Answers

I'm sure there are plenty of shoddy insurance companies around. You'll even got poor treatment from bigger names sometimes, so there's no guarantee. I've had very good experiences with State Farm and Geico, but they're not immune from complaints.

I don't know California law, but you might look in to their Deceptive Trade Practices Act (or equivalent), as well as the California Insurance Code. Specifically, look up unfair insurance practices (or something similar) and see if any of your experiences, especially the denial, fit the code language at all. If so, consider calling an attorney specializing in insurance law. Or, if you don't feel comfortable reading statutes, just call an attorney anyway. Many will consult for free. I'm not a big fan of litigation, but really despicable business practices should be addressed.

Source: I'm an attorney (not, of course, in CA).

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The automobile insurance industry is in a disgraceful state, for the most part. You can file a claim with the State Insurance Board, but don't hold your breath. I'd get an attorney and sue them for bad faith. The only way to hurt them is in the pocketbook. Appealing to fairness or justice is not going to work. Don't take it personally. Insurance companies don't cheer if they stiff you and they don't hang their heads if you win. It's all about the bottom line at the end of the year.

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Dear Andres3, Your experience is not unique at all. Infact I believe it is the norm with insurance companies. I personally was in a bad auto accident in 1998. I was not at fault. Not only was our vehicle totaled, my left arm was so mangled they nearly amputated it. The EMT's said it was the worst arm they had ever seen on "an alive person". The boy that caused the accident had State Farm Insurance. When State Farm adjusted the claim they were willing to pay us 80% of the wholesale price of our vehicle. The amount of money they offered would have bought us a vehicle that was 5 years older than the one we had. We got many vehicle estimates for State Farm to review but they did not care. We had to spend countless hours fighting this claim amount. Finally after 13 months they paid us. During the 13 months we experienced total indifference and the run around from all the employees we contacted at State Farm. Another experience we had was in relation to our own insurance company that insured our vehicle-Travelers Insurance. Since the boy that hit me only was insurred for $25,000 property damage and $25,000 bodily injury coverage we had to file a "under insured" claim for my medical bills with Travelers Insurance. Our auto policy with Travelers had $100,000 under insured coverage. My medical bills on my arm were in excess of $200,000.Travelers Insurance paid us the $100,000 and then promptly canceled us. I guess the fact that we had purchased insurance from them for many years with no claims did not matter to them. Insurance companies are in the business of collecting premiums and paying out on claims as little as possible. There is a new term I heard which describes their tactics. It is called "slow walking". They delay and deny claims long enough knowing that some claimants will not purse their claims and others will get tired and accept what the insurance company is offering them even though the amount is not enough. The real joke is their advertising which tells all of us that they will treat us fairly and promptly pay us the amount it will take to make us "whole" again.

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Id turn them into the insurance commissioner of the state.

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