Not In Good Hands

So for those of you who use this insurance company...and are happy with it....this is soley my opinion, and I am not trying to cause upset. Get ready to read a long post.

This is the best pic I could find. Allstate sucks! Here's why:

Remember the last Big snow? How can you forget right? I mean, it never snows like that in Washington, so for the next 10 years people will ask that question and everyone will know what they are talking about.

Remember my recent post showing the kids sledding down the hill? Well, this story remotely all revolves around that little blue disc they are using to sled on.

Since it just doesn't snow like that in Wa we were very unprepared for the kids to actually go play in it. However, we were able to go out on Friday night and find complete outfits for the kids to wear. We weren't however, able to find the sled to go with them. So Saturday morning...we got up early...and headed out to town to get some errands done. Note...at this time there wasn't any snow on the roads. Around 1 pm we were heading back home and it had started to snow. Really snow. Not the little sprinkles. The roads were covering but I insisted we stop by my friend Rene's house to borrow a sled disc. We got to her house okay. I talked to her about 10 minutes. Then we headed for home. To get home we had to climb down a steep hill. So we slowed to about 5-10 mph and creeped along. We had chains on too just for extra precautions. Going down this hill we had to round fairly long blind corner. Unfortunatly when we came to the other side, we were suprised to see a car sprawled across our lane. They had tried coming up the hill in their little car and obviously couldn't quite make it. So they ended up across our lane with their front in the ditch. GREAT!

Matt applied the brakes...but really, what happens when you apply the brakes on a sheet of ice? You don't stop. You slide. So here we are sliding with the doomed feeling that yes, we are going to hit these people. And I am sure the whole time....they are staring out the window knowing that we are about to crash into them. Matt tried to pull the car into the other lane (only cuz there weren't any cars coming up the hill) without success. The grade of the road was not agreeable to that with all the ice involved. So it was only a matter of seconds before our van hit the back passanger door of their little corolla.

So what now? Here's where I get so mad.

We call 911. The other driver calls 911. I got out of the car and asked the guy if they were okay.

He yelled at me.

I got back in the car and started crying.

Then the old guy proceeded to come up to Matt's window. (matt was the driver by the way. It wasn't even me) and yell some more. Saying it was all our fault we hit them and were going way too fast. Yadda. Yadda. Yadda.

Matt told him to knock it off. Then the deputy showed up. He parked his jeep up around the corner to warn other drivers there was a situation ahead. (something that would have been nice for us from the get go)

The deputy took the report and the drivers exchanged insurance information. Then they were able to back out of the ditch. But we of course were stuck so an old retired fire chief pulled us out. In the process someone else came around the corner and just about hit us. Causing the deputy to swear.

The old grouch left and the deputy said it would be their fault because they were obstructing the lane of travel. He would write his report and Matt would recieve it in like a week or two.

So now here's where Allstate comes in:

Within a day the other driver's insurance calls and takes statements from Matt.

Matt calls Allstate. Our agent isn't available so he talks to the assistant. Our agent is supposed to get back to us. He never does. Matt doesn't hear anything except from the other guys insurance, claims adjuster, the whole works. Matt emails our claims adjuster and asks for a response. She responds: Oh boy did she respond.

To sum it up this is basically what she said: "well, after hearing the statement from Mr.---, I have declared it your fault. You hit him while he was stuck in your lane. You should have been able to stop.

Matt of course argues there was no way to see him etc etc etc. Icy conditions....etc etc etc. Deputy report states it was obviously something that couldn't be prevented....etc etc. etc.

Claim's Adjuster: Well you should have stayed home that day.

Yah maybe. But when we left home it wasn't snowing.

Claim's Adjuster: When something is in your path of travel...say like the freeway...and you hit it. It's your fault you didn't stop.

Matt: We weren't on a straight path of travel like the freeway. We didn't know something was ahead. If we did. We would have never gone down the hill. How about them coming up the hill. It was icy. They didn't have chains or anything....and they were in our lane.

Claims Adjuster: Well, it's not their fault because they were already stopped when you came around the corner. They say they were there for 20 minutes.

(Note: isn't it against the law to obstruct the roadway to on coming traffic)

Matt: According to what he told the deputy he got stuck and called 911 right away.

Claims Adjuster: In his statement he was there for 20 minutes.

My thoughts: So does he have evidence of this? If he got stuck 20 minutes before we showed up then how come he didn't call 911 until right before we hit him....and why are you not supporting us who you insure...Why are you supporting the guy that doesn't even pay you monthly? And what about the police report with all the indicating factors? Are you racist or something? Maybe you don't like japanese men? Did your great- grandpa die at Pearl Harbor? What the heck!

(Okay. Yes. I really did think those last things cuz I was fuming mad.....)

So Matt of course still argued. And her final response was:

"well would you hit a child if they were blocking the road?"

Okay....first of all. We wouldn't have hit the car on purpose. Second, we would NEVER hit a child on purpose. Who does this lady think we are!?

So she turned it over to her manager.

Finally the manager reviewed the case and still declared it Matt's fault. She actually was telling Matt she read facts from the deputy report that were in fact not even on there. And when matt called her on it she laughed it off and told him he was right but she was still closing the case in MR---- favor cuz his statement said like 9 cars passed while he was stuck and didn't hit him. (Yah...once again....where is his proof. And does he mean the 9 cars that drove up the hill after the accident? In the free and clear lane? But apparently the insurance company only takes someones word. Not the actual evidence and police report. )

Whatever. I hate Allstate. Now we are stuck with them cuz who wants to take on a driver that has been in a recent accident and it was declared his fault.????

Whatever. All I know. Is with Allstate. You are not in Good Hands. My mom's lawyer friend said Allstate is Notorious for not backing or supporting their clients. They tend to take the easy way out. Even if it cost them more money. To me...it seems there is something wrong with that.

What do you think?