ComplaintsforThe Ryland/Morrow Agency

• Initial Complaint

  02/14/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  The ****** Agency is our agent, ******************* Company of North America is our insurer. A roofing claim was approved by Universal in July. We went under contract with Best Choice Roofing (BCR) immediately July 7th. BCR informed us it would take them about 2 months before they would have the roof complete. We continued to call and follow up from then every week while they told us they would have it scheduled soon. We were still waiting on roofer in November, Universal underwriters reached out to the ****** Agency for an update on repairs. According to Universal, ****** Agency was contacted and expected to contact us so that we might provide proof the roof was still under contract and set for completion. We were never contacted or informed. There has been zero communication from them. The ****** agency informed the underwriters that repairs were not being made (wrong information, still under contract with a timeline) and approved Universal to do an inspection behind our backs and without our knowledge. We would have provided any/all documentation regarding the status of repairs and the correspondence with BCR. BCR has since closed its Pensacola office due to mismanagement and cancelled our contract, we immediately hired another roofing contractor who has replaced our roof. We have been issued a non-renewal by ******************* based upon the actions and negligence of the ****** Agency. Universal stated they expect the Agency to act in the policy holder's best interest, they should have never approved an inspection and informed Universal repairs would not be made having never even contacted the policy holder and having no knowledge of the project status. The ****** Agency has never followed up with us regarding the non-renewal notice. We have since been attempting to correct the issue but Universal has told us it may be too late based upon Dave ****** Agency's actions.

  Business response

  03/11/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/02/16) */ Contact Name and Title: ***** ******, Owner Contact Phone: XXXXXXXXXX Contact Email: **********@allstate.com Thank you for your questions. I certainly regret your confusion on this claim. I want you to know that the Ryland/Morrow Agency works diligently to assist all our policy holders through their claim process. Further, as the agency owner, I'm always available to help. Please don't hesitate to contact me. Having said that I would like to take this opportunity to clear up some misconceptions you have about how the process worked for your specific claim. As you know we worked diligently with you to help with filing the claim. When I spoke with you after ********* agreed to pay the claim, in June, you shared you did not have an estimate yet. I explained to you that the back log with roofers was long and he should take action soonest to secure a roofer. I certainly regret your first selection did not work out. I was not aware you were having problems securing a roofer. I would have been happy to assist if I could. ********* did not contact my agency asking for an update on repairs for your claim. Once the claim is filed, I have very little to do with it unless my customer contacts me and asks for assistance. Further, I have never approved an inspection on a customer's property. Insurance companies do not ask for my approval. The insurance company determines when those inspections are needed. The only time I'm involved in inspections is when the company seeks access to the inside of the structure. Then I contact the customer for access. Additionally, I have no way of knowing the status of repairs for a claim. I don't get contacted by companies asking if repairs are complete. If the customer does not voluntarily provide that information to the company the company will issue a non-renewal and we scramble to get the documentation from the customer to the company. As for the non-renewal, I have contacted your roofer and secured a paid receipt and contacted the city of Destin and requested a completed permit for the roof. Since the roof was completed yesterday, the final permit should be available by weeks end. I've contacted ********* underwriting and they've agreed to lift the non-renewal once those documents are provided. We should have both in hand be the end of the week and will submit them to underwriting. Property insurance in Florida is difficult right now with several companies non-renewing policies for exposure management. We have upwards of 100 we are working at any one time. We did receive your non-renewal notice at the same time you did. We are working them as they come in with the goal of contacting customers with in 60 days of non-renewal. This works best because most of our quotes for replacement coverage are only good for 60 days. When your wife called in October she had asked my Customer Service Representative if you could move your policy from *********. My CSR explained that it would be difficult if the claim was still open. Most companies won't accept policies on properties with open claims. The same CSR is also the one working the non-renewals list. Since she had already had a conversation with your wife about moving from ********* she put you in the cue to be requoted. I hope this clears up any thoughts you may have had about us not working in your best interest. We are certainly not guilty of that. I'm always available for a phone call or visit to assist with any issues you may have in the future. Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2022/02/16) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) I do not believe there has been any confusion on our behalf. First of all, the agency did not 'help' us file the claim. The office manager Jessica specifically said from the beginning, "we cannot file a claim for you, you have to file the claim yourself. " From there we filed it ourselves. According to the owner, Dave ****** is the only agent, but if you call the office and ask to speak with an agent they will pass the phone around to one another. Secondly, we had secured the roofing contractor in March. We had an agreement with the roofing contractor pending claim approval. We did have an estimate from the roofer, but did not have a contract amount until the contract was made when the claim was approved. When the first insurance check was received in July, we immediately signed the re-roof contract. You were "not aware we were having problems securing a roofer" because we never were and had one selected in March. As previously stated, we were under contract from July until last week. The problem with our contract was with the time it took them to decide they couldn't do the work and were going out of business. We resolved that issue as soon as it was finalized. ********* informed us that the Morrow Agency was contacted by ********* underwriting in November. Underwriters to not contact customers, they contact agencies. ********* stated we should have been contacted by our agency during that time, which we did not. When we spoke with ********* they stated we "need to call our Agent for a different policy, ********* will not renew the policy. There will be no reconsideration by the underwriters. " Dave ****** just called with confusing GOOD NEWS our policy would be reinstated, while ********* tells us it will not. Even if it were the case that the agency takes 60 days to address non-renewal only when they receive it at the same time as the home owner, that puts homeowners at the end of their policy just in time for them to have to figure it out at the last minute. We would not say that is in a customer's best interest. We do not yet accept the response because we have not yet received policy renewal in writing. Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2022/02/23) */ I regret that you were given incorrect information from ********* Customer Service. We received the finalized permit yesterday and forwarded it to a Sr. Underwriter, at *********. We sent you a copy of the email we received from Underwriting. The non-renewal has been lifted and renewal offer will be mailed soon. ********* are still asking for your Date of Birth, relationship to the insured and address if different from insured location. This should clear up your concern. I regret we did not set you expectations better. It takes a few days to get all the documentation from the city and vendor to underwriting. As you can attest, customer service does not always have the full picture of what your agent and underwriting are working to accomplish. Glad to deliver the good news. If you provide the information requested by underwriting you will receive a renewal offer in the mail soonest.

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