Posted on 09/05/2008 4:54:21 AM PDT by MrPiper
Wow - all these posts and nobody comments about who published this document - The American Association for Justice, formerly the Association of Trial Lawyers of America. John Edwards is no doubt a charter member. This organization is composed of trial lawyers who feed off of liability insurance claims.
Among all carriers, Allstate is the toughest, tough as nails, when it comes to paying on questionable liability insurance claims. They will “yellow sheet” a file, which means that the case will be tried - no nuisance or economic settlelents. Plaintiff’s attorneys make money when you settle a case, not try it. And Allstate has been right - not all the time - some cases ring the bell, but for the most part, juries do the right thing and toss these questionable cases. So why do you think Allstate is at the top of the list of “bad” carriers?
http://www.foremost.com/
is number one as far as I am concerned. We live in Exeter, NH and had been with Foremost for less than two years after our previous home owners insurance company dropped us as customers after we had been with them for over TWENTY TWO years. They dropped us because in that time we had made two claims: 1) a sewer line under our house broke one winter causing a minor spill and 2) Our carpet in two rooms had to be replaced (cost+ $2,500) as a result of water damage because the solenoid on the washing machine failed resulting in the unit failing to shut off the water once it reached the proper level.
We had been with Foremost for less than two years when our town in NH was subjected to a massive freak hail storm that lasted for 20 minutes (In my entire life I have never seen anything like it). For 20 minutes hail stones the size of golf balls and tennis balls pummeled the area and our house. We lost half the windows in our home, half the siding, all 6 of our sky lights which resulted in massive water damage to the interior of the house, the whole peak of our roof was lost along with structural damage. In 20 minutes our home was nearly totally ruined. After it was over there was a 6 inch layer of leaves and branches debris covering our entire yard
Foremost Insurance sent out their adjustor and they were wonderful. They treated us like people with compassion and fairness. The adjustor didn't balk at the damage or needed repairs or try to screw us over or low-ball the repairs. They were honest, reliable and very fair in their settlement. We were able to choose our own contractors to do the work. They also put my family up in a hotel and fed us because for a time we were virtually homeless.
It literally took a solid year to recover from and to repair all of the damage but now we live in a brand new home thanks to Foremost Insurance. I heartily recommend them to anyone and everyone looking for an honest and fair insurance company. In spite of the fact that we had been with them less than two years, they treated us like we had been their customers for fifty and after it was over, they did not drop us as customers.
Sadly, the above response and experience was not the case with multitudes of other home owners in our area who dealt with other insurance companies. I heard numerous horror stories and complaints from many who had other insurance companies that low balled the repairs, balked at the real cost of repairs, refused to pay up, etc... Many home owners had to wrestle with their insurance companies and threaten legal action just to get their company to live up to their responsibilities. That was not the case with Foremost Insurance. I have praised them to the Better Business Bureau and to any one else (including Free Republic) who is in need of a reliable insurance company.
I hope the above helps
Uh,oh ... my homeowner’s insurance company made #10 (Liberty Mutual). We are only in our second year with them, but have not had any claims, so no experience there.
Has anyone had any claims experience with Liberty Mutual?
This article is from the trial lawyers, i.e., the plaintiff’s bar. They have to trash the insurance industry in order to create a bogey man for juries to punish, and the insurance industry is the deep pocket the trial lawyers want to fleece. I handle third-party claims for a well-known, global insurer (it is not one of the 10 mentioned in the article), i.e., claims brought against our policy holders by people alleging they were injured or harmed by them. What the trial lawyers don’t want you to know is that the insuranhce industry is one of the most — if not THE most — regulated industry in America, regulated by local, state and federal governments, by statute, by industry oversight bodies, commissions, boards, etc. Unlike the legal profession, which is the most UNregulated industry in America.
The lifestyle choices we have a little things like being married to the same person for over 20 years, kids on the honor roll, no DUI's, etc.
“Auto insurance ‘uninsured’ and ‘under-insured’ coverage.”
Don’t blame the insurance industry for that! The insurance industry did not want to get involved in such coverages. The trial lawyers (who own most of the courts and state governments in America) had the state legislatures create legislation to force the insurance industry to provide such coverages, obviously so that they (the trial lawyers) would be able to collect money from a deep pocket where they couldn’t from an uninsured or underinsured tortfeasor. Believe me, if there were not laws ordering the insurance industry to provide uninsured and underinsured motorist coverages the insurance industry would drop those coverage in a heart beat, because they (the coverages) are financial losers.
I’ve had a great experience with USAA. I’ve been with them for about 15 years and they’ve been very good and I don’t think the price can be beat. I don’t have a local agent and haven’t ever needed one.
Before I married mrs. riverdawg, I had been insured by Allstate for many years. Before our wedding, I called my Allstate agent, told him that my wife-to-be was with USAA, but wanted to give him an opportunity to give us a quote. The agent congratulated me and said he couldn't come close to USAA’s price for the coverage we wanted.
One of the best USAA
I frequently talk with a successful insurance agent at the gym. In addition to being a good salesman, he is also a really good guy. In one of the very few times we’ve talked about insurance, I told him that I’ve been with USAA for years. He told me I was lucky and that they were very good and the “best of the directs”. Ever since I told him I was with USAA he’s never asked if I’d “like to see what he could do for me”.
About 10 years ago I had a major house fire with Travelers.
People who have not been through such a thing have no idea. At this point, instead of helping me, instead of helping me, my company declared war on me and put me through living hell.
Do you know if you have a fire in the middle of winter, you better drain your pipes asap? If they burst, the company will say that’s YOUR fault and give you problems about paying your plumbing.
Nothing was covered right, or quick, or in any way easy. Everything was a struggle. Everything had to be approved. And nothing was approved for what it would really cost to rebuild.
I would bring in a company to rebuild say, a roof. The company would get me an estimate of say, 7500. The insurance would say, oh, no, you can do that for 2300. Which would send every roofing company in town into laughing hysterics when they heard that figure.
It took years to settle, and I’d say we got about 3/4 of what it actually took to rebuild the house. And the mental grief of fighting with them was unbelievable.
Fortunately I had access to cash like that. But many people don’t.
I hate insurance companies. And especially travelers.
Back in the day their rates were better than most and they were also very selective about their clients. Sadly, “the times they are a changin’.”
I don't care who wrote it, did you read any of it?:
According to CEO Thomas Wilson, Allstate’s mission is clear: “our obligation is to earn a return for our shareholders.” Unfortunately, that dedication to shareholders has come at the expense of policyholders.
Think you'll be allowed to even own private property when we get to socialism's end game?
Lib Mutual is on my S-list, anyway. They cancelled me after ONE claim. Funny bit was, a couple days before the end of the policy, someone broke into my car and took the stereo, etc. Sucks to be LM.
I’ve been with Safeco ever since, not the cheapest, but their service has been hard to beat.
so we need to find one not on their list?
is usaa only for military?
I have Liberty Mutual Auto Insurance with one claim. No complaints so far but the rates seem higher than they should. I have Farmers Home Owners which is ranked worse than Liberty and I was going to consolidate but now I’m not too sure. I’ve known for a long-time that the insurance business was a racket and I thought ‘uninsured motorist’ coverage was due to all the illegals driving around without any insurance at all.
I also have had Amica for 35 years (home & car). Affordable and high quality service
I have Liberty Mutual Home Insurance, about a year and a half now. They were the cheapest I could find by quite a lot.
I priced Liberty Mutual auto insurance, but it was kind of high — I’ve had Geico auto insurance for a number of years now. I regularly shop around, but have not found anyone cheaper than Geico for auto.
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