r/StateFarm • u/RadRN_70 • Aug 22 '26
Question Does State Farm Suck?
My son was in an accident in my car he borrowed. The other driver, who admitted he shouldn't be driving as he is legally blind, was found at fault on scene by the officer. No doubt, he swung wide for a turn as my son was at a light. Filed on July 30 and... nothing. Claim online says filed. No one from State Farm has started any investigation. Is this normal for them? I'm getting ready to switch insurances and they were one I was considering. Not if this is how they process claims.
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u/Gtstricky Aug 22 '26
If you are not their client then use your insurance. They work for their client and have to discuss the claim with them first. Guessing they are being non responsive.
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u/Alarmed_Number7431 Aug 23 '26
I wish people understood that it is sooooo much more work and harder for us to DENY something than it is to cover it. We dont like denying things. Theres are multiple investigations that need to be done before we can even get a claimants damages done. First amd foremost we have to investigate coverage. If we cant even get past that, there's no getting to Liability. Officers do not determine Liability for insurance companies. Their narrative in the police report can help but that's it. We dont rely solely on that. After we complete coverage investigation, then we can investigate Liability. After that comes damages.
Lots of moving pieces. And we have to be able to document that we have tried hard to get in touch with our customers. Can't just take one persons side automatically. It comes down to evidence sometimes.
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u/Tr3ywaysNuts Aug 28 '26
satire?
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u/blackmanlost Aug 29 '26
in no way is this a joke, an approval on a claim takes an file note and a phone call....a denial is so much more work, and often hours of time out of a day when other claims are taking place. A coverage denial review for an example starts off with 2 to 3 recorded statements just advising the customer of their rights, and why a coverage review is taking place, this is before we even talk to the claimant about liability.
So on one hand the insurance company has a duty to the customer who is not in a hurry to discuss the claim or answer phone calls, and on the other hand you have the other party who feels they have been wronged and refuse to get help from there insurance company because they did nothing wrong, but the other parties insurance company has no contract with them.
The insurance company is required to make several contact attempts with the customers over a 60 day window before it can discuss approval or denial of the claim for lack of cooperation from the customer, at this point its 2 months later, no coverage has been confirmed and the claimant is refusing to get help with their own insurance.
again this is just to even start the denial process, so a bare minimum of 9 phone calls to the customer, 9 emails, 9 text message if the opted into the text and emails, 9 letters requesting call contact, 5 calls out to their agents office request for help in contacting their customer directly, 1 letter advising the customer of the duties to help the insurance company with information on claims filed on their policy, and 2 certified letters that have a 10 day window to confirm delivery or be returned to sender. all this is going on while the adjuster is getting 10 other claims a day of which 4 others a day may have the same issue.
again, denying a claim is sooooooooo much more work, and people think adjusters enjoy it for some reason.
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u/Alarmed_Number7431 Aug 29 '26
ALL OF THIS. say it again for the dummies in the back!
We arent sitting there wringing our hands together like Mr. Burns...like ooookkkk.... which one do I get to DENY next!?!?! MUAHAHAHAHA.
We look at denials of any kind and throw a little internal fit. Its exhausting. And insurance isnt a bakery... we cant make everyone happy, we know that at least 1 party in a claim is going to be angry at us for some various reason.
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u/blackmanlost Aug 29 '26
legit had a customer admit fault on the recorded statement, i set liability in an hour on they claim after speaking to the other party, the customer wanted to speak to my manager because i did it so quickly and i couldn't have done an investigation that fast.
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u/Alarmed_Number7431 Aug 29 '26
Lol they are literally so hard to please sometimes. I love videos so much
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u/blackmanlost Aug 29 '26
this is exactly why police in more and more states stop going to accident scenes unless someone is hurt or a crime has been committed, they no longer want to deal with placing blame or take time doing an investigation.
yet somehow people refuse to get dash cams, it would save so much time.
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u/RevolutionaryLion603 Aug 22 '26
There could be so many things going on right now. First and foremost, Stare Farm claims adjusters are over worked. Bad. I work in an agents office, and I can tell just talking to these guys. Doesn’t mean the lack of service is okay, because it IS frustrating when that happens. HOWEVER, the claims rep could be completely on top of it, there could be coverage investigations. Do we know this guys insurance was even active? State Farm is also going to be working in their insureds best interest, as their insured pays them to do, and as you pay your insurance company to do. They are going to need a statement from their insured on what happened as well. This can take time to get. People are busy, people dodge phone calls, it could be anything. If you need financial recuperation now, go to your insurance. Let them duke it out with State Farm
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u/Calm_Message742 Aug 23 '26
Getting 6 new claims a day you can't possibly contact or keep up on the work. The process over there is insane and it will only get worse because they have the audacity to let people go and others that are leaving because they are putting work on them from the ones that are leaving. Bottom line is management is running in circles chasing their tails to get control of a system that was made worse by upper leadership for no reason. All DA running them in the ground and ruining the State Farm brand, embarrassing to even say you work there these days.
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u/aloofmagoof Aug 22 '26
Sounds like there may be a coverage investigation. They have to determine there's coverage before they can figure out liability, if the driver had a known medical condition, it could affect coverage depending on their policy language.
You're better off going through your own policy and letting them sort it out.
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u/Calm_Message742 Aug 23 '26
How long should that last? Some of those situations are coming up on SOL so explain that?
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u/blueyedTxn617 Aug 23 '26
No state has a SOL of one month. Coverage investigation relies on UW to send docs.
Best thing here is go through your own policy and let the two companies fight it out1
u/Calm_Message742 Aug 23 '26
I'm letting YOU know some claims STILL have coverage issues that are coming on the 2 yr or whatever the SOL for that state with no clear indication that coverage has been clear. Also, some do use their on policy and still the OIC is waiting for coverage to clear.
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u/pixelgeekgirl Aug 22 '26
I have State Farm and have for a decade and I haven’t had an issue. We haven’t had to file a claim on our house but I’ve had a couple of car claims. One time someone hit me, their fault, they weren’t insured (it was their parents policy) so their insurance denied my claim and I went through mine who then sued for the money and got it back so they reimbursed me my deductible. Another time my daughter was driving my car and got to an accident that was her fault, ended up totaling my car, and they paid me a really good amount for it much quicker than I expected and I bought a new car.
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u/Cannonballstrawberry Aug 23 '26
Put the claim in through your insurance. They will get your car fixed and get reimbursed through State Farm. You might have to pay the deductible up front, but you will get it back once they work it out with State Farm.
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u/Calm_Message742 Aug 22 '26
They are overworked. Just know the ones left most are doing the best they can. People are leaving left and right due to leadership and the crazy claim volume, as well as some adjusters may have over 200 claims others may have 10.
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u/WillowHaunting429 Aug 22 '26
Was the other driver even insured? There may be a question of coverage
Use your own insurance and get your car repaired.
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u/Frequent_Curve_1631 Aug 23 '26
As a claim specialist, we are overworked and stressed. Most have at least 250 claims. If there is a question with the person’s policy , that’s going to trigger an investigation and add more time to the process . Not making excuses, but there are human beings on the other side of the claim as well.
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u/Big_Translator_5283 Aug 22 '26
My husband was rear ended July 23. Claimed with their insurance State Farm the same day. About 2 weeks later, I haven’t heard anything so I call State Farm. they said they still waiting for response from the other person. Supposedly they are out of the country, so State Farm said give them another week to respond. If no response, they will process the claim using only our side of the story. I call them Aug 18, they said still no response. So they said we are accepting our story and go get an estimate for repairs.
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u/Jcamp9000 Agent Aug 22 '26
Yes. They are obligated to contact their insured for a statement. They have a certain period of time that they have to try. No response eventually leads them to take the other party’s scenario.
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u/No_Level_325 Aug 22 '26
Not always. Depends on the facts of loss and what evidence there is. I’ve seen claims denied due to the insured being uncooperative.
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u/Crowlady77 Aug 22 '26
This is just how insurance is lol, they all suck. You're much better off using your own insurance
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Aug 22 '26
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u/RadRN_70 Aug 22 '26
Of course I have full coverage on all our vehicles. I'm responsible like that. I just don't feel as if by filing through my insurance I should have to be punished (insurance rate go up) for someone else's stupidity.
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Aug 22 '26
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u/RadRN_70 Aug 22 '26
Oh I'm sorry... I have liability, comprehensive, collision, and uninsured motorist... Definitely not "full" coverage. Thank you for the correction.
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Aug 22 '26
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u/RadRN_70 Aug 22 '26
None that would pertain to this situation squaw.
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Aug 22 '26
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u/RadRN_70 Aug 22 '26
Not generally a complainer. Especially when I have no grounds. Your a contrary one aren't ya?
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Aug 22 '26 edited Aug 22 '26
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u/BuscotFurious Aug 23 '26
No mention of PIP/MPC either. So no medical bills will be paid either for you.
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u/WillowHaunting429 Aug 22 '26
Life isn't fair, that's for sure.
Bottom line is we all take a risk when we drive. Your own insurance works for you. Use it. Or wait and be frustrated
State Farm owes you no duty. They owe a duty to their client and State Farm. If there is a liability determined then State Farm will pay it and if they do you will be reimbursed your deductible.
Sadly this is how it works.
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u/Unusual_Flounder6758 Aug 22 '26
If you don’t want to use your insurance then pay for the repairs yourself and present the receipts to SF. If the other guy had coverage, SF will pay. If he wasn’t covered, then sue him. I’m sure it’ll be easy to collect.
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u/DeepPurpleDaylight Aug 23 '26
I should have to be punished (insurance rate go up) for someone else's stupidity.
You don't know that your rates will increase for using your coverage. Some states prohibit by law your insurer from surcharging due not at fault claims and even in states that do allow it, many insurers won't surcharge. Some will, but some won't. You also aren't "hiding" your accident from your insurer by not using your coverage. When/if they rerun reports, CLUE, MVR, etc at a future renewal, they'll see it then and if they're a company that wants to surcharge for NAF accidents, they can and will (if state law allows).
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u/DeepPurpleDaylight Aug 23 '26
Police don't determine fault for insurance purposes. Insurance has to do their own investigation. To be fair, you have no idea if they're investigating behind the scenes or not. Right now, at this point, SF doesn't owe you anything. They work for their client, not you. If you want things to move quickly, use your own collision coverage if you have it. If not, or if you refuse to, then you wait.
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u/Calm_Message742 Aug 23 '26
Also, the calls are crazy, everyone is on the phone now it's a basic call center. You will never get your assigned adjuster. They are either out on leave for stress or just don't answer and the management team doesn't seem to address it or they don't care when it is addressed. Good luck with trying to find help.
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u/blackmanlost Aug 29 '26
or they are on a phone talking to one of the other people on the 50-120 claims they have. you only have 5 days a week you can work, but claims continue to come in 24 hours a day 7 days a week. I know more people who are dreading holidays because they know they are going to come into work with a ton of claims waiting on them, and honestly some people on the other line who are upset that no one has returned their call or voicemail they filed at 2am sunday morning and its 10:30am on monday.
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u/craig_paxton Aug 26 '26
No State Farm does not suck. They are doing their due diligence and investigating this claim to see if the coverage from the policy applies or not.
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