Posted on 11/14/2012 7:38:05 AM PST by theshadow3581
I live on the south shore of long Island & have extensive damage from storm. I finally got power back yesterday. I have been in touch with my insurance co. for the last 15 days and all I've got was one lie after another. They still have not even assigned an adjuster for my claim and no inspector....does anyone know any agency I can call to report this or what my legal action are?.....
State insurance commission?
Due to Storm Sandy, the Department’s New York City (212) area code business telephone lines are temporarily out of service. Please call 518-473-0785 until further notice. Consumers should call storm hotline 1-800-339-1759.
Fire off a letter to them including some of the verbiage from this:
http://law.onecle.com/new-york/insurance/ISC02601_2601.html
Sorry, you’re in New York.
It is a liberal state.
You’re screwed.
The first calls the insurers received would have been at the time Sandy hit. Adjusters are assigned to claims as they are filed and they have a finite number of adjusters. Similarly, contractors take jobs as they receive them. So, two weeks post Sandy, you have to expect that your claim is going to be well down the adjusters list. Don’t be surprised to learn that a contractor won’t be available for 6 months or more.
There has been some kind of panel reviewing insurance policies at Cedar Creek Park in Wantaugh, off of Merrick Road. Between 9AM and 5PM. Maybe they could help.
How To File A Complaint
Please use our on-line consumer complaint form to file a complaint about a consumer financial product or service. After submitting your complaint, you will receive immediate email confirmation and be assigned a file number. Please save that number and use it in any future correspondence.
Insurance related questions:
Consumer Assistance Unit
NYS Department of Financial Services
One Commerce Plaza
Albany, NY 12257
Telephone: You may call Monday through Friday, 8:30AM to 4:30PM at 1-800-342-3736, 212-480-6400, or 518-474-6600.
http://www.dfs.ny.gov/consumer/fileacomplaint.htm
Do whatever you can to protect your property against further damage, but be sure to document EVERYTHING. Is this a well known insurance company or some fly by night outfit?
Call the insurance company and ask them to whose attention you should direct a Notice of Intent to Sue. Chances are that you will see an adjuster at your property before the end of business tomorrow.
First before you do anything else, take pictures, lots of pictures, inside, outside, front, back, across the street, houses around you, then head to the insurance office.
Telephone calls are to easy to ignore. Then call the insurance company not just the local agent.
Failing that? One may need to consider calling an attorney? Perhaps a friend that is an attorney? Oft times a phone call/letter will prompt them to move a little quicker. But the reality is, things are such a mess up there, it could take weeks to get someone to look at your place.
Best of luck to you.
Are you able to mention the name of the insurance company?
Most states have a Dept of Insurance Complaints division. The first thing I would do is place a call to your Dept. of Insurance in your state. Then fill out the form they give you and get it back to them ASAP. At the same time, contact the insurance company and let them know you are filing a consumer complaint.
Sometimes that is enough to get the ball rolling. Don’t forget that your insurance company is probably deluged with claims and is looking at massive losses. So the have to delay in order to adjust the claims and to pay them. Allstate went from an A++ carrier to a B rated carrier after a Florida hurricane. The companies can go broke under the weight of this kind of catastrophe.
You just want to make sure you are first in line as they pay. So, make sure they know you are there by complaining and repeatedly calling. You could lawyer-up, but it may not be effective. Sometimes when an insurance company gets a letter from a lawyer your file is moved to a legal division and then there is very little conversation. File the complaint and keep calling. I would also send the written confirmation of the calls you are making. If you still have not gotten ahold of an adjuster, then have a lawyer write a letter.
My 2 cents.
It’s cool. Obama won.
If there is a network camera nearby Obama will give you a hug.
If it’s a well-known insurer, call a local TV station with your sad story. The only thing the major insurers fear is bad publicity, because they spend millions in ads promoting their image as a “caring” company.
It worked with Nationwide after Katrina.
Who are you contacting at your insurance company? If you are dealing with your agent, find a customer service number for the main company. Your insurance company should have already set up a call number for claims in your area and you should be able to get help at that number. If it is indeed the company that is being shady and not just an inept employee then you need to find out who regulates insurance and report them. Right now the regulatory agency is likely swamped as well and may not be much help so finding someone else to deal with at the insurance company will likely get you help sooner if possible.
I have two brothers that were insurance adjustors for catastrophe claims and the company they worked for had a great system to deal with things like this, but not every one in that company was as up to speed as they should have been so claims did fall through the cracks.
By now you should have been contacted by an adjustor (depending on when you filed your claim) and you should be entitled to some “quick money” known as ALE (additional living expense) to tide you over with expenses you are facing now- while they process your claim.
I would advise you to just burn up the phone line until you can light a fire under someone at your insurance company. Years ago I helped work catastrophe claims and trust me the squeaky wheel does get greased first.
There are companies that have adjustors/lawyers in many cases that you can hire to represent you with your insurance company- they are known as Public Adjustors. I caution you that if you hire one you will be out of the loop, your insurance will only deal with them after you hire them, and they do get their fee out of your settlement so that cuts into your proceeds to get your life back together. I think the best route is to light a fire under your company, then the regulatory agency in your area if that doesn’t work before thinking about a Public Adjustor.
errr...
Call Barack....
.....No wait... scratch that for sure....
...."Your call back time is in excess of 15 minutes"...
.....For the 99th time---
Pardon the blunt assessment:
You're screwed to the wall...
Until they get a notion to see you in their own good time.
(1) take pictures - lots of them
(2) write a letter to the insurance company using tumblindice s posting (keep a copy)
(3) send a copy to the state insurance agency
(4) write a letter to local newspapers (may they will publish and maybe not)
(5) call your agent every day no matter how loud he tells you not to - if he blocks your call, write a letter
(6) keep a log of actions (and inactions), promises and letters
(7) now you have a list, it’s up to you to not get overlooked
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