PCTG Consumer Complaint Report Record ID#: 1241557802

Pa. Department of Insurance: Violation #1 State Farm Insurance Company has refused to acknowledge and list towing and recovery charges that our company has paid to Janeway Towing Company in Conshocken, Pa. On Monday May 4, 2009 our consumer requested we send a tow truck to Janeway Towing and pick-up their vehicle that had been involved in an accident on the Pa Turnpike. We contacted Janeway and they advised their charges where $512.50 to be paid in cash. We sent our operator to their location and retrieved our consumer's vehicle as requested and paid cash money. On May 5, 2009 Mr. William Haggerty from State Farm Insurance Company signed in at our facility at 1:00 PM. He requested our towing bill for our customer's vehicle. This bill reflected $861.96, which was the initial $512.50 + mark-up and a towing charge back to our facility of $178.80. Our charges represent a fair and reasonable request to be reimbursed for our services. State Farm is refusing to acknowledge our charges by not identifying the charges on their estimate. This complaint is an excellent example of State Farm Insurance Company forcing their appraisal staff into a situation where they act in a non-independent manner. State Farm's actions represent a wrongful misconduct as they place their appraisal staff into an enforcement action environment by requiring them to violate the state's appraisal code and regulatory requirements. In this particular claim, State Farm's appraiser Mr. William Haggerty is obeying company guidelines over the Commonwealth's Law to avoid internal pressure from his management. We have filed several complaints against State Farm and their appraisers regarding their refusal to list towing, recovery and storage charges on their estimates as they inspect damaged vehicles in the marketplace. Mr. Haggerty requested and was provided copies of our towing invoice although he refused to list these charges on his estimate. When I questioned him about the non-listing of our towing charges Mr. Haggerty advised "you will have to contact the inside claim rep.", "My hands are tied, it's the way it is! I can't list towing on the estimate". It appears that State Farm Insurance Company is taking advantage of their market position and their ability to affect state government by ignoring Pa. State Law when other insurance companies abide by the Commonwealth's Physical Damage Appraisal Law and list towing and storage charges on their estimates. Violation #2 State Farm Insurance Company is in violation of state steering laws by attempting to direct our consumer to their DRP shop. After our customer made arrangements to have their vehicle towed to our facility, State Farm contacted us and advised the vehicle would be towed to a Select Repair facility rather then our facility. We contacted our consumer who advised that State Farm steered them to their DRP facility by explaining they could not inspect the vehicle for several days at Crawford's however their DRP shop could inspect and write an appraisal immediately. When I explained to our customer that we had already picked-up their vehicle she said "Good! Keep it at your shop and repair it. Your shop is where we want it repaired anyway." State Farm inspected this vehicle on May 5th, which was the following day, and proved State Farm's behavior is wrongful and noncompliant with State Law. Please investigate our claims against State Farm and their appraisal for the above violations. Thank you, Stephen Behrndt, President