State Farm Insurance estimate question Mary Howe Williams asked 6 months ago
State Farm Insurance estimate question

I had a house fire on January 18, 2024, and they assigned ServePro to clean out and rebuild. The clean out part went ok, and then we came to the rebuild. The estimate for the rebuild was $300,000. I am insured up to $450,000 not including contents and alternate living. My home inspection after the fire was completed on Feb 13, 2024. My contractor sent my adjuster his estimate the first week in March 2024. The adjuster said they were taking a while to approve the estimate. My adjuster quit State Farm on Friday, March 29. I was assigned a new adjuster who lives over three hours from my town. As of today the estimate still hasn’t been approved. They are still trying to revise it. I don’t know what the questions are, and the adjuster will not answer phone calls from my contractor. How long can they tie this up? My insurance is State Farm. There has been nothing done on my house since the last week in February. I am in Georgia.

2 Answers
Selina Clark Selina Clark Expert answered 5 months ago

Hi Ms. Williams,

Thank you for reaching out. We certainly understand your frustrations with the delay in processing your claim in a timely manner. If you are still having issues with your adjuster reconciling your contractor’s estimate, and not contacting your contractor, you have a right to request a call from your adjuster’s Team Manager. An adjuster is required to contact your ‘Contractor of Choice’ and attempt to reconcile the differences between the estimates.

The ‘chain of command’ at State Farm is set up like this: Field Adjuster inspects and typically will have the claim for a few weeks, then it is turned over to a Desk Adjuster. The Field Adjuster and Desk Adjuster each have a Team Manager. The Team Manager reports to the Section Manager. And the Section Manager reports to the Claims Consultant. If your State Farm Agent is helpful, he/she can actually call State Farm and request the Section Manager get involved due to the long delays. Always be persistent. Call your adjuster frequently – every day until you get a callback or speak with another adjuster and tell them to note your claim file and send a ‘Phone Message’ to your adjuster and their Team Manager. Phone Messages in the file are “Tasks” that have to be completed within a 24 hour period (State Farm rule).

Another avenue you can take is filing a complaint with the Dept. of Insurance. Once the Dept. of Insurance receives a complaint, they send a letter to State Farm and that forces a Section Manager to address that claim and explain any reason for the delays, etc. Hopefully this helps and State Farm will get your claim resolved so you can continue your rebuild and move back home as soon as possible.

United Policyholders Staff answered 5 months ago

Hi Mary. In addition to Selina’s response, we have the following publications that might help:

Survivors Speak: Confused about your insurance payout? So is your adjuster.

Guidelines for Reviewing Adjusters’ and Contractors’ Estimates

Xactimate Demystified

Best of luck,

Team UP