Author: Bill Wilson

Defining what is great customer service can be difficult. However, before we can provide, or even define, great customers service, it's probably more important that we recognize bad customer service. Recently, we heard from a consumer who had a bad insurance experience. Perhaps we can all learn something from it.

Our "Ask an Expert" service is used largely by our member agencies to ask coverage and claims questions. Every now and then, though, we get inquiries from consumers through our info@iiaba.net email address. I though I'd share this one with you. The story speaks for itself.

Consumer:
I have been made to feel like a number...my car was declared a total loss in January and to this day (September 10...same year, luckily. - Ed.) I have been unable to find an end to my claim. I have been dealing with a woman from my insurance agency by the name of Latesha (not her real name) and I have the hardest time getting her to return my calls let alone explain to me why in detail anything about my claim. I wish I could talk to someone who knows what they are doing. This has been the most frustrating experience in my life! I am writing this to see if anyone out there can help me other than this woman! I thought I could start here.  – Frustrated Frieda (not her real name)

VU:
Frieda...can you give us more detail about your claim and situation? It would also be helpful to know the state you're in, the nature of your accident, whether you're dealing with your own insurer on a collision claim or another party's insurer as a liability claim, etc. If we can learn more, we'll try to point you in the right direction.

Consumer:
Well my 1995 Chevy Impala was stolen from my home on January 29. I made a claim to my insurance agency and basically have gone in circles with one of their claim agents Latesha. I have done some research and I know the California State Law states that I should be able to purchase my vehicle back if it is claimed a total loss.

I mentioned this to Latesha as this is what I would like to do. Latesha then informed me that this company does not do that, but when I talked to Craig (not his real name), one of the other agents, he agreed that this was possible. How is this woman being allowed to make decisions if she is not totally aware of all the automobile insurance laws?

Latesha has repeatedly failed to give me any information regarding my vehicle. I had to receive paperwork from their storage pickup department to obtain any concrete information. She gives different reasons every time as to why it is taking so long to close my claim and pay me.

First it was because I had a custom paint job on my vehicle since it was a show car, and they needed the copy of the invoice showing how much I paid for the paint job to get any reimbursement, which I provided. Then she said there were errors, so I gave her the paint shop's number to contact them directly to clarify any discrepancies, which seemed to be a problem for Latesha to do...and again we went around in circles.

Numerous times I have had to reminder her of the circumstances of my claim, which indicates to me that she does NOT take time out to review the claim before she contacts a client. Once she finally did contact me, I had to give her dates of her last contact and the content of our conversation.

She finally contacted them after about a month, then the next obstacle and holdup was that I will not release my vehicle to them for pick up. I will not release my vehicle when no detail has been given to me regarding this, as to how much I will receive for my vehicle or when I should expect to be reimbursed.

Just from the run around I have received, I feel if I release the vehicle to them I won't see a penny that I am entitled to for my vehicle. I feel it is ridiculous when I have paid my statement every month. They are not a major insurance company and, as I mentioned before, I should have the option of buying the vehicle back, which is to say what they will do to it once released.

The last call I made to Latesha was on August 27. She returned my call on August 29 and I was out of the office. I then called her when I returned on August 30 and, in response, received a letter in the mail rather than a phone call, again stating the holdup was the release of the vehicle. I am not satisfied with this answer; I feel it is more than that.

I don't think she is qualified to handle claims, as she is not responsive, and does not deal with claims in a timely manner. Multiple times I have contacted her and receive calls weeks later. I don't feel this is satisfactory as a claims agent. I do understand they have other claims, but the response time is unacceptable.

I have talked to the agency's manager, Craig, and he agreed with me that I should be able to purchase the vehicle back which I find strange when it is their employee. Another employee has also stated to me that if they were in my place they would not release the vehicle either due to the lack of info given.

Then I received paperwork stating the vehicle was a total loss. It said the value of my vehicle when appraised was $11,376.31. I would like to know how the vehicle was appraised due to the fact that, when they looked at the vehicle it was gutted, no interior, paint scratched, windshield cracked, everything missing. It also stated that the CCC and Blue figures were complete. If I go on the internet today to Kelly Blue Book, the value of the vehicle just stock, which mine was not, is $18,050.00 which is another reason I have a problem. I would like details and she has failed to get this to me.

I am at a loss as to what I should do regarding this. It has caused me a great deal of stress. I had invested a lot of time and money into my vehicle and it goes beyond just being compensated for a small portion of my loss in good faith from what I thought was my insurance company, but on top of this she wants to take my vehicle from me without a change to reclaim it so that I can slowly, out of my own pocket, restore it to what it once was or come close to it.

I have had to take a lot of time out of my workdays for almost 8 months now. I would like to have this taken care of but do not know where to go and any help would be greatly appreciated.

VU:
Frieda...I found this organization's web site and apparently they are a managing general agency (MGA). Often, other agents place business through MGAs, rather than consumers insuring directly with them, so I'm not sure how you placed your business through them. Also, often MGAs will use surplus lines insurance companies which are not highly regulated by insurance departments. That doesn't necessarily mean that they aren't a good company...it just means you probably won't be able to call on your insurance department for much help. You don't indicate who your insurance COMPANY is, so I don't know anything about them.

The first thing I'd do is go as high up within the agency as necessary. If the person you've been dealing with is not providing the service you expect, ask for that person's supervisor. If that doesn't work, keep going up the ladder until you reach the top person if necessary. If that fails, then I'd contact the department of insurance's consumer affairs division. The California DOI web site is at http://www.insurance.ca.gov/ and their consumer email address is 927help@insurance.ca.gov.

Most auto insurance policies contain an arbitration provision that can be invoked when there are disagreements about the value of damaged property. You can check your policy to see if that's an option. Also, sad to say, but sometimes these situations can be resolved quicker by being a pest...call every day (or more often) about the status of your claim until someone takes action to resolve it expediently.

So, the first thing I'd try to do is resolve this with the agency/company by contacting someone in a position of authority. Most managers want to know if their customers don't feel they're being treated properly and quite possibly such a person at the agency is not aware of the situation or of apparent internal problems they may have. If that fails, try to get the insurance department to intervene if possible.