MetLife Property And Casualty Ripoff, Unfair Claims Handling, Bad Faith, Dishonest Adjusters, Rude and Obnoxious, Refuses to Respond to inquiries Irving Texas

On the 1st of December 2005, we reported a simple one party Homeowner Claim to MetLife. In order to file the claim, we had to speak to 3 different people and got transferred from person to person. The filing process was quite cumbersome since we had to keep repeating the claim details. Our retaining wall and chimney was damaged by 3rd construction equipment. This is a covered loss under the policy.

On the 3rd of December, Saturday, an Independent Adjuster shows up at my doorstep completely unannounced..no call..no appointment. The Independent, from the beginning, had a horrible attitude and was not interested in our situation. As we attempted to tell him the details, he rarely even made eye contact. He just said he was here to take some pictures.

I guess MetLife hired this guy, out of Long Beach, to work with us on this situation; however, he had no interest in the claim and the photos taken were from a great distance. In other words, his photos would not have shown the damage.Since our chimney was in danger of falling, we attempted to have him provide some direction but no such luck. He looked around the property, saying very little, and said he would contact MetLife on Monday. I knew, once this guy showed up and had an attitude, we would have a problem with MetLife.

On Monday, we received a call from the actual MetLife adjuster out of Texas. He said he had gotten the file from the Independent and would call us back on Thursday or Monday at the latest. Keep in mind, we have two structures in danger of falling and MetLife knows this fact. According to MetLife's adjuster, he had to speak with his Supervisor but did not not tell us why.

On Thursday, a week after filing the claim, we called the MetLife Adjuster and he had not spoken to his Supervisor. According to him, the Supervisor had been out to lunch...made no sense. During this call, MetLife's adjuster said for us to send him the details of the incident and any photos we had. We had already given MetLife the details and the Independent who was out had taken photos. Anyway, we sent a detailed e-mail into MetLife, with photos, on this day, Monday. MetLife's adjuster did not even respond to our e-mail with the photos.

When we spoke on Thursday, the MetLife adjuster still had no idea what was going on. He had our file but did not even bother reviewing it...he had it for nearly three days. As a matter of fact, he did not even know how to open the attachments on the e-mail. We took the time to teach him how to open the attachments..what an idiot. After continued conversation, it was clear we were getting no where with this guy. He made many promises to call back and did not.

Since we knew MetLife was up to no good based upon the delay tactics, we continued to send regular e-mails since phone calls would not work. It was time to document because bad times were ahead based on their actions. During the course of 3 weeks, several e-mails were sent to MetLife and the adjuster did not call or e-mail us back. We called a few more times and kept getting put on "ignore" each and every time. The MetLife adjuster clearly did not care about us and the danger of the falling structures. Each time we called, either his Supervisor was out to lunch or in a meeting. When asked why he, the Adjuster, could not make a decision he just kept saying he had to speak to his Supervisor.

On the 19th of December, the MetLife adjuster told us, after we contacted him, that the claim would be paid; however, not until we received a denial from the responsible party. We already had a verbal denial from the responsble party but MetLife wanted it in writing. Since we know this is not one of the duties required after a loss, we asked him why this was necessary and got some stupid answer. In other words, until the denial was received, no forward movement on the claim....more delays. We did ask for the denial in writing but could not get it from the responsible party. Since we pay a premium for coverage, I did not think we were responsible to get this letter. We called back and were getting absolutely no movement.

On the 21st of December, the Independent Adjuster hired by Metlife came out again at the direction of MetLife's adjuster. Since MetLife was now going to pay, the Independent came out to write an estimate of damage...should have been done from the beginning. A contractor, on this date, came out with the Independent and it was clear these two are really good friends which made us feel uncomfortable. The Independent did go over all of the damage and did say that MetLife was going to pay the claim as were were told on the 19th.

After about one hour, both the contractor and the Independent left and we were supposed to hear back. The estimate was finally received on the 30th of December, 29 days after filing the claim, and we thought things were finally going to be handled. When the estimate was received, we tried to call the Independent and sent e-mails since two calls were not returned. All went silent again...no calls from MetLife or the Independent.

On the 4th of January, we had finally had enough of this horrible treatment from MetLife and their hired guns. Since we had documented the failed return calls and nearly each and every step from the claim beginning, a detailed e-mail was sent to the person in charge of claims in Dallas in hopes of finding out was going on with our claim. We had been told by two different people, from MetLife, that the claim would be paid and actually have ONE e-mail from MetLife saying payment would be made.

Once all of our documentation was sent to this person in charge, we all of a sudden started getting a call from a Supervisor of Claims with MetLife. As a side note, the Supervisor who called from MetLife left one message saying he was from Farmer's Insurance Company...what a bozo. He left 4 voice mails within one hour. Finally, we thought, MetLife was going to handle our claim BUT we were WRONG.

The Supervisor called and proceeded to tell us that there was a coverage issue. In other words, the damage might not be covered so further investigation had to be done. They had 6 weeks to complete an investigation so why start now. When we told him that MetLife already agreed to pay the claim on the 21st of December and we had proof, he first told us were were mistaken.

He had all of the documentation sent in to his boss so had he read our earlier communication, he would have seen the agreement to pay from the MetLife adjuster, one of his own employees. The Supervisor then said the agreement to pay was a mistake and a miscommunication. He told us the adjuster was wrong for agreeing to pay the claim. He went on further to say the adjuster simply did not understand what he was doing.

When asked if the agreement to pay from MetLife had any validity he said no...simply a mistake and miscommunication. The Supervisor now wanted to send out an expert to look at causation of damage...looking for a way to get out of the loss. Since we had no other choice, we agreed to meet with the expert on the 9th of January which is today. We will see what happens.

In summary, MetLife is acting in a dishonest fashion. They delay the claim for weeks, agree to pay the claim, lie about agreeing to pay the claim and now continuing the delay by sending out an expert of their choosing. If you are thinking about purchasing insurance with MetLife, I would seriously re-consider. I worked for MetLife in 1977 and back then they were a great company; however, if you look up complaints against them, you will see a myriad of bad faith suits and the number of complaints filed against them is not acceptable.

STAY AWAY FROM METLIFE. Prior to purchasing insurance, go to the internet and do the necessary research on the company. MetLife Property and Casualty, even though it has a strong financial rating, is absolutely the worst in my opinion. If you don't pay claims, I suppose, they would have significant financial strength since they keep the money by paying no claims.

Another MetLife Casualty
Los Angeles, California
U.S.A.