Looking for some advice regarding insurance.

I'm having some trouble with a former auto insurer (State Farm) and I was wondering if maybe someone here had experienced something similar or maybe someone wiser than I could impart some words of wisdom. This is a long chain of events, and apology for a lengthy post, but I'll try to keep it to the cliff notes.

In April I upgraded from my 08 to a 13. I called my agent to make the switch and thought everything was fine. I never received an updated insurance card reflecting the change however.

In May I called my agent to inquire both about the lack of an insurance card and to add a policy for my wife's car. I was assured the new card was in the mail and we went through the steps for setting up her policy and were told they would email us the paper work. The next day we never received the paper work so we called back and were told they never had record of us setting up the policy the previous day. We had to go through the whole process again, and this time the paperwork came through which we promptly signed and returned the same day, and were assured the policy was complete. To this point they charged us a full month for the next 8 days (my auto payment goes out 8 days later and they said they could not pro rate it). I found out at this point as well that they still had my 08 on record and not my 13 and had to change that again.

Late June we still have not received the new insurance cards for either vehicle. We call the local agent and are told they are too busy at the time because of some merger and we will get them when we get them.

Early July a letter gets sent to my mothers house for some reason about policy changes to my 08 and a "pending policy." I try to call and figure out why the 08 is still there and what the "pending policy" is, but the people are beyond rude and won't answer my question. At this point I get fed up with them and cancel both policies on July 12. I switch to All-State who also sent in cancellation paperwork to State Farm dated July 15. I assume all is taken care of.

July 16th I get charged for both vehicles.

July 23rd we receive a letter saying the policy on my wife's car was never completed. Shocked to receive this letter due to their assurances the policy was completed, the fact they charged us for multiple months to insurer her vehicle at this point, and because we had cancelled over a week prior. We call only to find the office is closed, but get transferred to their national line. They tell us the account was never cancelled. They still show my 08 and not my 13. I have national cancel and ask for a credit back for the time they have been charging me since my original cancellation. National tells me they can cancel but only local can credit. National puts a note to our local to call us the following business day (would have been Monday 7/30). Never a call.

Yesterday (8/1) we receive a letter saying they misquoted our policy and will be charging us an extra 40/m. We call the local to inquire about why our policy apparently is still active with them, why they never called us on Monday, and why we are getting charge notices. The agent we talk to tells us this is an issue only National can handle, but he assures us the head agent will call us.

Wait around the rest of the day and at 6:30 the head agent calls us. He tells me due to our incompetence (his exact words) we never cancelled and they have no record of a cancellation. I tell him basically the time line above and he says "well we didn't get a cancellation notice until the 15th." I ask him about this and he denies it and says the cancellation went through on the 19th. I then ask him why, even if it didn't go through the 19th, we aren't being credited the 26 days that you charged us and we aren't insured by you. He says the cancellation never went through until the 25th at this point. I point out that he isn't making sense. He calls me a liar and hangs up on me.

I find out after this another notice was sent to my mothers house on 8/1 regarding our next billing cycle.

Called national to file a formal complaint against him and they were supposed to call us back first thing in the morning. No response as of yet.

So basically I need some suggestions on what course of action to take. I can't keep paying for an insurance that I don't hold. I have no belief in my body that this office possesses the requisite competence to actually cancel my policy. All I ever wanted to know was if my policy is actually cancelled, if I can get a credit for the days I have not been insured with them, and why they charged me multiple months for a policy they apparently never actually held.

The only thing I can think of at this point is to file a claim against them with the Better Business Bureau, but I was hoping to avoid this. I'm not one that goes running off to tattle tale. I was really hoping this could be handled between adults, like adults, but judging by the fact I was hung up on like a 13 year old that is angry with her dad I don't know that that is possible anymore.

Thanks forum.

 

Paper means everything. It sounds like you have your timeline down pat. Combine it with phone records if you can and a cover letter stating exactly what you want and send it certified or at least with a receipt to both companies.
Now everyone has their own terrible story to tell, and I'm sure you will get plenty. I can say though that I like doing business online for instant status, bills, and in this case insurance cards. I use progressive and am happy (crossing fingers)