Insurance Companies- A Rip-off !!
 

A couple of months ago, we were burglarized at home while at the lake. We filed the police report and notified the insurance co. The claims agent sez: Go to the jewelry stores and get estimated prices on the items stolen & a description, send it the her....no problem.... I did that & it took a lot of my time going to the stores to find like items, as much as possible. Now mind you I only had a $5000.00 rider policy and the gross of stolen items was $8400.00. Meaning the most I can recover is $5000.00. Now an "outside jewelry" consultant calls (does not reveal what she is), wants to see us about a "couple of items". Ok, we make an appointment. We get there, seemingly extreme security (two locked doors) for an insurance agent, who personally has to let you in. Now the real truth...... they want us to go thru their catalogues and item by item to find: the correct ring base, the mounting for the stone(s) and the correct size & color of stones, the grade 14,16,18 carat . We must figure out the weight of the ring, the weight of the stone, etc...... then they say: "are you going to replace these?" Of course we will, but with different stuff! Some of this was gifts from her to me, & vice/versa, childhood gifts from Mom & Dad, 30 year anniversary watches for my company.... what business is it of theirs if I replace it or not? ..... Now I find out..... one ring had an estimated value of $2000.00 retail... they say they can replace it for $1100.00 !!! I don't care ! :mad: The value is $2000.00 !! Now they want us to do this for 19 other items stolen. Rmember I said this was a maximum of $5000 recovery? I claimed $8400 lost, but I assigned no value to four items because I was over the recovery amount...... I/we could spend a week doing nothing but going thru her catalogues in her office...they can't leave. Will the insurance company pay me to spend that much time? Hell no..... I may have to get the BAT !!:eek: Where is it???

Insurance companies...don't even get me started.:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :mad: :mad:

I have never seen such BS from a company as to what i ma going through with American Family.

:mad: I'm waiting for my agent to get back in the office from a "regional" meeting. Boy is he going to get a ear full!!

and oh yeh.... he insures three houses, five boats, 2 cars/trucks, etc, etc,,,,,, ya' reckon' that's going to make a difference?? I doubt it. I may be changing companies! This really pisses me off!

I'd tread lightly until you settle then make a bunch of noise!! See how he feels about loosing your policy then! I'd be concerned that if you do the threats prior to settlement it would just drag it on???

just my .02?

Good luck

Blowformula,

Good luck! They love to take your money but play hell when they have to give some back. I recently received my homeowners renewal notice and the premium is going up over 30% this year and I have never had a claim with this company since I have been with them (7-8 years). My agent says they are just having to pay out to many claims. What's a guy to do.:confused:

Maybe I should start filing claims to get some of my money back.

sherman-what is you gripe with AmFam? I've had them for a long, long time now and have had both good and bad experiences. My feeling was that it really had to do with the adjuster that you have. I had the same one for two accidents and he was a real piece of work. The last one was dream come true-offer us more than book value!

Isn't that grand, having to pay out too many claims...nice to know that everyone can cover the claims!! You ought to ask him if the value of your house went up 30% last year also:rolleyes:

Where is the
"PHRKNLWYER" when ya' need him!!
:confused:

The question is : can an insurance company require you to miss work between specific hours (to meet their needs) to process your claim ?? Can they require you to accept wholesale costs quoted by their agent on jewelry purchased at retail?? :rolleyes: :mad:

Still waiting for my agent.... I won't make the "removal" threat, just maybe the " talk to my lawyer" threat.. I've known this guy for 20 years!! He's gotta help.:(

It was a data loss and they are just procreastinanting....I mean a 3 hour sworn statement with a court reporter with such questions as to what was the reason behind a auto accident 8 years ago WTF, what is the name of my boat, etc. Just BS The bad part is I like my agent he is actually a boater @ LOTO and I cant stay with a company that wont stand behind things. I have had great luck on auto stuff but heavan for bid a business claim. The land lord for my building is still fighting for over a year on the roof of the building we are in.

I will watch out for these theivs later in life.....

Insurance Company: Take your money in case something happens and when it happens, play like hell to keep as much of your money as they can. They don't want to give up money thats in their nature. I'm in a battle with State Farm. The largest insurance company in the world. My advice to you is to strong-arm them and hold your ground. Tell them to give you a check and you will buy your own stuff.

Insurance companies are always crying that insurance fraud raises everyones rates. Yet when you pay for a policy to replace items that are stolen, they always beat you up and end up trying to pay less than the replacement value. Now isn't that fraud.

Good luck...My fathers house was burglarized and a floor safe was broken out of his floor. They took all the items in the safe and the loss was about 130k. He had individual policies on most of the items, most of them being expensive jewelry. These items had an agreed value policy on them.

My dad had been with Farmers for 33 years when the burglary occured, and they refused to pay. He hired an attorney that specializes in sueing insurance companies and eventually won his claim, but the attorneys were the only ones to really make out. It took five years to settle the case and my father got 250k (interest and some other awards to the original claim), but the attorney was awarded 1.8 million in seperate fees.

We were told during the process that farmers will often reject claims over 50k and then try and talk you down on the dollar amount. They tried this with my father but he did not back down. I would talk to an attorney if I was you so you don't get screwed. :mad:

Before anything happens, general good practice.

#1: Have a valid written appraisal for each piece of jewelry over $700. Send copies to your agent. Pictures are good, too - put a coin in the picture for reference.


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As far as your loss this time, DO get values for the other items, even though they are over the coverage limits. They will send you a receipt that shows that you lost XXX amount, but they only compensated you for ZZZ amount. Your tax man will need this receipt to get you some deductibility for theft losses on your federal taxes. Don't let those pennies go to waste... Without the insurance company receipt showing a gap in the compensation, then you cant get any benefit or tax break.

Ok, here is the rest of the scoop! Legalized theft!!
It goes this way: If you have a ring that is appraised and documented as $10,000, you paid $8000. You insure it for 10K, pay for it as 10K. It gets stolen & insurance pays you 4K. Legally. The policys are written saying " replacement cost or market price". That is not OUR cost, even it that is what we paid. They can replace the ring for $4000 thru a wholesaler, so that is what you recover, even though they charged you for 10K.. Plain and simply ....robbery!!:mad: So, what ever is lost, it was a little bigger, a little brighter, a little thicker, 10k gold not 18k, etc......:eek:
And the insurance companies think this is NOT an integrity issue!! HA !! :(

The last time we were hit by lightning I had to replace our telephone/answering machine along with varous other items. The adjuster told me to go out and get one just like it or one with the same features. My phone wasn't on the market any more so I found a replacement. The adjuster balked at the 175.00 price and refused to reimburse me. He insisted I accept one "he" selected out of a Service Merchandise catalog. He said he found one with similar features for less money. I played his game, looked in their catalog and found one with less features and a price that was far higher than the one I bought.
I had a check for the full purchase price within three days. :D

I've never had trouble with my insuracne company before, but then it was the fourth time in five years our house was struck. :rolleyes:

these blood sucking insuranse companies all suck ! i had a 90 year old guy in a six month old motor home rear end me . he totaled my collectors car. i have been fighting with an A hole at the hartford for over a year now . i hate to get a lawyer involve due to the cost. but i have been jerked around long enough....

INSURANCE COMPANIES ARE BLOOD SUCKERS !

Wow, this seems kinda bad....

Need to go win the lottery and just not have to worry about it... :)

win the lottery and insureance compaines will become even more a part of your life.... you will have more stuff to insure and protect, as well as yourself!

I've actually had really good service outta Allstate.

My Rolex was appraised at $17,500 which was full retail. I was in a car wreck and the watch was torn off my arm and damaged in every way. They told me who to take it to for an estimate. The estimate was $16,000 to fix it. A new one from a discounter was only $14,000. They asked me if I wanted the new one or if I wanted the old one fixed. I told them that my Dad had given me the old one and I had prefer to keep it over a new one.

They fixed it like brand new no hassle at all. Wearin it as I type right now.

They did initially try to rook me on the value of my car that was totalled in that wreck. I balked and they asked me to come up with a number I liked.

I pulled the numbers directly out of the Nada book and gave them receipts for the battery and tires I had just put on it a month earlier. They gave me NADA plus half the cost of the tires and battery.

They are better or maybe I should say quicker on cars & homes. But when it comes to jewelry, they are animals!!!

We are going to a retail jewelry consultant tonight to try to sort thru this...... my agent tells me I should have a check by Friday...... I'll believe that when I see it!!

WAIT!!!!!!
If you make a claim for get changing companies. I had Country companies and had a rider on my home owners for the boat. I worked out nicely till I made a claim on the boat. I bought a new house and could not get a policy on it because of the claim. They put you in a high risk type thing and it will coast you an arm and a leg to insure your home. Better look into that befor you leap.
MikeW

When we lived in Jersey we had Allstate for almost 12 years. Excellent service, preferred rates the whole deal. Never a problem.
Then we moved to Florida. Allstate dropped us with no explanation, no advanced notice, no flowers or candy.
We were f**ked!
It took a month for a local Allstate rep to get us an answer.
The reason?
Our preferred policy allowed us to have one ticket or a sports car, not both. When we moved here I bought a Dodge Daytona, Shelby edition, and they consider it a sports car. Since the wife had gotten a ticket for speeding two years prior to moving and it was still listed on the policy they dropped us.
We were listed as a risk and had to pay special rates for three years. Not with Allstate, they wouldn't insure us again.
I'll never go back to Allstate. :mad: :mad: :mad: