State Farm stonewalls couple with ruined home

Insurers spend big money trying to convince you they’re the best and that they’ll be there when the chips are down. But will they really?

Imagine you’re asleep in bed like David and Melissa in Ohio. You hear a loud boom and your house starts shaking. You awaken to dust, natural gas leaking, and water everywhere. Your kitchen and stairs are in rubble, trapping you on the second floor of your home.

That’s the situation the Cleveland couple found themselves in as police arrived to get a drunk driver out of the car that crashed into their home. The homeowners themselves had to be evacuated by ladder.

The driver had a .31 blood alcohol, according to The Cleveland Plain Dealer.  That’s 4 times the legal limit. The uninsured driver was on his third DUI in the past few years.

So David and Melissa have to rely on their own homeowner’s insurance through State Farm. But according to The Cleveland Plain Dealer, the insurer is stonewalling and financially ruining them.

Click here to read the insurance company’s statement about this case to clark.com.

State Farm refuses to repair the home. The couple have had to hire a structural engineer on their own dime who says the property should be bulldozed.

To make matters worse, David and Melissa were in the midst of buying a new home when the accident happened. So now they’re paying 2 mortgages, one on their new home where they live and the other on their old home that is uninhabitable.

According to the newspaper article, State Farm refuses to talk to the media about why they won’t take care of the couple. It’s truly Clarkrageous that you pay premiums and when you really need insurance, the insurer just spits on you.

I welcome any one from State Farm to come on the air and explain the company’s position.

For further reading:

• Best and worst home insurers
• Best auto insurance companies

State Farm response:

“The description of State Farm’s customer service as described on clark.com is not in line with State Farm’s mission to do everything we can to best serve our customers. We also respect the privacy of our customers and would never discuss the specifics of a claim with a third party. What I can tell you is that each claim is handled on its individual merits and we pay what we owe. We have been in communication with our policyholders and we are working with them to see a satisfactory resolution to their claim. Any impression given that we have been unresponsive to our customer or to members of the media is simply not true.  State Farm is committed to delivering the highest level of customer service to all of our customers.” 

Justin Tomczak, State Farm Spokesman