Experience with State Farm?

[RetiredAt55.5]

SF is not on my preferred bidder list. I avoid doing business with companies who have tied agents, who are basically employees of and advocates for the company. So if there are claims problems they are not there to help the insured. Hard to evaluate from anecdotes, though, the degree to which this is an issue in any one case.

With independent agents I have an advocate who can swing his clients away from any insurance company that causes problems. IMO that is far more leverage and easier to employ than anything a tied agent has.

Getting off topic since the OP was asking about SF specifically, but there's pros and cons of independent agents. Those are easily Googleable.

Finding an independent that's honest, knowledgeable, and truly independent can be difficult since commissions are in play.

Aside from customer surveys and anecdotal stories, I don't know how independent agents can identify insurance companies that "cause problems". Any large insurance company is going to have some anecdotal claims complaints.

 

[SoaringEagle1]

Nicknamed State Fraud around here. Three years ago a hail storm ripped though my neighborhood in Minnesota. Everyone in my neighborhood got a new roof paid for by their respective insurance companies. Many printed out checks directly from the adjuster's vehicle. Not me. State Farm would not agree to hail damage on my roof. Somehow the 3 neighbor's roofs 20 feet on each side of me got hail damaged but not mine. Even though two different roofing contractors said I had severe hail damage, State Farm would not process a claim. I switched to AAA and got a claim on the next storm. I'll never do business with State Farm again.

 

[freedomatlast]

My sister just took her Lexus into the dealership for a check engine light. Dealer found mice had chewed up the under hood wiring harness. Dealer wants to replace the harness for $10,000. Snake Farm offered $350. I warned her about them, now she understands.

 

[hopefullyoneday]

I have them for everything because they were the cheapest. Got into a accident which was not my fault. They paid out for the totaled vehicle which i have not been able to replace for the same cost. After referring my mother to them she needed to claim roof damage from a storm. They refused to pay so she got a 3rd party adjuster involved which got them to pay but it cost her 10% of the claim to pay the 3rd party adjuster. They are cheap if you never need a claim but will try not to pay or pay as little as possible if you do make a claim. I also have to have full coverage on all insurable vehicles to have my umbrella policy in effect. Premiums have continued to go up the last several years so gonna shop around soon.

 

[DrRoy]

We have had SF for over 40 years. Never had a homeowners claim. No auto claim for 35+ years. Any time we price shop no one can do better. We did add $4M umbrella at the best rate I had heard of. I did have my photography equipment covered, but after paying 3 claims for damaged items they dropped it.

 

[euro]

My sister just took her Lexus into the dealership for a check engine light. Dealer found mice had chewed up the under hood wiring harness. Dealer wants to replace the harness for $10,000. Snake Farm offered $350. I warned her about them, now she understands.

Well, without knowing the whole story, I think it is probably save to say that the dealer is out of his mind! He is sensing an opportunity for a huge profit and knows that the customer would never pay for that, so they are trying to sock the insurance for it.

 

[street]

I have one comment they are very expensive.. I check every other year for quotes comparing apples to apples and they are a lot more money than any other one I get quotes from locally.

 

[sturge]

I went for years without even thinking about changing companies because I thought I was getting a 'deal' as an employee discount from a large corporation. Over the last 5 years I've done some research and found that is WRONG. Since then, I've bounced around with Progressive, State Farm, The Hartford, Geico because I change about every year to get the best rate in premium, and it's significant EVERY time I do it. The only claim I made was with State Farm and I was treated fairly. I really don't think there will be a huge difference between any of major players when a claim is made.

It's not hard to do. Just go on the insurers website and fill in your info (drivers, vehicles, etc)...they want your business and it's fairly quick and easy to get substantial savings. Just make sure you compare coverages/deductables/etc and verify you are comparing apples to apples when price shopping.

 

[OldShooter]

... Finding an independent that's honest, knowledgeable, and truly independent can be difficult since commissions are in play. ...

Yup. Finding a good professional is never easy. With doctors, lawyers, and CPAs there are professional certifications involved in the licensing process but the barriers to entry for insurance salespeople are not so high. But all that applies to finding a good tied agent too.

... Aside from customer surveys and anecdotal stories, I don't know how independent agents can identify insurance companies that "cause problems". Any large insurance company is going to have some anecdotal claims complaints.

An independent agent is going to have a small number of favorite companies where he puts customers. So he will see first hand if any are problematic for customers. If problems emerge he will simply move his customers to another company. That is the clout he has with companies that the tied agents do not have.

 

[Closet_Gamer]

You will need a commercial liability policy then. I have that too for my rentals. Different and in addition to personal liability policy. StateFarm will write those almost as high as you'd ever want (my commercial policy is about the same price as my personal policy - all with StaeFarm

Thanks. We have a commercial liability policy plus an umbrella today for the LLC. We list ourselves as additional insured on both of those policies and will list any claims arising beyond that insurance coverage and directed at us personally as covered by the personal umbrella.

But our SF person is saying that we can actually list the LLC itself under this new umbrella and forego the commercial umbrella. Keep the liability but have a master umbrella that covers both us personally and the LLC.

If we do that, we will net a lot more coverage for a bit less money.

Have you ever looked at that type of structure?

I'm speaking with my attorney on Monday to get his view of this.

 

[Closet_Gamer]

Thanks to all for the responses. Insurance is such a muddle. For a long time we were with USAA ... they've become an unbelievable nightmare. DW spent an hour on the phone the other night trying to get bundled quote and literally just gave up.

Our current Farmers relationship has been OK but they have simply jacked their rates to the stratosphere here. I will easily save $4k/year in this new structure with better coverage.

Really frustrating.

 

[OldShooter]

Thanks to all for the responses. Insurance is such a muddle. For a long time we were with USAA ... they've become an unbelievable nightmare. DW spent an hour on the phone the other night trying to get bundled quote and literally just gave up.

Our current Farmers relationship has been OK but they have simply jacked their rates to the stratosphere here. I will easily save $4k/year in this new structure with better coverage.

Really frustrating.

Yeah. It sounds like you are shopping direct, no agent(s) involved. A problem with that approach is that you have no clout with whatever insurance company you're dealing with. You are just one ant in the anthill. An agent, even a tied one, is someone that the company cares more about. An independent agent, specifically, will have multiple clients placed with a company and the company knows that he can take them elsewhere if he so chooses. Or, if they are really nice to him it may bring more business.

 

[athena53]

Fortunately I have had very little experience filing an auto claim and none on Homeowners (as in, never in my life). I switched to State Farm 2 years ago when my previous insurer hit me with a large rate increase.

Late last year I did two stupid things after decades of a squeaky-clean record. First, when I found myself in a right-turn only lane when I wanted to go straight and no one was in the lane behind me, I carefully (I thought) backed up in an attempt to get into the correct lane and sideswiped the truck of a very hostile woman. Damage was minimal but she took pictures of a second scratch near the rear of the truck and blamed me for that, too; I KNEW I'd stopped dead at the first contact at the front. State Farm's adjuster was helpful and responsive, asked about damage to my car (none worth repairing, really) and I gave them a heads-up about the scratch on the back of the truck. It's been settled. No whiplash claims. Later I did a Google search on her and found her mug shot. I wasn't nosy enough to pay a snoop site to tell me why she was arrested.

A month later I was sailing up I-35 to Des Moines, beautiful sunny day, little traffic, no blind curves. Flashing lights behind me. He'd clocked me at 86 mph. He wrote the ticket for 84 to give me a bit of a break. Now I use my cruise control, which I should have done as soon as I got the car in 2020. I am being VERY careful but also was worried about what this would do to my insurance. Renewal came through- a 20% increase from 6 months ago. Not happy news but I'm glad they renewed me.

 

[Closet_Gamer]

Yeah. It sounds like you are shopping direct, no agent(s) involved. A problem with that approach is that you have no clout with whatever insurance company you're dealing with. You are just one ant in the anthill. An agent, even a tied one, is someone that the company cares more about. An independent agent, specifically, will have multiple clients placed with a company and the company knows that he can take them elsewhere if he so chooses. Or, if they are really nice to him it may bring more business.

Yeah. Once I get the input from my attorney, I may engage an independent agent.

 

[big-papa]

Does anyone have experience with State Farm insurance?

We're revisiting out insurance situation. State Farm is coming in cheaper by far than our current providers. They are also willing to step up on umbrella coverage where others are not.

Anyone have experience with them in terms of quality?

Thanks.

I've been with them since 1984 and no real problems I can remember and that includes prompt payment of claims. Started out with auto + renters. Over time it became auto + homeowners + jewelry rider + umbrella

Yeah, rates go up over time.

Now they're going to be somewhat different in every state.. I'm in TX.

Cheers.

 

[Koolau]

With State Farm, I've found it's all about your agent. If you "know" your agent and s/he goes to bat for you, good things happen. If you have a lazy agent, you will not like SF IMHO. For many years, my cousin was my agent and it was a very good relationship. Here in the Islands, I "know" my agent and she is very good about dealing with "issues." I'd suggest you meet with an agent at a local office before ever becoming a "new" customer of SF. Just my take on it, but YMMV.

 

[Closet_Gamer]

With State Farm, I've found it's all about your agent. If you "know" your agent and s/he goes to bat for you, good things happen. If you have a lazy agent, you will not like SF IMHO. For many years, my cousin was my agent and it was a very good relationship. Here in the Islands, I "know" my agent and she is very good about dealing with "issues." I'd suggest you meet with an agent at a local office before ever becoming a "new" customer of SF. Just my take on it, but YMMV.

Good advice. Thx.

 

[Mark1]

We have been with SF for many years, but our last claim was over 30 years ago, so no recent data for you.

My only complaint with my SF homeowner's policy is that amount of "personal property" is set at 75% of the house value and can't be changed. While I understand that some houses might have that much expensive furniture within, there is no way our house with a rustic style design is anyway close to this 75% coverage level. I believe that I could replace every item within our house for the price of just our rustic, white oak doors and walnut cabinets alone. I really hate subsidizing other policy holders on this issue.

 

[Koolau]

We have been with SF for many years, but our last claim was over 30 years ago, so no recent data for you.

My only complaint with my SF homeowner's policy is that amount of "personal property" is set at 75% of the house value and can't be changed. While I understand that some houses might have that much expensive furniture within, there is no way our house with a rustic style design is anyway close to this 75% coverage level. I believe that I could replace every item within our house for the price of just our rustic, white oak doors and walnut cabinets alone. I really hate subsidizing other policy holders on this issue.

As condo owners, we are forced by the association to carry the equivalent of "renters" insurance. Nothing we own is worth much, but we have to take the standard policy to qualify or our HOA will buy it for us - and send us the bill. Otherwise, we would not pay for the insurance.

What's really bad is our association rules say "if you flood it - you bought it." But SF assumes that "old pipes" leak so if we flood the neighbors, it's NOT negligence on our part. So they don't pay (ask me how I know.) The other side of the coin? If the neighbors flood OUR apartment SF WOULD pay our loss BUT the HOA INSISTS!! that our neighbors pay. SO - bottom line: We ALL pay for insurance that most will NEVER be able to use. I suppose fire would pay off, but not the one thing we have all been experiencing here of late - flooding due to 50 year old pipes. No point in arguing with HOA. They are like the 3rd grad teacher who is rigid in her punishments - no exceptions and no rhyme or reason - just her policy. Go figure.

 

[euro]

Thanks. We have a commercial liability policy plus an umbrella today for the LLC. We list ourselves as additional insured on both of those policies and will list any claims arising beyond that insurance coverage and directed at us personally as covered by the personal umbrella.

But our SF person is saying that we can actually list the LLC itself under this new umbrella and forego the commercial umbrella. Keep the liability but have a master umbrella that covers both us personally and the LLC.

If we do that, we will net a lot more coverage for a bit less money.

Have you ever looked at that type of structure?

I'm speaking with my attorney on Monday to get his view of this.

I don;t have an LLC, so my situation may be a bit different. SF did cover my first 4 rental properties under the personal liability umbrella, but once I got past 4 rentals, they wanted to write a separate commercial pol;icy for all rentals and a personal one for cars/home

 

[Flieger]

Have had SF for over 30 years. Had hail damage (roof and auto), several car accidents, one with another driver that also had SF, and a couple with drivers who had Allstate. SF took care of all of these situations superbly. As others have said, it may have something to do with the agent, I have also been with the same agent for 25+ years.

Flieger

 

[VanWinkle]

As a former Collision repair shop owner, State Farm was one of the better companies to work with on repairs. They paid for all of the needed repairs and did not try to use inferior parts or repair methods on their estimates. Most of the adjusters were honest and concerned for their customers.

VW

 

[freedomatlast]

Well, without knowing the whole story, I think it is probably save to say that the dealer is out of his mind! He is sensing an opportunity for a huge profit and knows that the customer would never pay for that, so they are trying to sock the insurance for it.

Ok, here's the story for those that want details. If anyone here attempted to replace the under hood wiring harness on a newer vehicle, they'd understand the work and expense involved.

Sister's Lexus RX350 check engine light appeared. Dealer diagnosis was that a mouse or rat chewed the under hood wiring harness and it needed to be replaced and supplied pictures of the damage. They couldn't see the whole harness without major disassembly and suspect additional damage on the areas they can't see based on past similar repairs on other vehicles.

She had AAA insurance in the past and had a similar claim at a similar cost back in 2016 and AAA paid the $10,000 no questions asked. She was surprised the cost wasn't more due to inflation since 2016.

She recently switched to Snake Farm because AAA would no longer insure her southern California house, due to mudslide and wildfire concerns, and she wanted to bundle the home and auto insurance. Snake Farm gave her the lowest quote and now she's stuck and may as well not even be paying for comprehensive insurance, because there's no value in insurance from an insurer that refuses to pay out legitimate claims. She asked Snake Farm who they'd recommend to replace the harness that would do it for $350 and they had no clue. Queue Snake Farm jingle.... "Like a good neighbor".........lol......

 

[athena53]

Ok, here's the story for those that want details. <snip>She asked Snake Farm who they'd recommend to replace the harness that would do it for $350 and they had no clue. Like a good neighbor.........lol......

You can file a complaint with your State Insurance Commissioner- every state has one but the title may vary. Bad-faith claims handling is defined as lowballing a claim that should be settled for far more or denying a claim for something covered by the policy. Insurance companies do NOT like to have complaints filed since the state monitors their complaint ratios. Your sister may want to threaten that. I know that when I did that after repeated stonewalling on a claim for my husband's hearing aids (clearly covered, I had provided receipts) the claim was paid promptly.

 

[freedomatlast]

Good suggestions, Athena, as a matter of fact she's already on it. She's a lawyer by trade and a real fireball at that , so I'm looking forward to some good entertainment till this is all over.