Ten Worst Insurance Companies in America

[goldenlight]

The subject of insurance comes up from time to time.

I switched from Farmers Insurance to Geico, and cut my car and homeowner's insurance almost in half, and with MUCH BETTER coverage: lower deductibles, much higher limits, etc.

I found this to be very interesting:

Ten Worst Insurance Companies in America

http://law.freeadvice.com/insurance_law/insurers_bad_faith/ten-worst-insurance-companies.htm


These ten companies were named the worst insurers in America for denying claims, raising premiums, refusing insurance to those who need it most and many other reasons:

1. Allstate
2. Unum
3. AIG
4. State Farm
5. Conseco
6. WellPoint
7. Farmers
8. United Health
9. Torchmark
10. Liberty Mutual

Check the website, and read some of the stories. A real eye opener.

 

[KD5XB]

I'm surprised Farmer's wasn't #1! I can't count the number of people I have run across that have had bad experiences with Farmer's. Usually very slow to pay claims, or else not pay them at all. One of their customers hit my wife's car at a red light and totaled it, and it was over a year before Farmer's finally paid for the car and her injuries, and even then they didn't pay everything. We finally gave up.

I have seen signs on the side of the highway around the country complaining about Farmer's. I would never do business with them, and if we're ever involved with a claim from them again I suspect it will go to court, we sure aren't going to let them drag their feet again.

Allstate is so-so, I was a customer of theirs for 17 years with NO claims and they gave me a hard time at renewal one year so I switched to somebody else.

I remember Mike Reagan's daughter had a problem with Progressive, something about a slow payout or something.

Of course, you have to realize that ALL insurance companies are crooks, their mission is to make money, and paying claims goes against that.

Of course, you also have the "B-rated" companies like Dairyland, and they're in a "whole 'nother category"...

 

[mrartillery]

Have you ever actually found a insurer that you "liked"?

I think there all a bunch of damn crooks, you pay them out your whole life, but when it comes time for them to pay, they disappear. Very convenient i'd say.:scowl:

 

[geepondy]

I do hear good things about Geico from several of my friend's who insure with them. For several years, Massachusetts state set the rates so their wasn't much competition or price differences between the auto insurers. Now that has changed and the competition has opened up. At the time of auto insurance renewal I did several web comparisons and Geico and the Costco insurance were the cheapest but not significantly so then my current insurer (Travelers). Since I have a good and long standing relationship with my insurance agent, I stuck with Travelers. Allstate, Liberty Mutual and Progressive were considerably higher.

 

[sigsour]

I dropped Allstate for Nationwide and my cost was cut in half. (same deductibles)

 

[Lynx_Arc]

you do know AIG was bought out by Farmers don't you? I had AIG and they raised their rates on me after they were bailed out so I went to state farm and got the same amount of insurance plus renters insurance for cheaper than their premiums. Farmers ripped me off when I had farmers and someone else that hit me had farmers and they undervalued my uncommon car based upon the only car they could find in the state which was worth $1500 less than mine was. I think rates for different companies must vary widely across the states.

 

[nfetterly]

Ameriprise through Costco :rock::goodjob:

Used to be American Express insurance. My wife got hit by someone - who didn't have insurance - so our insurance had to cover our car. Of course then the person who hit us sued & Ameriprise handled that very well. Kept us informed the whole time.

Roofer going through our neighborhood checking roof(s) after a big storm told me that Ameriprise was very easy to deal with - roofer was apparently former insurance person (I ended up having no damage).

 

[southpier]

I dropped Allstate for Nationwide and my cost was cut in half. (same deductibles)

after almost 30 years i dumped Nationwide (1 claim in '84/ 1 speeding ticket in '88) and signed up with Amica. matched coverage $ for $ and saved almost 400$ per year.

 

[goldenlight]

Have you ever actually found a insurer that you "liked"?

I think there all a bunch of damn crooks, you pay them out your whole life, but when it comes time for them to pay, they disappear. Very convenient i'd say.:scowl:

That's why I posted this info.

While in general Insurance companies are evil, some are FAR worse than others.

 

[Pellidon]

I'm one of the former Farmers customers. High rate jackups, poor claims handling.

I'm surprised Farmer's wasn't #1! I can't count the number of people I have run across that have had bad experiences with Farmer's. Usually very slow to pay claims, or else not pay them at all. One of their customers hit my wife's car at a red light and totaled it, and it was over a year before Farmer's finally paid for the car and her injuries, and even then they didn't pay everything. We finally gave up.

I have seen signs on the side of the highway around the country complaining about Farmer's. I would never do business with them, and if we're ever involved with a claim from them again I suspect it will go to court, we sure aren't going to let them drag their feet again.

Allstate is so-so, I was a customer of theirs for 17 years with NO claims and they gave me a hard time at renewal one year so I switched to somebody else.

I remember Mike Reagan's daughter had a problem with Progressive, something about a slow payout or something.

Of course, you have to realize that ALL insurance companies are crooks, their mission is to make money, and paying claims goes against that.

Of course, you also have the "B-rated" companies like Dairyland, and they're in a "whole 'nother category"...

 

[Monocrom]

I remember when I bought my new car a year ago, I tried signing up to get coverage at AllState.

I felt like a political prisoner tied to a chair, being bombarded with one personal question after another. Well, after awhile, two things became clear:

1) The questions weren't going to stop any time soon.

2) Other than my full name and address, none of the questions had a damn thing to do with getting auto coverage. (I don't even think we reached the part yet where she was going to ask me about the make and model of my new ride.)

I told the AllState agent to forget I ever called. She actually laughed and said that that had never happened to her before. (Yeah, I doubt that.)

Called up Geico, less than 5 minutes later I had insurance on my new ride.

 

[Big_Ed]

I've been with Farmers for almost 22 years, my Dad has been with them for just over 50, and my Grandpa was with them for many years as well. All with the same agent (and that agent's father before him). Neither I nor my Father have had any bad experiences with them. I've had a couple claims over the years, the last one a couple years ago for 2 of my vehicles being totalled in a flood. I was treated with respect, prompt service and a fair settlement.

I think part of the problem is so many people are simply looking for the lowest price (not that there's anything necessarily wrong with that), and will jump ship if there's even a hint of a problem, or the possibility of saving a couple dollars with another insurance company. There's just no loyalty anymore. It seems to me that people would possibly get better service from their agent if they stuck with them for more than just a year or so. Some agents may feel why should they be loyal to their customers if they know they are going to change insurance companies as soon as the claim is paid. Not that that's an excuse, just maybe that's how it is. Maybe if they personally knew their agent, that might grease the wheels a bit. Not that agents should drag their feet for any of their customers claims, of course, but they might just feel a little bit more motivated to work just a little bit harder if they felt they knew the client.

Of course this doesn't apply when dealing with someone else's insurance company. They want to delay paying whenever possible.

I feel that in my case as well as my Dad's case, that our loyalty to Farmers has paid off with good service. Good driving records have probably helped too!

 

[sed6]

I'll chime in here. First off, I work for one of the 10 listed, but I won't say which one.

There's an old saying that goes something like, if you like a company you'll tell one person, if you dislike a company you'll tell ten people. The internet has amplified that many fold. No one goes online to rave about a company, they go online to ***** about a company. That article is proof of that.

Add to that, the companies listed are the big players in the market. It's natural that they are going to have lots of complaints from customers. From those complaints come lawsuits, investigations, bad press and articles like this. It's just the way the world works.

As an agent for one of those companies I'll say that all of my customers switched to me because I offered a fair price, excellent service and the promise of fair claims settlement. Thus far my company has delivered. Sure I get the occassional complaint about a bill or claim, but they are minor and NOT indicative of a systemic problem.

That said, insurance is a racket, if you're so inclined to believe so. I may be an agent, but like everyone else I pay my premiums and rarely if ever see a dime in return. That's how it works. I pay in case I have a claim. I pay in case a tornado wipes out my house (several have missed by not too far). But I also wear my seat belt in case I have an accident and subscribe to roadside assistance in case I have a dead battery.

I'll add that almost all of us can save money if we shop around for better rates. Insurance companies reserve their best rates for their newest customers. That is why it always pays to shop around. Most people won't give up the comfort or security of their current insurance company for $50/yr in savings, but most would jump ship for $500/yr.

I enjoy what I do, and I believe strongly in the great service my company offers. It's a shame that anyone has a bad experience with their insurance company. But bad experiences are not limited to insurance companies.

 

[Search]

Move to TN, find Farm Bureau. I guarantee I pay less for more.

 

[NeonLights]

I've been with State Farm for 23 years, ever since I started driving at 16 years of age. My family had been with them for years before that. I've had two local agents in the 23 years I've been with State Farm, and have no complaints whatsoever, my rates are very reasonable, and best of all, on the occasions when I've needed to make a claim, the process was very painless and their customer service was great.

I price shopped when I was younger, and the other companies wanted to jack my rates up because of the speeding tickets I had. I used to get a ticket every two years or so when I was younger, and State Farm never raised my rates because of them. Their competition wanted to charge me double because of one ticket. My wife and I own five cars now, and our rates are very good, and I haven't had any reason to shop around for years.

 

[kramer5150]

!!ALLSTATE ABSOLUTELY SUCKS!!! Completely does not surprise me they are at the top of the crapper.

Without going into excessive details, I was in a car accident ~10 years ago and not at fault (eyewitness account) and they did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!! to help me. They left me hanging high and dry, with the guilty party claiming I was at fault for the accident.

Allstate would not even acquire a statement from my witnesses!!! they just kept bouncing me around from one person to the next, from one manager to the next.

I have switched to AAA and have been in fender benders since, none of which were my fault, and AAA was there to back me 100%.

ALLSTATE SUCKS!!! They are nothing more than a big scam as far as I am concerned.

 

[RA40]

Interesting. My experience with Farmers wasn't good nor was the support/service when I needed it. Wanted a balance of service to price...didn't get either.

 

[orchid_guy]

Have you ever actually found a insurer that you "liked"?

I think there all a bunch of damn crooks, you pay them out your whole life, but when it comes time for them to pay, they disappear. Very convenient i'd say.:scowl:

Yes, I have. I've been happy with American Family Insurance. I don't think they're a national company-- more of a regional company.

We hit a deer with our car on a Sunday. On Tuesday the claims adjustor came to our home to look at the car and wrote a check on the spot.

One of the worst life insurance companies is Primerica Financial Services. If anyone from this company calls I suggest you hang up the phone.

 

[Fenris]

I remember when I bought my new car a year ago, I tried signing up to get coverage at AllState.

I felt like a political prisoner tied to a chair, being bombarded with one personal question after another. Well, after awhile, two things became clear:

1) The questions weren't going to stop any time soon.

2) Other than my full name and address, none of the questions had a damn thing to do with getting auto coverage. (I don't even think we reached the part yet where she was going to ask me about the make and model of my new ride.)

I told the AllState agent to forget I ever called. She actually laughed and said that that had never happened to her before. (Yeah, I doubt that.)

Called up Geico, less than 5 minutes later I had insurance on my new ride.

Really? I had the same problem, but mine was with Gieco. I eventually had to hang up on the guy.

 

[BentHeadTX]

I had Farmers for 15 years without a claim. Went overseas for 2 years (without a car) moved to Florida and Farmers refused to insure me. I have 21st Century for over two years and they took almost two months to pay my claim when someone hit me!

Sooooo, when it is time to get my insurance for another year in a few months, I'm going with USAA. They are not the cheapest but they have a thing called ethics and are easy to deal with. The rest of them? Just a bunch of scum that try to pry every cent out of you while denying/delaying your claims. Since you are required to carry insurance, they could give a crap less...it is a racket.

The absolute BEST "insurance company" was the mob in Southern Italy. A buddy of mine has his house broken into and his "agent" showed up that day. After 72 hours, his "agent" showed up again and handed him cash for replacement cost of the stolen items and said they were still looking for the thieves. A couple of days later, a van backs up to his house and they found his stuff! They did not want the money back since it was a 72 hour type deal but they found the thieves and brought his stuff back. Not sure what happened to the thieves but I am willing to bet they never went to prison. When you paid your "insurance" they would actually paint a symbol on the side of your house to let the world know that you were "insured".

If they offered insurance from the Brindisi Mob, I would switch to them! They respond quickly, pay up on time and find the crooks that take your stuff. Not sure what happens if you don't carry "insurance" through them though... YMMV.