ERIE Homeowners

As a small business owner and homeowner with needed insurance necessities, I was afforded a quote brought to my attention from my longstanding local insurance agency that had recently acquired the ability to ascertain quotes and insurance policies for Erie Insurance headquartered in Erie Pa. I was happy with the quote pricing that rectified my family and I’s decision to switch from our previous insured provider to Erie Insurance.

As aforementioned, we all should know and realize how important it is to have not only insurance, but to have insurance with the right carrier and with the proper coverages for our own needs regardless of what our local state requires as a minimum. Equally important here is this where I failed. Check the reviews of the said insurance carriers as I should’ve before deciding on Erie Insurance and it’s abundantly clear that they’re not a good insurance carrier.

My situation for your own review. On a warm, dry fall day a 25-year old uninsured motorist driving a 2006 Chevrolet Van with pre-existing damage unrelated to this incident described borrowed from his grandmother in which was later investigated by our local police agency, was never supposed to leave his hometown which is nearly (40) miles one way from my location due to not only the damage of the van but because of its’ reported leaking of fluids from the front end of the van in particular, ethylene glycol and oil. This individual not only drove the van out of town, he maliciously pulled up into a large newly finished concrete driveway leaking fluids everywhere as described by the police report, home video surveillance and photos taken at my home. Of course, this individual stated to police it wasn’t him until he later changed his statement that it was due to my home cameras that caught him in the act.

Moving forward, the police report states per video given as evidence depicts in deputies’ statement that this male subject got out of this van while parked on my private driveway to see and assess the damage while looking at the leaking fluids present only to hurry getting back into this van removing himself from our property and damage left without ever notifying the homeowner which is myself. The police deputy turn all of this evidence into a criminal charge that was being charged as malicious mischief. While so troubling, it brings peace of mind knowing I have insurance for property damage that is covered under a charge of malicious Mischief.

In early November 22’, I file a claim with my homeowners policy attached to Erie Insurance upon reading my policy declaration which states under “Additional Payments,” “We” will pay for ANY property damage to a building (driveway is considered part of the building so long as it’s attached to the home) that is a result of Eries’ section stating “Vandalism or Malicious Mischief.” This policy statement is listed under Eries’ HomeSecure Policy and sold to many although (3) pages before this there’s a policy exclusion 5.c that’s stated that Erie doesn’t pay for spills, leaks or pollution with no mention of where it comes from nor any mention of again, malicious Mischief that’s stated as previously described under “ANY PROPERTY DAMAGE RELATED TO MALICIOUS MISCHIEF.”

I’m pointing this out to you all for the conceivable fact of twisting their policy statements to state what you know is covered only so they’ll try and use any exclusion to deny payment equals Erie Insurance. Any spill or leakage wasn’t done by any resident of our home however by a uninsured motorists with pre-existing damage and willful conducts’ definition is of “Either Intentional, Unintentional or Wantonly causes property damage, injury and/or harm showing no care of the ending result,” such as when this said individual exited his van, seen the damage and quickly left the scene without acknowledging the homeowner or resident.

After speaking with Erie’s local branch upon receiving a denial of coverage letter, I contact my agent with whom speaks to another Erie agent in another region with whom stated to my agent this claim should’ve been paid. As well, I speak to the Regional VP of Erie that states I’ve got every reason to be upset acknowledging the policy deductions stated here as he forwarded to tell me that he wouldn’t blame me for leaving like inviting me to do so only to further state this could be a covered payment after referring me to the States’ Department of Insurance and awaiting their recommendation.

Also said, Erie has only been in Kentucky since 2015 and they’d like to have good standings with the Department of Insurances. Too, he said a false statement in that Erie normally goes out of their way to find coverage for any loss but could not give me an answer per policy addendum related to “Additional Payments in that Erie will pay for ANY property damage related to Malicious Mischief.” To date, I’ve never received an answer related to what my question stated under the policy therefore means other than to be told that’s a good question and we’d have to get back with you lol!

In summary, the individual has been charged malicious Mischief. I pay for this coverage under my homeowners. It’s a covered loss under my policy I’ve properly paid for and maintained. They’ve took my money without incident although will not pay for this loss. I’ve too contacted Eries’ “Office Of The President,” which is a big waste of time with Erie in general as the President, VP of Claims nor the Customer Advocacy department will either answer nor call you back. My best advice in reviews to fellow insurance shoppers’ is to stay far away from Erie and read the necessary reviews before deciding. Erie has acted in bad faith towards the policies I’ve paid for in turn causing a complaint written to Division of Consumer Protection. Thank you for taking your valuable time reading my lesson learned about this company and I wish you the best in deciding your own insurance needs and wants!

We had already had one roofing company come out to look and I was told the roof was in bad shape, the insurance inspector came and was here for all of 10 minutes and his report said the roof was in "great shape." When talking to the insurance company adjuster supervisor he said the original roofing company wasn't a "real roofer." Despite the insult to my original roofing company I had another one that has been on the area for 30 years. They too said it was in bad shape. After sending the info to the insurance company they paid for an engineer, paying a few thousand to sent one here from 3 hours away.

While the engineer was here I recorded him saying that the roof was in bad shape, and at one point he said "if we cannot get them on hail maybe we can get them on wind." After getting down from the roof he said "there was significant splatter damage due to the hail storm in addition to significant granule loss." But the report was changed to say that hail was almost 3 miles from my house and that hail did not happen here. He also said that while there was splatter spots it was not caused by hail on his report even though my video and audio recording he says the complete opposite. I have reported to the state Insurance Commission and am in the process of getting affidavits from my neighbors. Steer clear of Erie. They are cheaper for a reason.

Was in a car accident in January, still dealing with that, and the same thing is going on with that, they paid almost 4k for a bunch of ** car repairs, my bumper keeps popping out due to the poor collision center they referred me to. My air conditioning stopped working after the kid hit me AND DROVE off and they claim it wasn't caused by the accident. So here we are....I MIGHT keep Erie for my homeowners but looking to switch for my outrageous auto insurance. No accidents and no tickets, and 2300+ a year????

The policy language that has allowed Erie to get away with this is anti-concurrent policy wording. By using it, they can deny almost any claim. It's my understanding that more than half of the company's revenue is used to fund efforts for denying claims. Do what you can to find another insurance company.

Like I said, we have NEVER had a leak before now. They are denying it unless we provide a picture of our roof before the tornado. I'm sorry but I don't go around taking pictures before a storm comes. Now here we sit with a hole in our roof, severe water damage that gets worse every time it rains and a roof that needs to be replaced. All of the money a person pays for insurance and this is how we're treated when a tornado goes through! Do NOT get Erie for your insurance or you will be in the same predicament we're in. Our neighbors had 2 shingles come off and no water damage and they're getting a whole new roof! We are beyond frustrated!