Allstate Insurance

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Cathy of Ocala FL (10/07/08)
My house is sinking. Allstate denied my claim twice. I pay my insurance premiums. In the year 2000 I noticed one side of my house as sinking and the walls are leaning out as if they are going to fall. The concrete in the driveway also got wet when it rained even though it didn't rain inside the carport.

I contacted ALLSTATE and was told that they will not cover my house as it is just clay shrinkage, and not a sinkhole. (I have never heard of clay shrinkage before in my life). The damage is the same as having a sink hole by the way, and it also affected my roof as it started splitting at the same time. That makes sense as the house is pulling to the south. Well, I figured there was nothing I could do about it as I am just regular working person. I certainly can't fix that kind of problem, and funny, none of my neighbors ever had that kind of problem. In the year 2008 I noticed that my 'clay shrinkage' was becoming worse and the roof getting bad. During this time my neighbor 2 doors down from me had the same exact problem and his was deemed a sinkhole so his insurance paid for everything. There I was, with my house falling apart.

I consulted a lawyer who suggested I open a new case with Allstate so I did. I had to wait all summer for the engineers to get back to my insurance company about my house. They once again told the agent that it was clay shrinkage and was normal. No, it is not normal for the south side of my house to be getting ready to fall. None of my other neighbors houses are doing that, so how can it be normal? The roof is also worse and it rains inside, I am so afraid the ceilings are going to fall down. I bought the house in 1992. I have lived in homes for 46 years and never heard of clay shrinkage neither has ANYONE else I know, anyone!!! My daughter and I now live with someone else and it is not a good situation at all. We used to have a life and now we live in two rooms as we are not allowed to use electricity etc...there we are. (It like being a zombie.) We are absolutely heartbroken. I can't sell my house in the condition it is in, nobody wants it, I just want my house fixed, if I can't get it fixed, I will have to foreclose.

I will NEVER EVER buy another house in Florida, that I know. Real Estate agents really need to warn people about this 'clay shrinkage'. Florida is not like other states, there are too many water tables etc..My life is ruined, absolutely ruined.. I want all my premiums back from Allstate as there was no reason to ever have had house insurance, not in Florida anyway. I also think Allstate owes me punitive damages for me and my daughter. I think Allstate owes me bag time.

Regina of Paragould, AR October 3, 2008

Regina of Paragould AR (10/03/08)
The Monday after the fourth of July, I came home ,with my two children, to find my house had caught fire and sustained extreme smoke fire and water damage. I was completely and utterly dishearted. The only home my children had ever know was destroyed. MY husband and self didn`t know what to do other than find somewhere to stay the night and survey the damage the next morning.

When we arrived to our house, the fire chief was there. He told us to contact our insurance company. We had nowhere to go and we couldn`t even take proper care of our children as we had an eight month old and nothing we needed, only the clothes on our back. We went straight to our local agent and told him what had happened. He said that they were there for us and we believed him.

That week Rogers Clay meet with us took a recorded statement and gave us an emergency assistance check ,agreed to come, from the difference of our contents compensation. He told us that there would have to be an investigation due to such a large loss. We agreed to everything they asked of us, we wanted to know ourselves. So I met with the fire investigator while he was removing my window unit air conditioner.

I asked him if he had any idea what happened, and immediately he started asking questions about smoking in my house and the people I was with the night it burned. I told him everything I could at the time about the nights events of the date the fire happened.

Well our additional living expense paid for our hotel at first then our apartment and rental furniture just as they said they would. We had no reason to assume anything was wrong. That is until I received a call after nine o`clock at night by Wilber Jordan from allstate he asked me questions about the night of the fire, my kids, my marriage, and other things about our life. I thought it odd and asked him why all the question and he told me he was just making small talk and was very polite so i humored him the best i could.

Well i told my husband about the phone call, so he called Mr. Jordan to ask about our claim. Two minutes into the conversation my husband started acting upset and getting loud. I heard my husband tell Mr. Jordan we had nothing to gain by our house burning down. After the conversation with him my husband told me that they were saying that the fire wasn`t due to naturally occurring causes. I was floored! If it wasn`t natural causes that only left one thing someone had set it, and due to what I overheard we were the suspects even though we weren`t at home when it happened.

We have lost everything accept our lives and now this. We called an attorney for legal advice and he told us that allstate was going to do everything in its power to find a way to make it look like we did it simply because they did not want to pay out on our claim. I don`t get it i loved my home for five years i put my sweat, my tears, and my love into that house. I had just spent most of our tax rebate on materials to repair things in my home. I was a week away from having the money to pay the contractor to do the repairs and a few minor upgrades to improve the value of our home.

Sure we had filed bankruptcy in the past year we were drowning in medical bills and credit card dept. But that removed our financial burden. What in the world would we gain by doing it. We were just getting on our feet again. We thought that everything was getting better and then the fire.

Aside from my house being broken into repeatedly having to hunt down my stolen property and then take police with me to lay claim to my stolen property, on more than one occasion including after the fire someone had broken my bathroom window out, stolen yard equipment and vandalized my garden prior to the fire, my insurance company has chosen to investigate us.

I lost every picture every ultrasound tape every single shred of my children`s past from birth til the fire occurred and they have the nerve to insinuate that we had anything to do with it. Just because we have gone through some hard knocks doesn1t make us criminals. However to allstate i`ve come to conclude we are. It makes me sick people are vultures and my house has become their pray. For three months we have been put off by allstate while my house has sustained further damage due to theft and vandalism and even wind damage . We do not have the funds to protect our home from further damage. WE are fed up. How can it be legal for them to do this.

Now we have to go do a deposition under oath and everything, and they haven`t even started on our home. They are treating me and my husband like trash. I think that they are the criminals and the way they are treating us is outrageous. I hope they do find out what happened just so we can file a slander suit against them. But most of all i just want to take my children home. My three year old son cries every time i stop to check the mail because he doesn`t understand why we are home but he can`t go inside. I don`t know how to explain it to him no matter how I try. We should have been home already. Now we can only assume we may never go home.

WE have obtained a lawyer and my mom told me to fight to the death for what is right. We have also filed a formal complaint with our state insurance commissioner. I pray it helps because from what we have been told so far things could get ugly because allstate doesn`t want to hold up their end of the claim. Allstate customers beware and hope that you don`t have a mortgage or bankruptcy looming over your head should you ever need the policy you have been paying on for years. They will make your life a nightmare after you lose everything you love and try to make you out to be the scum of the earth if they can. I will fight and if you buy there insurance you may need to one day as well.

John of Lake In The Hills, IL October 1, 2008

John of Lake In The Hills IL (10/01/08)
My area (NW Suburbs of Chicago) got hit with a storm on July 2, 2008 and most insurance companies classified it as a catastrophe area. After having 20 or so contractors tell me I had hail damage, I called my Allstate agent and was referred to the National Storm line. They sent out an adjuster in Mid August and my contractor was present to do a walk around. She didn't say much walking around my house and for the roof, she never got off the ladder, basically looked at a 4'x4' area on my garage. She then said, she would come back with a supervisor to review the hail damage claim.

They came back when I wasn't there and said there isn't hail damage on the siding or roof. They gave me a check for 500 to cover dents in my air conditioner and cutters. The best part, when they came back to walk around my house, they couldn't have walked around my whole yard because my gates were locked. My fenced in yard covers half my house. I live on a corner lot and my house was most exposed and got the most hail damage. Also, every house in a 10 house radius of mine got roofs replaced and siding done. But my house was denied.

I called and complained, they sent a second adjuster out over 2 weeks ago, he walked around and said I have damage and he doesn't know what they looked at. But also said, field operations were already out there and it will be hard to get additional funds. The 2nd adjuster never looked at the roof, but did come inside to see my new water damage and he took pictures. It didn't rain for a month in my area after the storms, but once it did, I noticed water damage in my upstairs bedroom and kitchen. He told me, that someone else will come back and look at the roof, but no one ever did and no one called.

In the last week, I've called the adjuster several times, my agent and allstate field operations, but no one will call me back. And all the customer service reps tell me to call my agent or adjuster. I get the feeling Allstate has to denied x% of claims, and I was chosen. Allstate may still step and pay for damage, but so far it doesn't look like it. I just can't believe no one calls back. Every contractor did tell me, Allstate is the hardest insurance to work with for Homeowner claims.

I'm not sure about the economic damage just yet, I haven't got an estimate on the water damage, but my estimate for the siding and roof is currently around 16k.

Michelle of Madison, AL September 27, 2008

Michelle of Madison AL (09/27/08)
In April of 2008 I filed a claim with AllState for hail damage on my roof. I was not home but allegedly an adjuster came out, with a roofer of his choosing, and stated that I had no hail damage. I took their word for it and that was the end of it. On a side note let me say that I live in a subdivision of approximately 30 homes. My house was the 7th in the neighborhood. I would guess that about half of the neighborhood has had roofs replaced due to hail damage from the April storm.

Fast forward to September of 2008. I have covered a deck and was in the process of getting estimates from roofers to put shingles on it. Three roofers brought it to my attention that I have a significant amount of hail damage. I then called AllState to reopen my claim. I talked with Kyle Wood who is a manager of the adjusters. He informed me that his adjuster had already been out here in April and that he was not reopening the claim and that no one would be coming back out. He just laughed at the fact that I believe I have significant hail damage.

The consequences are that currently I have a severely hail damaged roof. I have been paying my premiums and now that I have an issue AllState is refusing to step up to the plate. I am going to have to incur legal expenses in order to pursue this matter.

Avis of Richton Park, IL September 24, 2008

Avis of Richton Park IL (09/24/08)
On June 7, 2008, A tornado hit my small suburban town. There was wind damage, hail damage, and rain damage. We had a contractor look at our roof after experiencing rain water staring to leak into the home. We were not aware we could or should file a claim, so we just purchased buckets, wood and other items because of the leaks whenever it rained. We have had a massive rain storms here with flooding widespread. My roof has extensive damage outside and inside.

My neighbor has Statefarm, his claim went through, we have Allstate, our claim was denied. We need help!

We have our mortgage company pay the full premium every April (for 6 years), we are thinking of dropping Allstate. The economic consequences are ridiculous. We have a hole in our roof from flying debre, so raccoons have taken up in our attic space. My ceiling is caving in on the first and third floor. We purchased this home six years ago, so Allstate says it's normal wear and they won't cover it. The agent even went so far as to say the storm just sped up the progress of deterioration so they won't cover it.

This is extremely stressful, we have three children in our home and I am a stay at home mom back in school working on my degree to become a Clinical Psychologist. We need legal and financial help

Vicki of Franklin, NC September 13, 2008

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