On October 4, 2008, I noticed the ceiling of one closet in my house collapsed. I contacted my insurance company (AIG) and explain the situation to them. They told me they did not have an adjustor at this time to evaluate the situation, and I can hire a contractor and get an estimate then send it to them. On October 19, 2008, a contractor arrived and evaluated the damages. He said the damages were due to the storm, and estimated the total cost of repairing the damages to be 8150.
I sent the estimate to AIG claims Associate Mrs. K. Major. She also asked me to send the pictures of damaged areas to house. After several conversations with her, more than a month past by and my house has continued to deteriorate. The situation is a health hazard to me and my family because of moisture from the rain has penetrated all the building material in the closet and the house. She told me that she needed to contact the contractor. She was phone tagging with the contractor and I was waiting patiently for the damages to my house to be fixed.
On November 14, 2008, I called Mrs. Major several times and left a message for her to call me back. Finally on November 19, 2008, she called me and her conversation with me was very unprofessional. I request to send an adjustor to evaluate the situation and she refused to do so. I asked her to give me a name and phone number of her supervisor. She gave me a name, M. Potrusky, and said the supervisor is not available and the phone number could not be given out.
After a month and half of struggling with this insurance company, and calling Mr. K. Major several times a day, finally she called me back on November 19, 2008, and said AIG can only pay 1500 for the damages to my house, instead of the estimated amount of 8150. My house and my two (2) cars have been insured by AIG for several years and during these years I have never had any claim with them. This is the first time that an accident has happened and I was treated very badly by AIG insurance claims associate.
Harry of Plantsville,, CT August 5, 2008
Regarding Condominium Insurance: Have been a policy holder for 3 years, this year's renewal came with 147.00 increase (about 40%). I called the number to ask about the increase and was told that the new premium was correct and that is what the State of Connecticut approved. I questioned the amount and again was told that is what was allowed. I can understand getting an increase, as in the past by 25-40.oo but no way would Connecticut go for 40%.
After the phone call, I called a couple other insurance companies to get a quote for the exact same coverage and found rates to be lower or in line to my 2007 rate. These companies also did not feel that a 40% increase was justified for a Connecticut condominum policy. I have not moved nor increased the coverage amount to justify such a rate increase either.
I am a senior, 70+, and have concerns that AIG is targeting their senior policy holders who may not challenge the increase or are having their bills paid automatically and would not pick up on the increase. The Insurance Department needs to look into whether they are targeting seniors with unjustified increases as well.
Shelly of Merced, CA July 23, 2008
i received a phone call asking for either my live in partner whom i own a home with or myself. i was offered to have inusrance information sent to me, and was told if i wasn't interested that i could cancel as long as i did so within 60 days. no problem. after talking it over with my partner, he said he wasnt interested so go ahead and cancel.
so i tried. when i called the rep i was told there was nothing under my name. so i hung up, called right back and was told i had to wait for a policy number. i hung up and called back again. THIS time i was informed the policy was not in my name but in my partners name and he had to be the one that cancelled the policy. now they NEVER talked to him! They took MY information ( full name, date of birth and place of birth) had the rep not informed me of this we would have been charged a premium each month and went through a HUGE hassle trying to get our money back (which they add to your mortgage payment). who knows how long that would have taken because we would have had no idea we were being charged for insurance we did not apply for!
my partner is not at home at the time of me writing this so no more action has been taken as of yet. i am just so irate beyond words!
John of Marrero, LA May 25, 2008
Prior to Hurricane Katrina, I had never had any type of claim with my insurer AIG, and continues until this day. I have been with AIG for over eight years now. My yearly premium for my home was approxamately 1100.00 per calender year. In August of 2005, during the approach of the Hurricane, my wife and I were forced to leave our home for fear of catagory 5 results. We left through no fault of our own, and incurred over 2000.00 worth of expenses for a total of 21 days.
Upon receiving the permission to return to our home, we were happy to see that our home did not sustain any major damage other than a few roof shingles that had blown off, in which we immediately replaced for fear of leakage. However, we had lost all of our refrigerater and freezer foods because of spoilage. When I applied for a claim for my for my expenses, (Approx 2000.00), AIG promply refused to reemburse or offer help in any way whatsoever. The only compensation that I had received was for our lost food items, and that was a small amount that they had paid. I did not realize it at the time, but we had also lost our outside freezer, but I did not have it in my claim.
To make a long story short, AIG has from the year 2006 steadily raised our premiums on our home. Just an example, for the year 2007, they charged my wife and I some 2500.00 from July 1st 2007 until July 1st 2008. Upon just receiving the premium due for July 2008 through July 2009 the premium has went to 4400.00, some 3300.00 rate increase since the year 2005. I feel they are just taking advantage of homeowners in our area.
Suzanne of Horn Lake, MS May 1, 2008
I have been a satisfied customer since 1991, until recently. I have paid off several different loans, each over 9,000.00. So in 2004, after a tornado hit my family home, I went to Mary for help. My elderly father had 2 seperate loans with Bankone (19%) and Chase Manhattan (10%). He thought he had homeowners through the mortgage. He did not. Plus, the interest rates were crazy! I went to an old friend, Mary, explained the problem. My family was in the process of selling 2 of our motels, so I was able to pay off Chase (200,000.00)but not Bankone (76,000.00). Our home was paid for in 1987, was used to purchase various businesses and paid off in 1999. I have considered myself a smart business woman over the years.
Well, the deal between AIG and my dad, whom I have POA, was re-fi with her, add what is needed to repair the house, and if a little was left over, use it to pay monthly notes. My dad could still handle that and made him happy, plus our old family home could be saved. It is one of the only homes left on this stretch of Hwy 51. We still had a very comfrontable income, so... fast forward to 2006. My father fell (72), but had paid the notes up until July 2007. He lost his entire estate, except the house. The house notes started to come out monthly on auto-draft, 961.00, a military acct. With any knowledge of how the military works, one should know our people over seas shouldn't have to worry about their mortgage pyts! Plus, if you're high ranking in the military, no bad credit, bounced checks, overdraft charges, or anything of that nature isn't allowed. While underway in Italy, I called to see about getting a deferment in Dec.because being in another country, using euros and such, we were afraid of the mortgage pyt getting messed up. Our truck pyt got screwed up too. I called and Mary was fired, but spoke to Rhonda, whom I taken Christmas presents to. I explained the acct was screwed up and told her why. I offered to take her the letter to make a copy of. I informed her that it should be cleared up soon, so I need to get a differment on Dec. as we had done all of our other debtors. She told me NO PROBLEM. Not to worry about it, that they wished all customers paid as well as I did. To tell him thank you for serving our country. I asked her if there was anything I needed to do and she told me no.
The payment came out anyway and there is the start. In Jan., it came out again with O/D fees, returned check fees, and made all our other bills bounce, causing a snowball effect. I called, furious, Rhonda told me she didn't know I was on auto-draft, she didn't pull my acct while talking to me on the phone, that there was nothing she or I could do. I demanded it back, plus the fees they cost us. Another lady, Michelle, said it wasn't fault, that they would drop the late fees and such and to call the bank and put a stop payment on the exact amount, I could have until the 15th of the month to pay instead of the 5th, but that I had to pay again, the deferment. That is supposed to tack on to the end of the bad loan. I
asked for a letter from them to forward to our other debtors and his Chief, stating they had made a mistake and drop any O/D charges. Got it, but they are after us for this deferment pyt, and say we owe them 961.00 plus late fees! Anyway, after a letter from the USN, Master Chief stating... the bank accts of many sailors had been incorrect and their automatic deposits delayed due to an error not made by any saiolrs aboard the USS Rooselvelt, to please work them in a curtious and professional matter, as they have been serving our country. Well, it was suffice enough for everyone except American General. My interest rate over 10%, I went to them in a time of need after the storm b/c I knew them and tried to do the right thing by calling them about the mess up. I was in an accident 4 weeks ago and was in the hospital, unresponsive, lucky to be alive. I was out for over a week, then developed pneumonia. But had the money for the house put up and my sister paid it on the 15th.
These people started calling my cell, which my sister found at the crash site. It took her a bit to figure out my password to use the phone. They started calling my home, which family was here b/c of the wreck. That looked bad. Someone finally told them what happened and for a second, they were normal. They kept calling, and this was the local office, who knew me! They had the nerve to rudely tell my sister when and IF I came to, to call them NOW! Not only did we suffer with all those checks bouncing, O/d fees, but the charges made over seas started coming out. That was bad, real bad. They cost us over 1400.00. Plus, he got wrote up for excessive debt. It was their fault, now they want us to pay a mistake they made, after the hell they caused. We started looking to re-fi elsewhere VA loan, better interest rate. THEY knew, they called to remind us of the penalities to payoff. I never told them, how did they do that?
James of Empire, AL April 22, 2008
I was fired for bringing attention to the evils of my participation in breaking the 7th amendment to the constitution just by following company rule. I am compelled by my personal ethics to reject forced arbitration because of my knowledge of the word preserve in the 7th amendment of the constitution,as applied to one in control of obtaining the consent.
I have labored in vain it seems to get anyone to respond to my reinstatment request since 2003 May 21. I should not be required to treat clients with a disrespect of inaileable rights to all Americans.
Charles of Huntsville, AL March 7, 2008
I had a policy with AIG insurance for 724 that had been set for 246. I was down 1 payment of 71 and a monthly payment for 144. When time to pay, they informed me that I had to pay 247 in two payments for the balance. I told them that was not what we had set up. They said that because my policy had lapsed, that they changed after I got a new policy with them.
I told them that they could cancel because I cannot pay that.
Edward of Santa Fe, NM February 28, 2008
During the record snowfall of 2006 in Santa Fe, NM, my home sustained over 5000 of interior damage. My roof failed due to ice dams and over 30" of snow sitting on my roof for over 2 weeks. AIG through Homesite Insurance company, paid for only the interior damage and ignored the condition of my roof. I have filed a follow up claim this year because my damaged roof started to leak again with recent snow storms. Homesite assigned a new person to this case, Mr. Randy Lamp, and he requested a new adjuster to visit my home. The assigged adjuster who works for Eagle Adjusters came out found nothing wrong with my roof. Basically I was swift boated by the Eagle adjuster. I protested, and they decided to send an engineer from Haag Engineering out of Dallas, Texas, to professionally examine my roof. I have not seen the final report yet, but my guess is that this engineer who is being paid by Homesite Insurance is probably going to agree with the Eagle Adjuster and declare my roof stable and that the existing leaks are related to workmanship or possibly maintenance.
I guess this is how the home owners insurance game is played. I suppose hiring a professional engineer who actually lives in the area and understands local building codes may be an option to counter these so called insurance experts. Maybe this is why so many class action suits are filed against large insurance companies. If you read this account, and you still choose AIG or Homesite for your homeowners Insurance carriers, you have been warned! Find a company that still understands responsibility to the consumer and who are actually concerned about the corporations reputation.
The cost to repair my roof ranges from 16,000 on the low end to 47,000 on the high end. If the insurance company (AIG/Homesite) denies my claim, I will have to pay for the entire roof to be replaced.
Cyndi of Sussex, NJ February 19, 2008
On Feb. 13, 2008, we had a very bad ice storm in Vernon where I live. As a result of the ice storm, at 5:09 am my power went out, We went into my basement around 2:30 pm, and it was fine; about 3:30 pm my son went into the basement, and we had about 6 inches of water. We called the fire department; they came and hooked our sump pump to a generator, and it pulled all the water out. My husband bought a generator for our house and kept the sump pump working the rest of the evening. Our power was restored at approx 4:30 am Feb 14th. When I called our insurance company, they denied our claim because they said that we did not have sump pump clause (whatever that is). My pump did not fail to operate; this water in our basement was due to a storm. Had the trees not knocked down power lines resulting in us losing our electricity, we would have had no problem. The insurance company is not letting us file a claim..
We had a finished basement with pressed board floors (looks like hard wood). All the floors have buckled up and have to be replaced. We had to buy a generator to help us out. My sons lost a lot of personal items, including one of them losing a bed. I have to replace the floors and doors, and we are worried about the insulation and sheet rock getting mold.
Dora of Las Vegas, NV October 12, 2007
An unauthorized electronic withdrawal from AIG Insurance was deducted from my checking account.
This unauthorized withdrawal overdrew my checking account. I am disabled, permanently wheelchair bound, and having to dispute this issue has caused me additional physical, emotional and economic pain.
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