Where do Ins Compaies get info?

[Rancher_Will]

Last month the renewal date came around for the insurance policy renewal for our Montana 5th Wheel and Dodge Ram that I use to pull it. The premium renewal rate was increased almost double from the premium rate last year and over the past few years.

When I called the Ins Company I was told that the rate increased for the reason that I had had a claim in 2015. I had no claim. I informed the Insurance Rep that their information was in error and I have had no claim of any kind in over 30 years.

The insurance rep insisted that they "had a record that I had filed a claim in 2015". When I asked for details and where they got info, she could not give me an answer, again, repeatedly, stating that they had "received information that I had filed a claim".

I then called three other insurance companies, to get a quote for insurance, informing each one why I was calling since I had been with State Farm for over 30 years. I informed each of the three that State Farm had raised my premium rate "for the reason of a claim in 2015" although I had never filed any claim.

All three companies agents checked and told me that they could find no record of any claim filed by me. I cancelled the State Farm Policy and purchased a new policy with National General Insurance, paying a lower premium than the original State Farm Policy and receiving even better coverage. I have no idea how State Farm got such erroneous information.

[CavemanCharlie]

Willcamp4 wrote:
Something else that I learned in my recent auto insurance dealings. As most states require auto insurance on your cars (or for the driver) you should check your state DMV website and see if your insurance is correctly listed, especially if it changes. That can help you avoid problems with DMV. If you change your insurance the company you are leaving will notify the DMV of a lapse in insurance, and if the new company's notice doesn't get processed in time it can show you in violation.

Golly, the police in MN have no idea if you have insurance or not. That is why you have to carry proof of insurance.

Starting tomorrow you also have to have proof of insurance to transfer a title. That kinda sucks because I have known of people who bought a wrecked car, the previous owner wanted them to transfer it it right away, and then they jus took there time fixing the car. After they got it fixed then then put insurance on it to drive it.

They also required me to show insurance to get license plate sticker on my Travel Trailer. I'm not required to have insurance on that. So, they seemed to be satisfied with my pickup insurance number.

[W4RLR]

Homer wrote:
I do the same thing that Ken56 does. Insurance companies assume when you re-new with them year after year you are satisfied with their rates and will also assume you will continue to buy from them. They have a term for that type customer and I cannot think of it is right at this moment.

Sucker?

[TBammer]

Sam Spade wrote:
Regardless of why this happened, it is a MISTAKE and you need to get it corrected.

If one more call to State Farm (ask for someone at the home office) doesn't clear it up, find out what agency in your State does the Insurance Company regulation and contact them.

Things worse than this might end up being reported against "you" if you don't put a stop to it now.

Absolutely! A complaint to the state insurance commissioners office will get their attention.

[Willcamp4]

Something else that I learned in my recent auto insurance dealings. As most states require auto insurance on your cars (or for the driver) you should check your state DMV website and see if your insurance is correctly listed, especially if it changes. That can help you avoid problems with DMV. If you change your insurance the company you are leaving will notify the DMV of a lapse in insurance, and if the new company's notice doesn't get processed in time it can show you in violation.

[Willcamp4]

With these big companies the customers get treated like we are meaningless. I had used State Farm for my homeowners insurance for about 30 years. My agent kept trying to get me to switch my auto insurance for years. Last month I spoke with my agent again, who gave me a quote, that would save a few dollars on auto coupled with the discount I got based on having homeowners insurance with them also. I switched, despite having had CSAA for 38 years, and being really happy with CSAA.

When doing the paperwork I was told by State Farm I had to pay the first two months in advance, as I wanted to receive a monthly bill. I paid it, but imagine my surprise when I got a bill for the second month. When I called State Farm I was then told that the second 'monthly payment' could have been better described as a 'deposit' and I don't get it back until my service with State Farm was terminated. The 'deposit' was to cover my account in case there were late payments. Despite having a 30 year history with State Farm, I felt they were treating me like a new customer with a lousy credit history.

I then called CSAA back and switched both my auto and homeowners insurance to CSAA, saving an additional $170- per year over the bundle with State Farm. I'm back with CSAA and happy about it.

[Sam_Spade]

CavemanCharlie wrote:

I've looked and can't find any place cheaper. But, that may just be me and my area.

In general "mutual" insurance companies are MUCH better to deal with, both in price and service. They are "customer owned".

If you live in an agricultural area, check out the Farm Bureau insurance. It is called different things in different areas of the country. And no, you don't have to be a farmer to join and buy their insurance.

Most Mutual companies have that in their name....but not all. I think Nationwide is still a mutual company but not sure. A good independent agent should be able to steer you in the right direction. The emphasis there is "good" because an independent agent might not get much if any commission on sales of a mutual policy.....or may not be able to handle it at all.

[jwmII]

Like so many others I have had State Farm Insurance for many years and I too am beginning to wonder if I might have hung around a little longer than I should have. They have a couple houses and cars that I own and have been sneaking the price up a little at a time the last few years. I always call to find out why it went up and the answers are vague and never seem to justify the increase.

On the motorhome and the toad I have National General through the Good Sam program. That started out very reasonable. Last year they increased 25% and there has never been a claim on that policy. In quizzing them about the increase they too were vague and basically said "Because we Can". I have been shopping around for a couple of months now and have found insurance for the motorhome and toad at about the same as what I am presently paying, but nothing more reasonable. The insurance companies like their money and I have never known a poor insurance sales person either. So it is probably unlikely that We RVers will find this stuff more reasonably priced.

[CavemanCharlie]

I can't imagine a single claim causing the rates to go up anyway. I have accident free forgiveness on my policies. I've been with State Farm for 34 years.

And, as for changing companys for cheaper insurance I would loose all my discounts and it would end up costing me more, not less.

I've looked and can't find any place cheaper. But, that may just be me and my area.

[ktmrfs]

Rancher Will wrote:
I should have been more clear in my original post. I first called the State Farm phone number listed on the premium renewal notice. I was told that the rate increase was for the reason that "I had filed a claim "two or three years ago". I have never filed any claim and so informed that State Farm Rep.

I then called my local State Farm agent that has had my account for decades. That agent told me that she could not find any record of any claim that I had submitted and she "doubted that the increase was due to any claim", and in our discussion she stated that she could not adjust the premium rate increase since the rate was set by "the Company". She said that she did not know how or where State Farm got the information that I had made a claim and she could not find any such record.

I then again called State Farm at the phone number listed on the premium notice. The State farm Rep that I talked to again stated that there was a record that I had submitted an accident claim "two or three years ago". At my request she could not give me even a date when such an "accident claim" was submitted.

When I asked why my premium rate was just now increased, but not last year, if their record indicated a claim "two or three years ago", she would not answer but only repeated that State Farm had an Accident claim record.

I then, again, asked where the erroneous claim record was obtained, since I have never made any claim, never had an accident of any kind and never had any occasion to file any claim of any kind. Again, she would only say that there was a record of a claim but even when I pressed the question, she never answered the question, "where did State Farm get the Record of a claim?".

I really don't care if the State Farm Rep was telling the truth or not (I am inclined to believe that she was lying) since I know that there was no claim of any kind and never had been any for decades. As I mentioned the Local State Farm agent could find no record of any claim when she tried to find one, and three other insurance agents could not find any record of any insurance claim that was on record against me at all when I informed them why I was cancelling the State Farm policy.

Thank all of you above for your comments. In a way I am happy about it since as a result I cancelled State Farm to get a policy from National General Insurance Co that gives me even better coverage with a lower annual premium than I had been paying over the past few years with State Farm. The local State Farm Agent, a friend of mine for years, is not happy about it either but she can do nothing about it and could not give a reason for the State Farm error.

from my experience with agents me thinks your agent was not as proactive as they could have been. A good agent is worth their weight in gold if you have one. We have state farm, as do my folks. In both cases we have outstanding agents, and more than once when the saw unusual increases coming our way, called to let us know, told us they were investigating why, and ended up letting us know that they had taken care of it and the rate increase didn't apply to us. And in a couple of cases with our kids as they left home and got insurance went through options of insurance coverage that greatly reduced the cost by making sure rental insurance etc. was correct and by adding a very low cost $10k term policy let them have a "multiline discount" that was much greater than the minimal cost of the term life insurance.

So.... a lot boils down to the insurance.

[Rancher_Will]

I should have been more clear in my original post. I first called the State Farm phone number listed on the premium renewal notice. I was told that the rate increase was for the reason that "I had filed a claim "two or three years ago". I have never filed any claim and so informed that State Farm Rep.

I then called my local State Farm agent that has had my account for decades. That agent told me that she could not find any record of any claim that I had submitted and she "doubted that the increase was due to any claim", and in our discussion she stated that she could not adjust the premium rate increase since the rate was set by "the Company". She said that she did not know how or where State Farm got the information that I had made a claim and she could not find any such record.

I then again called State Farm at the phone number listed on the premium notice. The State farm Rep that I talked to again stated that there was a record that I had submitted an accident claim "two or three years ago". At my request she could not give me even a date when such an "accident claim" was submitted.

When I asked why my premium rate was just now increased, but not last year, if their record indicated a claim "two or three years ago", she would not answer but only repeated that State Farm had an Accident claim record.

I then, again, asked where the erroneous claim record was obtained, since I have never made any claim, never had an accident of any kind and never had any occasion to file any claim of any kind. Again, she would only say that there was a record of a claim but even when I pressed the question, she never answered the question, "where did State Farm get the Record of a claim?".

I really don't care if the State Farm Rep was telling the truth or not (I am inclined to believe that she was lying) since I know that there was no claim of any kind and never had been any for decades. As I mentioned the Local State Farm agent could find no record of any claim when she tried to find one, and three other insurance agents could not find any record of any insurance claim that was on record against me at all when I informed them why I was cancelling the State Farm policy.

Thank all of you above for your comments. In a way I am happy about it since as a result I cancelled State Farm to get a policy from National General Insurance Co that gives me even better coverage with a lower annual premium than I had been paying over the past few years with State Farm. The local State Farm Agent, a friend of mine for years, is not happy about it either but she can do nothing about it and could not give a reason for the State Farm error.

[beemerphile1]

With some insurance companies, simply calling the office to ask a 'what if' question can be counted as a claim.

[camperforlife]

State Farm dropped my grand dad after being hit by an uninsured driver who ran a stop sign. He was ticket free, claim free for 33 years. Says a lot about State Farm.

I had a $25,000 hail claim this year. All three of my homes had renewals since then with a total rate increase of $173.00 spread across three policies. Kudos to Celina Insurance of Ohio.

[Homer1]

I had State Farm for one year. When it came time for renewal of the policy they jumped my annual rate by $500.00 and no accidents. American Family Insurance beat them hands down and lowered my deductible by $250.00. State farm is very big, but they are considered very high priced. You could not get insurance with AFI as they will not insure any one on either coast due to loss ratios.

[ktmrfs]

did you call state farm office or your agent?? Agent is IMHO who you should have called. Have them clear it up. And a good agent is worth their weight in gold for keeping your rates low.

As for state farm, I've had them for 45 years, and while insurance does occasionally go up, I have occasionally checked for better rates, and so far haven't found anyone that is less expensive. And we happen to have an outstanding agent, which IMHO is what makes a big difference.

Once when we bought a third vehicle, initially the agent said we think it will be $xxx since it is an additional not replacement vehicle which would give you the accident free rate. When I got the first bill it was substantially lower. The explaination was that since we had such a long history with the agent he was able to add the vehicle with the same rate as 3 year no claims history rather than a new vehicle.