Diary of Kelly Mead 

Victim of the Allstate Insurance Company

Are You  in Good Hands With Allstate?

To Whom It May Concern,

On March 7, 1998 our car was stolen from the street in front of our house. There were several pieces of musical equipment in the trunk. During the afternoon of March 7 our car was found, but it was completely burned and the equipment in the trunk had been stolen. The car was only covered for liability so it was a complete loss to us. The equipment in the trunk was covered under the homeowner's policy we currently hold with Allstate Insurance Company. A police report was filed on the car theft as soon as we discovered the car missing, but the police would not take a report on the items in the trunk because it would have taken too much time. I took off work on Monday, March 9 to file that report.

On March 7, I also called the claims department for Allstate Insurance to report the theft. A Ms. Jackie Frederick contacted me and took a taped statement over the phone. I was issued a claim number (2613817184) and on

March 18 we received a letter from Kevin Green advising us that he was the Allstate adjuster handling our claim. He sent several forms for us to fill out and have notarized (sworn statement in proof of loss, investigative authorization, and an inventory loss form). We completed the forms, had them notarized and sent them to Mr. Green on April 20. The claim was for $3785.82.

Sometime after this my husband and I both took off work to meet with Sam Yarbrough who is with The Centurions, Inc. Apparently this company handles overflow from Allstate. Mr. Yarbrough came to our house and once again we gave a taped statement. We also gave him photos of the car, which he returned to us in a letter dated May 13.

On May 20, we received a letter from Kevin Green (attachment 2) advising us that we would receive a letter from Brown and James Lawyers requesting that we submit to an examination under oath at a mutually agreeable time. We waited to receive a letter and finally I called Kevin Green to let him know we had not received it. He said he would look into it. I waited several days until

June 12 and called Kevin Green’s supervisor and asked for him to look into it. A representative of the Brown and James law firm, Dave Cooper, called me that same day. He told me that the attorney handling this matter had been on a case and that our information had been buried on his desk. He told me we were scheduled to come in on June 30 at 9:00 am. I told Mr. Cooper we would be on vacation from June 29 - July 15 and we would really like to have this taken care of before then. We rescheduled for June 18 at 9:00 am., even though my husband and I would have to take off work at that time. Although Mr. Cooper mentioned there would be paperwork, he did not elaborate on how extensive it would be. In fact, he reassured me that the whole Examination Under Oath would be much like the taped statement we had given to Mr. Yarbrough, only with a court reporter present.

On June 17, the day before our scheduled Examination Under Oath, we received a letter detailing the items we would be required to provide Brown and James. I have enclosed a copy of this letter. This letter was dated June 12, but it was not postmarked until June 15. It was extensive list of items totally unrelated to our claim (attachment 3). The items on this list would have taken us more than a day to prepare, not to mention that we did not have records such as grocery receipts for 2 years. I called Kevin Green and told him I could not get these items together in less than 24 hours. He was responsible for calling Brown and James to cancel the meeting.

That same night we consulted an attorney who advised us that these requests were unreasonable, that we should only have to provide information that was directly related to our loss. He also said that our having signed the Investigation Authorization (attachment 4) allowed Allstate to access many of the documents that they were requesting and that we should not provide them the information unless they reimbursed us for the time involved in finding and putting all of these records together. We were also advised to do this in a time that was convenient to us instead of having to take off work again. Once again I called Kevin Green and told him this. His response was that we would not be cooperating if this was the case and they would not pay the claim. When I told him we had signed an investigative authorization for Allstate to get the documents that they needed his reply was that "he wasn't going to put together our claim for us."

We received another letter from Brown and James, dated June 22 (attachment 5), stating that they had reset the date for July 10 (again a workday and this time conflicting with vacation). Once again I called Kevin Green and told him that this conflicted with our family vacation and that we would not be taking additional days off unless Allstate was willing to pay for our time. He agreed to calling Brown and James to cancel the meeting and request that the date be reset for a Saturday. Before we left for vacation a date was set for July 18. Again, I took two extra days off work (July 16 and 17) to get the paperwork together.

On July 18, 1998, we went to Brown and James Lawyers to give an Examination under Oath. David Cooper, who works for that firm, gave it and a court stenographer was present. It lasted approximately six hours during which time my husband and I were questioned separately (I have transcripts that I will provide if requested). Throughout the whole ordeal Mr. Cooper continually created confusion and often put words in our mouths. I also supplied them with everything they asked for except for the two years worth of grocery receipts, gasoline receipts, and recreational expenses. We were told that we would receive transcripts within a week and that we would need to look them over, make corrections if necessary, have them notarized and return them.

Several weeks later, I called Brown and James and asked what was going on. They told me that they were waiting on our corrected transcripts. I informed them that we had not received them to correct. Mr. Cooper apologized and said he would look into it. We received the transcripts along with a letter dated August 12 asking us to review them, make corrections, have them notarized and send them back. We did this and sent them back on September 4 via priority mail, along with videotape of the burned car. Two weeks later I called again and was told that they had not been received. Once again paperwork was sent to us. We again filled it out and this time sent it overnight UPS on November 3. In our package was a request for copies of our transcripts from the Examination Under Oath and another videotape.

We received a letter dated November 4 from Dave Cooper stating he had received our package, along with copies of the transcripts of our Examination Under Oath (postmarked November 5). We also received a letter from Allstate Insurance Co. on November 15 that was dated November 4 (postmarked November 12) advising us that that their investigation was complete and that we have been determined to be guilty of arson, theft and noncompliance, therefore the claim was denied (attachment 6). It should be noted that our car was only covered for liability, had only been inspected one week prior to the theft and we are still paying for it until January of 2000 through a loan obtained through our 401K plan. Once again, I have documentation to back all of this up.

In the Examination Under Oath, we provided names of neighbors and friends that had information concerning that night. None of these people have been contacted. My husband and I are very concerned about the circumstances regarding this investigation. We would also like to know what information they have that suggests we are guilty of arson, theft and noncompliance. When I called Mr. Green to ask this question, I was told by him that the letter was the explanation, in essence he told me that the claim had been denied, the good hands people were washing their hands of us. He suggested that I call Brown and James and speak to David Cooper about reasons for denial. I did and Mr. Cooper told me that he couldn't tell me because he represented Allstate Insurance Company. It should be noted that no legal action has been filed by either Allstate or by us and that Allstate is currently insuring us for both our home and our cars.

During all of this correspondence and confusion, I researched Allstate Insurance Company on the Internet. I found two sites dedicated to people who have had bad faith handling of claims. I have downloaded close to 300 pages of consumer complaints as well as stories told by former agents (I have not enclosed these but will gladly send them if requested). Many of these stories parallel mine exactly. It was then that I knew that our claim would ultimately be denied, but I was certainly not prepared for the manner in which it was.

Several weeks ago, 20/20 broadcast a show regarding a FBI investigation into Allstate claims made in Florida and California (I have a tape of that also). I feel that we have been harassed and victimized by their bad faith handling of our claim. I would like to know what documentation Allstate has to be the judge and jury for a crime we didn't commit. I have documentation to back up everything I have stated in this letter and would like to see an investigation started into their claim handling practices. I feel that we have been a victim of vexatious refusal to pay a claim on the part of Allstate Insurance Company. Brown and James Law firm has also been involved in aiding Allstate in denial of our claim. I feel that their sole purpose has been to to go through financial documents to determine that we are not in a position to pay for a lengthy court battle.

I am convinced that I am not the only person in our area to go through this and am appealing to you to help me bring an end to this nightmare. I would appreciate a quick response to this letter.

Kelly Mead