Non professional experience
by Stanley B. on Jul 14, 2017
1 out of 5 stars
I'm really upset. I canceled my 4 policies 3 months ago with State Farm. The next month they took the entire monthly premium from my bank account. Later they explained to me that they needed to pay the cancellation fees. After 3 weeks they send me a check with what was left after fee payment and now I got a letter telling me that I was sent to "Debt collection company" for owing them money? I'm so upset I will post everywhere what State Farm does to the clients for more than 10 years when they decide to cancel any policies. -Odalys
They claim that they have sent the cheque through mail on May 26, 2016, now it is June 6, 2017, have not received anything. It is from Ontario to Edmonton , 4-5 Business days max.
I had been a State Farm auto insurance customer for over 30 years. My agent retired in 2016 and was replaced by someone else, in another location office. When I called recently about possible reduction of my combined auto/home insurance, they had no information on file except my name and address. I may as well of just walked in off the sidewalk. All I got were excuses, "oh our system is being updated" ... you should call us when you got news your agent was retiring.." No mailed material indicated I should contact them at renewal time. When I indicated that I was the customer and they should contact me - they said "do you know how many customers that would be and how long that would take?" I was laying over $200/month and found another provider who'd save me $600 a year compared to State Farm. Then I made the mistake of contacting my agent again requesting HR amount charged if I were to cancel all of my policies before renewal. They told me to "contact our head office in Quebec", they gave me the underwriters contact information?! Even the underwriters said who told you to contact us? And they contacted my agent. State Farm never offers discounts even when you call them. Ask them to match a competitor and they will not. Given the amount of money I'd spent with State Farm for 3 decades, they couldn't have turned out worse. Go to any other insurance provider rather than State Farm.
Since going to Certas, my experience with State Farm has continued to decline. My SF agents are great as always, but it seems that they too, are feeling the strain.
Rates have climbed, and for me (perfect record) are now about 30% more than the competition. The straw that broke the camel's back however is the fact that I can't pay on line nor can I even get to a website with my info on it. Folks, it's 2017 for crying out loud. On top of all that, I was late with a payment (I was out of the country when it came and didn't see the expected online notification because, guess what, there wasn't one) So they charged me 50 dollars to reinstate a policy.
Needless to say, I'm looking elsewhere, and you should be too.
Nothing but increases after the first year. Went from paying 125 in 2013. Just got a bill for may 2017 and now we're up to 284.25 for just my one car. If I could give a 0 star, I would. Going to switch asap!
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It started out great but quickly went downhill. The customer service was horrible - getting answers from my agent of his assistant was like pulling teeth. And when I called the 1-800/1-877 numbers, they were no help either. Every month I'd get a notice in the mail saying my monthly amount changed, and there would be no heads up or explanation as to why. I would contact my agent and he would give me roundabout answers that didn't actually answer anything. At one point he promised the monthly rate wouldn't change until my renewal date, and sure enough the following month I received another rate change notification. Unbelievable. When I cancelled my policy I received a bill for an outstanding balance. Do you think this notification would tell me what the charges were for? NO! So once again, I emailed my agent to ask for details around the charge - what was it for, how was it calculated, etc. His answer was just that it was a cancellation fee for cancelling before my renewal date. I couldn't find any documentation or literature outlining a cancellation fee, so I inquired about that and the assistant's response was "there's always a cancellation fee" - wow, thanks for your help - useless! All I ever wanted, was information regarding my payments - I don't make payments blindly and would like to know what I'm being charged for. Is that too much to ask? Cancelling State Farm is the best decision my husband and I made. Stay away! For reference, our agent was located in Guelph, ON
I have been with State Farm for over 4 years now. The first 2 were awesome. Excellent service, never an increase in premiums, etc. In the past 2 years, my auto policy, which renews every 6 months has been subject to constant increases in price. My record is stellar and I receive increases of 5-15$ every time my policy renews. I have been asking my agent why for a year now and she never has answers for me other than "that's the price in Ontario, it fluctuates all the time". What kind of answer is that? Because none of my family or friends have that problem. To make the matter worse, I was told I would get a discount at 3 years of loyalty. But at 3 years, my insurance was up 5$ a month so when I contacted my agent, she said I got a 20$ a month discount but that the coverage was now up 25$ for renewal. Anyway. I got tired of it and went with my husband's company. The constant fluctuation is too much for me. I want to be rewarded for my good driving, not taken advantage of. My premiums went from 142$ to 96$ for the same coverage. My husband's insurance has done nothing other than dropping in prices over the years. I cannot get that with Certas.
I did have a really good claim experience for tenant insurance before with them so I cannot say their service is overall that bad. They did low ball and nickle and dime but so do all companies.
Verdict: Please be wise with your shopping. Get yourself a broker for insurance if you must. You will pay less elsewhere guaranteed with the same level of customer service. It is no longer State Farm and stellar service. It's now Certas Desjardins and they do not have a good reputation, keep that in mind.
Insurance company says, it's my problem about my car being vandalized - old Chevrolet.
They said, the car is a write-off because of paint scratches on the car. Then they cancelled my rental without notice and said I got to drive to aurora, ontario today at 3 pm for the investigation of claim and it's without prejudice. Really, how is that possible? They seem to think they can push me around because I'm native Indian and say my car was my fault for parking it there. Excuse me, if that's the case -what’s a safe place to park car? My car, it’s a 2003 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS. And I loved that car so much… They seem to think a crippled man such as myself would exert all the energy and walk around my car or wreck it myself because of where I live and they already passed judgement against my race and treated me like I was in a line-up for a welfare check. I really recommend to anyone who is thinking about State Farm to reconsider. They are bad racial and treat you like scum because we need them and they don't need us, only our money... They told me they are insurance giants and untouchable… Well, I got news for them - I'm actually going to record the interview of investigation and place it live on Facebook and Youtube… For every one. Because I was also told they record all conversations and can edit and stop the recordings for their benefits . All these agents from State Farm in Whitby, Ontario and all of Durham region are only out to take your hard earned money and don't care about you personally as a human… They treat you like royalty until the policy is paid, then they walk all over you. Ask any one who was denied claim... I'm actually a cancer patient forced to live on healthcare coverage with fixed income.. Their agents who don't care and should have licence taken away as well Anne Marie H., from 126 Byron at North Whitby. Talk to them with accent and say you are a new citizen and see the prejudice.. and then call back with perfect English... You will see... They feed on the foreign people especially when I said I was native. Really I don't think that’s humane. It's cruel and dirty. If I'm their friend I get great rates and free advice. If I am not their friend, I get no help, no phone calls returned ever and constant voice messages...
We lost over $12000 on a brand new vehicle that was stolen and State Farm said if you don't like the offer take us to court..... i would never ever ever pay my premiums to them again.
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I was given a policy only to have it cancelled due to a ticket on my licence that I told the broker About! Then I was charged $1278 for six weeks of insurance when I agreed to pay $465/month. I was misrepresented and ripped off. The worst experience ever!!!