Complaint Review: The Hartford - Lexington Kentucky

It is no surprise after doing a search on this site for Hartford Insurance/The Hartford/Sentinel, etc., that 201 ripoff reports were found. I am here to make that 202 reports.

I had my home owners insurance w/The Hartford for twelve years. During those 12 years, I saw my premium rise from $800/mo to $2,000/mo. without ever making a claim and without adding anything to the policy. Further, within my total 35 years of home-ownership, I had never been late paying a premium, and I never made a claim to any homeowners insurance company or policy. Additionally, I had not made a claim to any other type of insurance policy/insurance company for more than 30 years (I include in that statement, health insurance, auto insurance, homeowners insurance, life insurance - ANY INSURANCE whatsoever). In 2009, I had a fire in my home. I immediately called Hartford. I complied with all procedures to see my claim to the end. My claim was not disputed, and to my knowledge was not investigated. I jumped through every hoop and obstacle that Hartford put before me (and there were many). During this procedure it became very obvious that their procedures and intentions were in place to contribute to the claimant in failing to comply with their demands. But, I did not fail; I complied with every little piece of documentation, every question, every form, every fact, receipt; whatever it was that they demanded, I provided in a timely manner, and well before their demands expired. The damages to my home had been estimated at more than $80,000. Long story short, Hartford dragged their feet paying the final $10,000 of my claim. Approximately three weeks prior to completion, the adjuster had done a final walk-thru and was impressed with the work and indicated the final payment would be sent within a few working days. The contractor completed all repairs agreed upon - on time and did excellent work; we waited and waited for final payment. A week after the adjuster made the final walk through I tried contacting her to let her know the work was completed. Three weeks later, after leaving numerous messages and emails, she finally emailed me back with a request for something she said she wanted from the contractor that came out of nowhere, which was completely unnecessary, and was not in the contract which was approved by the adjuster. I didn't question her request, I informed the contractor of the request, he complied with the documentation she requested and she had what she requested within three days. I again tried contacting her, left messages, sent emails, without reply.  The contractor finally made contact with the adjuster in an attempt to find out what else needed to be done for him to get payment. (The only thing I can figure with her even taking his call is because she did not recognize his name.) The adjuster hung up on him, and from that day on, I was unable to make any contact whatsoever with anyone from Hartford for a year. I paid the contractor out of pocket for his final invoice which was more than $10,000. I did this because the money was owed to him plus I was confident I would be reimbursed by Hartford. As it were when I did pay the contractor, he had already waited for three months for payment, which was way beyond the agreement we had and well after the completion of his work. Matter of fact, the contractor had used his own funds for materials to finish the job. Because of their lying, deceitful, crooked, underhanded processing of my claim (or non-processing) I lost my home that I owned for 21 years. I finally received the money owed to me, via a check more than one year after losing my home which was approximately 20 months after making the initial claim.  I still have that check; I am unable to cash it because it is made out to my former mortgage company and myself. The mortgage company would not negotiate so I still have the check. (That's another story in itself)

Bottom line; Hartford is not your friend. They will do whatever it takes to avoid payment or making payment in full. I hounded them, I called, emailed, snail mailed them asking for that payment before losing my home. I began my correspondence at minimum three times a week, for three months, and was put on ignore. None of my correspondence was given reply. I was sure to have all of my paper work, and all of my leg work done to the T. They had everything that they required and requested from me (and then some) way before their conditions of receiving it had expired.  They never disputed that I did not do my due diligence, nor did they dispute receiving all that I supplied and sent to them, nor did they dispute the legitimacy of my documents, of my statements or of my claim in general. They would not and did not respond to more than 12 months of correspondence from me. Finally, I wrote my congressman. He in turn wrote my state's insurance commission, and they contacted Hartford. When a representative from my state made contact with Hartford, within three days I received a phone call from Hartford. That is the only reason they made contact with me and the only reason they sent the $10,000 check to me. (Oh, they also paid out because they knew I would not be able to cash the check which was a two-party check.) During the phone call, the representative from Hartford informed me that they had sent the check more than a year ago and got it back through the mail, stating undeliverable. If they had sent it when they said they sent it, I would have received it. If they had sent it, why would they not respond to me for a year? They did not/would not provide evidence of sending the original check they claimed to have sent, nor did they provide evidence of its return to them.

One final note; four months prior to losing my home, my homeowner's policy came due. I received the premium notice from Hartford and as mentioned, up to the point of the fire, I had been paying $2000/year for my homeowners policy. In the statement that I received from Hartford after my first and only claim not only to Hartford, but to any other homeowners insurance policy, Hartford raised my premium by $2000 to $4,000/year. This was after my property value had DECREASED (due to the housing collapse) by more than 35% since the prior premium of $2000. So because of one claim, and even though the property value had substantially decreased, not only did they knowingly withhold payment, they then decide to punish me a further $2,000/year over and above what I had been paying. I had paid my premiums in full and on time for years to eventually be denied a timely and full payment for my one and only legal and legitimate claim. My mortgage company offered to me, through another company, the very same coverage that I had with Hartford on the same property for a total of $1,300/year; which is $2,700 less per year than Hartford was attempting to extort from me.

I have been scouring the phone book, the Internet, and any/all forms of directories in an attempt to find an attorney to represent me in a law suit against Hartford. I have yet to find one that feels comfortable going up against a giant such as Hartford. Hartford knows that someone as myself (meaning the little guy, the consumer) will have a tough time finding representation for a law suit, they know even if we did find someone to represent us, that our chances of winning are slim to none. Thus, this behavior, and their methods continue - with their underlying theme of whatever it takes, whatever we have to do, it doesn't matter, we are untouchable, we can do what we want. And they do.