While not exactly the same as what Mike's experiencing........ I still felt pretty violated after making a claim.
I got corn-holed by State Farm when I tried to submit a claim for my '93 yellow 2dr after flopping it on Pritchett/Rocker Knocker.....
I'd been paying Full Coverage and stated value for several years on that rig... spoke to my Insurance Agent to see if that kind of accident would be covered and if I could have it totalled, then buy it back and insure it with a liability only policy.... just figured after handing them all those thousands in insurance payments for my numerous cars, perhaps I'd be able to get some benefit?
My Agent told me to submit a claim to underwriting and we'd have an answer.
Well, State Farm's answer was to send a Fraud Investigator to my house posing as a claims adjuster. He was all nice and pretending to be helpful at first, saying he needed to come out and take photos of the damage to the jeep. I abliged and he took probably 40+ photos. He then proceeded to point out all of the "extensive" other damage the jeep had, pointing out the heavily scraped wheels, trail worn tires, various other dents, scratches, etc all over and under the jeep and asking me why I wasn't claiming that damage.
Seriously? Clearly it's a vehicle used off road. I wasn't claiming it to be otherwise. I told him the damage from Pritchett had rendered the Jeep unuseable on the street without major repair and had submitted the claim at the direction of my Agent to see if it were possible to total it and buy it back. No smoke and mirrors....
He proceeded to show me photocopies of screen shots from my posts on naxja of the flop on Pritchett and other 'wheeling I'd done with the Jeep. He said the jeep was being used for "automotive contests and competitions" and that I was lying about having been traveling on a designated road while using the jeep as transportation.
No........ Pritchett Canyon is a designated road. I provided proof of it, giving him a printout of a map showing the road designation. I told him a group of us club members were traveling that road for amusement and recreation - no competetion and that the road does in fact exist with the State of Utah and the City of Moab.
I then reminded him that I had initiated the claim at the direction of my Agent to see if it was an option. I told him if he had any other concerns, perhaps he should talk to my Agent.
He had an audio recorder recording our conversation during this entire interaction. He asked me if I had any other statements I'd like to make in regards to my claim and I told him "Nope." He then asked if I would fill out an affidavit explaining how the damage had occurred (I had already submitted something similar to my agent with the claim..... which he had a copy of with him.) At that point, I felt like I was been cornered into something ugly, so I told him "No. In fact, I will not be asking State Farm to honor my claim, I will be cancelling my insurance and you sir are no longer welcome on my property. Please leave."
I called my insurance agent and told her what had happened and she was genuinely upset and surprised - as was I. She said she would speak to the higher-ups in underwriting and get back to me. A couple days later, she explained that the Fraud Investigator had submitted a report that he suspected a fraudulent claim. She said that the Underwriter she spoke to had no choice but to cancel my insurance policy for that Jeep.
I then told her that after being treated this way, State Farm could either support me and insure all of my vehicles and my house...... or none of it. I had been with State Farm and that agent since I was 18. My parents had auto policies as well.
All of my policies and my parent's policies were cancelled by us after that experience.
I then went to Amica. I spoke specifically with my new agent about my experience with State Farm when I insured my BIG OFFroad rig with them. I wanted to be sure that I wasn't throwing away money by doing a full coverage, stated value policy with them if I would be using the Jeep for club functions and off road activities. They're response: "We expect you'd use it for that and we have no concerns."
