once called me back. I have had video evidence, witness statements and people still lie to me about what happened. It is not about money when we make our liabilty decisions, it is about making a decision based off the information provided to us. We are not human lie detectors. I highly suggest if you ever get in an accident again to grab someone nearby as a witness or get a police report because there is no way to tell what that person will say happened once we call. Also adjusters are required to return phone calls within 24 hours so I highly doubt you didn't hear from anyone for three weeks as we do not even keep claims open that long. Also adjusters are typicaly handling 40-80 claims a day so it is sometimes hard to call people back immediately or always answer your phone when adjusters work typical business hours. 

One commentor mentioned that their driving has nothing to do with how they perform at their job... Actually, while there is a part of me that very much agrees with that perspective, you must realize that:

I was a passenger in the car Barry was at fault from location of damage alone Despite the witness statments The Red Cross did in fact cover the damage done after many calls and letters ect

This man hit your car and he may have been at fault, but to link this accident, which is in NO way related to his job description (a phlebotomist sp), is stupid. So are you saying you are perfect? If you ever got into a car accident and were at fault. Someone has the right to judge how well you do your job? How about "you are a shitty mom because you cannot drive." Please. How I do my job, and how I drive have nothing to do with each other. Also, the adjustor had a right to disregard your passenger's statement. Because they were in the car with you, they would be biased big time. Poor Barry didn't have any witnesses did he? Did anybody not involved in this accident see anything? The adjustor was unprofessional though declining any claim before he even saw it, and being non responsive to calls.

I am updating my complaint on Aug 4,03 almost 1 month after accident and not hearing anything on my case from insured calim adjuster I called insrured Barry and he stated that he wanted this resolved and that his adjuster Sean Robertson was not getting in contact with his insured I advised Bary IF that was the case which I believe to be true as you can no get Sean to answer a call or call when you will be able to talk to hin I advised Barry the insured I would proceed with this matter looking at the neglect od job duties ect towards Sean Robertson only as I do believe Bary is telling me the truth. I have filed a complaint with the Texas Dept OF INSURANCE against Sean Roberton the adjuster that will not return a call and will not review all facts before coming to a denial of claim letter Sean did not even look at the damage on my vehicle... stated he didnt have to do that HIS INSURED IS TELLING ME HE WANTS THIS MATTER RESOLVED something diff then Sean is stating on his insured's behalf I feel Sean is misrepresenting his insured and IF need be I plan on filing a law suit towards Barry even though I do not feel he is the problem IT is Clear that Sean is not representing his insured in any professional matter I have filed a cliam to my insurance as well I had a adjuster make 2 trips to view damages and take pictures of damage get a statememnt ect... Julio is the independant adjuster my insurance called to review case and I am satisfied with the efforts and reviewing of facts takinf pics ect that is beibg done fron him.. I called Sean's superviser this morning ED and told that I will be getting a call within a few hours well I am still waiting I will update this case when needed this update is to retract info on Barry Pierce as I feel after talking to him that he is not the cause of this mess.... Sean Robertson speaking on Barry's behalf is the issue I dont know how yoo can review a case without getting all the facts witness statements or not even looking at the damage or location of damage.. Thanks to all that read this and or reply any info on this matter is greatly appreciated...

You need to call your insurance company and threaten to file a claim for the damage "because even though someone else caused it, their insurance is refusing to pay." This should pique their interest, since your company doesn't want to pay either. So they'll call Farmers and lean on them to pay. It usually will bring them about quickly. Talking to the other company by yourself will, as you've discovered, get nowhere. And it can even hurt your case since anything you say will be used against you. This only works if you have collision coverage on your policy. If you only carry liability coverage on an older car, you'd naturally expect to pay for any collision damage to your car that you cause. But the system is rigged so you'll also pay for most collision damage that you don't cause. In an accident that's not your fault, always try to have the police write a charge against the other driver. That eliminates the "he-said, she-said" factor. It may seem unnecessarily harsh to them to pin them with a bad driving record, but it is often the only way you'll get their insurance to pay for your damage.