Audubon is a member company of the American International Group (AIG). AIG closed Audubon’s office in Baton Rouge a while back. Hence, they no longer have a local presence in LA the way Audubon did at one time. This is probably a big part of the problem.
I have 3 different scenarios. Try this — adjusters come out six weeks ago (week after storm) and NOTHING IS DONE YET.
I have been very thorough in my research and have been to Florida and back on the telephone and made full circle only to find our that FARA is either not telling the truth or AIG and McNeil Group who actually writes the checks are not following through either. I am very frustrated.
I called our Insurance Commissioners office 3 times and have gotten anywhere. The insurance commissioner’s office said they had representatives from LA Citizes Fair Plan in their office and would get them to call me back. I still have not received a call. And, the 2 numbers, Baton Rouge and New Orleans, they give out you cannot get through. The Baton Rouge number rings and rings and no one answers. The 504 area code number always has a busy, even when I called twice and first got a recording that the office was closed to call back at 8:00 and I simply re-dialed (because it was 7:59) and got the new recording but then got a busy. You cannot tell me that this quick all lines were busy. They are simply avoiding customers. AQnd, you cannot tell me that there are no other numbers for them to be able to speak with someone. They are simply avoiding customers.
I am totally frustrated as the claims I am checking on are for elderly people and the runaround they are getting is simply terrible.
Somebody somewhere needs to do something. Whether it’s the Governor or the President, someone needs to take control of the terrible insurance situation.
I have never been contacted by an insurance adjuster. I finally spent countless hours on the phone to track down the contracted adjuster. He couldn’t give me a specific time or date to meet him at my property. Finally I drove 800 miles to meet him on 10/5/05. He said he would get back to me in a couple of days. Guess what? I haven’t heard from him as of 10/14/05 and no one seems to know the status of my claim. My home has been declared uninhabitable and I can’t move forward until I get answers from insurance. Isn’t there some time requiement that the insurance people must adhere to? I’m tired of waiting for specific responses to my insurance claims thru Mississippi Farm Bureau and Audobon insurance. No rebuilding can move forward until the insurance is settled. After this period of time since Katrina, you would think that determinations could be madeso people could move forward. What a cluster @*”’.
We have the FAIR plan insurance and we are not poor or cannot get any other insurance. We had to change and this is the policy my agent (State Farm) gave us. I had no idea this plan was like this. It took me 3 tries giving my info to my agent and then twice to the Fair Plan people before they ever gave me a claim number. I originally filed 3 days after the storm and the last time was 3 weeks later. It took 2 weeks before I heard from an ajustor who set up an appointment this week and failed to appear. Now I wait to see if he will show up next week.
I find it disgusting how you pay for years and years and have never claimed and when you need them the most they either disappear or do not want to cover all the loss.
You couldn’t have paid the Fair Plan (if in Texas) for years and years because you can only keep the policy two years. By then you are expected to have fixed the problem and could get a real insurance company. Legally you are not supposed to get the Fair plan if you can get insurance from a company that wants to write it. Basic rule: People and companies don’t work hard when you force them to work with no opportunity to make money. An assigned risk has no profit area.
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If your claims guy got eaten by an aligator I wonder if he let his insurance company know he was being eaten before the last gulp. They may not have heard from him in a while either.
Has anyone else had this problem?
I had damage from hurricane Rita and as soon as the storm passed I called to report damage. I was told they would send an adjustor. Fast forward a few days and I called to check back on the progress. They said they would send me an advance payment to cover a generator because I was without power and water. I spoke to an agent at State Farm (the agency that sold me the Fair Plan poilicy). I had one of the agents in State Farm talk to Fair Plan people on the phone to figure out what they covered. They would not give her a definite answer. They gave her a run around and redirected her to Citizen’s insurance. She managed to get them again and told them the policy number. After speaking with the person on the phone, my adjustor said the person at Fair plan was either very rude or just didn’t know what they were doing. But they did agree to send us a $1500 advance in the mail the next day. The check never arrived. We called again a few days later. Fairplan then claimed to have no knowledge of us or our policy. We told them the policy and claim numbers and they said they had no record of it. We had the insurance agent contact them and she got the same line of bull. She also said that several people had come into her office with the same problem. The head of the State Farm office in my town has contacted other agencies and found that people who bought Fairplan all over are getting the same “can’t find policy” line. She also contacted Fairplan to find out what was going on and they just tried to pass her off to another number. She told them that many of her customers were planning to file a class action lawsuit.
I have contaced the AIR and am about to call the Louisiana Department of Insurance with my complaint.
It’s bad enough that we might not get coverage for our damage but the worst part is that if we are not considered to be covered under home insurance we might lose our mortgage.
First track the check with your bank – get a copy. If your mortgage company sent the check have them verify it cashed and send you a copy. If the check was deposited by the Fairplan then you have coverage.
Second. Never buy insurance from any kind of assigned risk. (a Fair plan is a form of assignment) Coverage is available for almost any condition through voluntary companies. Surplus Lines companies exist for the tough risk. There are many quality surplus lines companies. Further, if you buy from the Fair plan because of price you get what you deserve.
1) You always have more choices of insurance carriers from an independent agent than a captive agent (ie state farm, allstate)
2) Even if you get cash settlement next week, you still won’t be able to move forward due to a shortage of contractors and building material. My hurricane Ivan check, which I received last year, is still earning interest in a savings account, because my house is still only half repaired 13 months later. Our contractor shows up about once a month to patch something, then leaves for something else more important.
Fair was our only option at the time. We had another insurance company from 1986 to 2002. We never had a problem with them, but when a hurricane hit and we had damage to our roof they paid the damages and then refused to renew our policy. They refused to tell us why. We needed insurance so we took the only thing available and have since been unable to get a better insurance plan.
We checked the bank statement and it clearly showed that the check was cashed. I personally handed the check to one of the adjustors in the local office to have it pay for the insurance.
If I was the only one having this problem I might be more inclined to think that maybe the check did not get cashed. However, the person who runs the place where my insurance was purchased and who has the documentation to prove I have a policy said that at least 10 other customers just in our town are having the same problem. She also said that Allstate and a several other companies who sold Fairplan insurance to people are getting similar reports from their customers. So either they had a computer glitch and lost some data or they are just trying to get out of paying.
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Is AIG an actual primary insurer of HO is LA? I thought the insureds’ beef is with Audobon. Lawyers like to drag in the deepest pocket they can find.
Audubon is a member company of the American International Group (AIG). AIG closed Audubon’s office in Baton Rouge a while back. Hence, they no longer have a local presence in LA the way Audubon did at one time. This is probably a big part of the problem.
I have 3 different scenarios. Try this — adjusters come out six weeks ago (week after storm) and NOTHING IS DONE YET.
I have been very thorough in my research and have been to Florida and back on the telephone and made full circle only to find our that FARA is either not telling the truth or AIG and McNeil Group who actually writes the checks are not following through either. I am very frustrated.
I called our Insurance Commissioners office 3 times and have gotten anywhere. The insurance commissioner’s office said they had representatives from LA Citizes Fair Plan in their office and would get them to call me back. I still have not received a call. And, the 2 numbers, Baton Rouge and New Orleans, they give out you cannot get through. The Baton Rouge number rings and rings and no one answers. The 504 area code number always has a busy, even when I called twice and first got a recording that the office was closed to call back at 8:00 and I simply re-dialed (because it was 7:59) and got the new recording but then got a busy. You cannot tell me that this quick all lines were busy. They are simply avoiding customers. AQnd, you cannot tell me that there are no other numbers for them to be able to speak with someone. They are simply avoiding customers.
I am totally frustrated as the claims I am checking on are for elderly people and the runaround they are getting is simply terrible.
Somebody somewhere needs to do something. Whether it’s the Governor or the President, someone needs to take control of the terrible insurance situation.
I have never been contacted by an insurance adjuster. I finally spent countless hours on the phone to track down the contracted adjuster. He couldn’t give me a specific time or date to meet him at my property. Finally I drove 800 miles to meet him on 10/5/05. He said he would get back to me in a couple of days. Guess what? I haven’t heard from him as of 10/14/05 and no one seems to know the status of my claim. My home has been declared uninhabitable and I can’t move forward until I get answers from insurance. Isn’t there some time requiement that the insurance people must adhere to? I’m tired of waiting for specific responses to my insurance claims thru Mississippi Farm Bureau and Audobon insurance. No rebuilding can move forward until the insurance is settled. After this period of time since Katrina, you would think that determinations could be madeso people could move forward. What a cluster @*”’.
We have the FAIR plan insurance and we are not poor or cannot get any other insurance. We had to change and this is the policy my agent (State Farm) gave us. I had no idea this plan was like this. It took me 3 tries giving my info to my agent and then twice to the Fair Plan people before they ever gave me a claim number. I originally filed 3 days after the storm and the last time was 3 weeks later. It took 2 weeks before I heard from an ajustor who set up an appointment this week and failed to appear. Now I wait to see if he will show up next week.
I find it disgusting how you pay for years and years and have never claimed and when you need them the most they either disappear or do not want to cover all the loss.
You couldn’t have paid the Fair Plan (if in Texas) for years and years because you can only keep the policy two years. By then you are expected to have fixed the problem and could get a real insurance company. Legally you are not supposed to get the Fair plan if you can get insurance from a company that wants to write it. Basic rule: People and companies don’t work hard when you force them to work with no opportunity to make money. An assigned risk has no profit area.
——————————————
If your claims guy got eaten by an aligator I wonder if he let his insurance company know he was being eaten before the last gulp. They may not have heard from him in a while either.
Has anyone else had this problem?
I had damage from hurricane Rita and as soon as the storm passed I called to report damage. I was told they would send an adjustor. Fast forward a few days and I called to check back on the progress. They said they would send me an advance payment to cover a generator because I was without power and water. I spoke to an agent at State Farm (the agency that sold me the Fair Plan poilicy). I had one of the agents in State Farm talk to Fair Plan people on the phone to figure out what they covered. They would not give her a definite answer. They gave her a run around and redirected her to Citizen’s insurance. She managed to get them again and told them the policy number. After speaking with the person on the phone, my adjustor said the person at Fair plan was either very rude or just didn’t know what they were doing. But they did agree to send us a $1500 advance in the mail the next day. The check never arrived. We called again a few days later. Fairplan then claimed to have no knowledge of us or our policy. We told them the policy and claim numbers and they said they had no record of it. We had the insurance agent contact them and she got the same line of bull. She also said that several people had come into her office with the same problem. The head of the State Farm office in my town has contacted other agencies and found that people who bought Fairplan all over are getting the same “can’t find policy” line. She also contacted Fairplan to find out what was going on and they just tried to pass her off to another number. She told them that many of her customers were planning to file a class action lawsuit.
I have contaced the AIR and am about to call the Louisiana Department of Insurance with my complaint.
It’s bad enough that we might not get coverage for our damage but the worst part is that if we are not considered to be covered under home insurance we might lose our mortgage.
First track the check with your bank – get a copy. If your mortgage company sent the check have them verify it cashed and send you a copy. If the check was deposited by the Fairplan then you have coverage.
Second. Never buy insurance from any kind of assigned risk. (a Fair plan is a form of assignment) Coverage is available for almost any condition through voluntary companies. Surplus Lines companies exist for the tough risk. There are many quality surplus lines companies. Further, if you buy from the Fair plan because of price you get what you deserve.
1) You always have more choices of insurance carriers from an independent agent than a captive agent (ie state farm, allstate)
2) Even if you get cash settlement next week, you still won’t be able to move forward due to a shortage of contractors and building material. My hurricane Ivan check, which I received last year, is still earning interest in a savings account, because my house is still only half repaired 13 months later. Our contractor shows up about once a month to patch something, then leaves for something else more important.
Fair was our only option at the time. We had another insurance company from 1986 to 2002. We never had a problem with them, but when a hurricane hit and we had damage to our roof they paid the damages and then refused to renew our policy. They refused to tell us why. We needed insurance so we took the only thing available and have since been unable to get a better insurance plan.
We checked the bank statement and it clearly showed that the check was cashed. I personally handed the check to one of the adjustors in the local office to have it pay for the insurance.
If I was the only one having this problem I might be more inclined to think that maybe the check did not get cashed. However, the person who runs the place where my insurance was purchased and who has the documentation to prove I have a policy said that at least 10 other customers just in our town are having the same problem. She also said that Allstate and a several other companies who sold Fairplan insurance to people are getting similar reports from their customers. So either they had a computer glitch and lost some data or they are just trying to get out of paying.