I worked for State Farm as an independent contractor adjusting catastrophe claims from 1994 to 1999. I worked in several different states and for claims offices in different regions. As an adjuster with 19 years experience, I never found State Farm to be anything other that fair with their insured's with regard to both coverage and damages.

Insurance companies have checks and balances, policies, in place to prevent adjusters and management from settling claims unfairly and without regard to company policy.

Many insurance companies hire independent adjusters to settle claims in times of catastrophe, when claim volume exceeds that which can be handled internally. When this happens, insurance companies rely on the experience of their independent contractor to send them qualified adjusters. I've worked many storms where the adjusters provided were automobile adjusters who had little or no property claim experience, including interpreting policy coverage and damages to the insured property.

Good job Rigsbys...you did what was right.

You can always find a bad cop. Does that mean all are bad? There are incompetent doctors. Does that mean they all are? NO. You can always find exceptions & that's usually what we hear about. After the Oakland fire & Northridge EQ disasters, 98-99%% of the claims were settled without complaint, yet we only hear about the problems. State Farm has a great rep. Get over it

When people risk their own comfort for the good of others like the Rigsby have they deserve to be commended. If State farm has done any shady practices in regards to Katrina, why does it matter if they have been honorable before that.
Big business needs to be checked and who else should keep them in check, if not for these woman who stepped up to the plate for the people they serve. The Rigsbys are a credit to the values of fairness that our country has abandonded in the name of profit.
Help those who can't help themselves.

My experience with State Farm was very unpleasant. After a claim on my house, State Farm told me how much they would pay. Then they abruptly cut the amount by more than 10%, and dared me to do anything about it. They have plenty of lawyers, as the above story demonstrates.

This happened back in the 1980's, at a point in my life when everything seemed to be going wrong. Their action was a bitter bill to swallow. My blood still boils every time I see the State Farm logo.

These women are clearly trying to get their 15 minutes (or megs) of fame! State Farm would not behave this way.

These poor, abused, and maligned corporations, with market caps in the 10's of Billions, definitely need our support when their good names are impugned.

If American Corporations were so heartless as to simply follow the Capitalistic Economics Model, why on Earth would they hire Ethics Officers who own stock in them?

-Johann of TN

Recently I experienced a casualty loss from monsoonal rains here in the southwest. State Farm assigned my claim to an adjuster working from Dallas. The check for damages, a very equitable sum, was in my hand within two-weeks of filing the claim. I have been a State Farm client for forty satisfied years.

What is so shocking about an insurance company not paying? I have worked within the insurance industry for 12 years, the unjustified denial of claims, the lack of attention to detail in processing of claims and the arrogant attitude which is pervasive at these insurance companies. Fairness may be an idealic goal but it is not the every day common practice.

Good for these ladies for standing up to a corporate greedy giant! We need more like these folks.

Good post, Catspro, your experience brings good perspective. It's no accident State Farm has a lot of 20+ yr clients like me.

I smell book deal all over this one. Wonder who their agent is?

Are you guys kidding me? The entire industry should be examined after Katrina. They robbed those folks out of everything. That one bad apple is no longer true unless you have stock invested in an insurance company. That kind of attitude is what has gone this country so divided. Whistleblowers are not criminals, they are heroes. We should have a wall in our capital displaying their names. Remember Enron, World Com; need I mention more?

Insurance is not a charity; it covers what is defined in the contract and that is why some claims are denied. I'm tired of the number of people who see people as being "robbed" by the insurance companies; you can't rob a person of something they are due. In fact, from the posts I've read on this subject previously, many of the insurance companies have paid out even more than was due out of goodwill.
What makes me angry is that there should be charitable funds available to rebuild these homes... remember how we all donated for relief... where did that money go? That money is what should be paying for rebuilding. But, wait, some rebuilding has been done... now that I think about it, the football stadium where all those people were trapped has miraculously been resurected and is now available for games again on Sundays. Guess that really shows where our priorities are... but hey, let's just blame the insurance companies instead of examining that.

It took 2 years,storm 6/1/04, to get anyone (oig) to investigate Travelers and the 2 party checks I never saw any of. There has been no cooperation from Travelers to even let me examine the checks although we were homeless and now live in a slummy apt. My house was sold by undisclosed methods. Approx. loss to date $300,000. This is standard business if you cannot afford a lawyer to go after them when you loose EVERYTHING.

I have worked storms for insurance companies. I worked Ivan for State Farm. I worked Hugo and Andrew for another insurance company. How a claim is handled depends a lot on the individual adjuster and the immediate supervisor. Hurricane Katrina was an anomaly among catastrophe responses. Beginning with the unprecedented lethargic response of FEMA(usually "Johnny on the spot") to the local social chaos with private contractors providing municipal security. Whatever information these ladies have will, hopefully, help us investigate the mystery of what happened here.

All of the insurance companies had years of not being hit with losses like the last couple of years. Did they whine about the profits they made then? Then all hell broke loose. Well they took the peoples money so now it's time to do the right thing and pay up. Those people deserve to be treated with some dignity. Quit lying and help them get their lives back on track. The insurance companies make me sick.

I have notified Florida's Insurance Commisioner and their Fraud Department for years, but they never did anything about State Farm.

I have notified our government and the courts about State Farm and AMEX Assurance, but to date, no one has done anything about their crimes, or the countless attorneys and doctors that take part in their racquet.

Debbie Focht

I suspect that 90% of Americans who have insurance, of any kind, have never closely read their policy.

This does not totally excuse the insurance companies when they deny claims, but at the same time, policy holders are often to blame because they were too ignorant to read the policy and ask questions. Or, they went with the cheapest price, thinking, "wow, for only $50/month, it's all covered." Yeah, right!

they are changing everyones records and information so that they don't have to pay and the attorneys and bar associations know it.

"After the Oakland fire & Northridge EQ disasters, 98-99%% of the claims were settled without complaint, yet we only hear about the problems. State Farm has a great rep. Get over it."

Posted by: karen | Oct 5, 2006 9:17:29 AM

Not so karen.

'You have misused that trust'
Known as the Northridge quake, a reference to a neighborhood in Los Angeles, the disaster also hit hard in the suburb of Simi Valley, where Rick Bennett and other condominium owners in a 127-unit complex sued their insurer and lost.

They and many other quake victims complain that the [Insurance]department headed by Quackenbush did nothing while insurance companies low-balled settlements or tied them up in court for years.

"Mr. Quackenbush, you're a disappointment," Bennett told CNN, adding that he voted for the insurance commissioner. "I trusted your promises, and you have misused that trust.

----------------

Quakenbush resigned rather than face impeachment.

Insurance companies are nothing but betting houses. They charge you a fee based on your odds of having an accident or taking a loss. They win while there are no accidents, lose when there is. The rules of the game [contracts] are stacked against the player [insured]. If the house sees a loss coming, they can always welsh, it's already int he rules. The only clear losers are the insured.