Lexington Paid, Farm Bureau Paid, even State Farm Paid, but not MetLife!
 

Prior to Hurricane Katrina, we believed buying insurance from any national company would be just as good as buying from any other national company. This portion of my web site is dedicated to informing the insurance buying public that nothing could be further from the truth. The company you choose does make a difference!

We lived in a second floor condominium in Biloxi, Mississippi in August of 2005. We were in unit 203. A friend of ours, Andy, lived in unit 207. Given we lived on the same floor, it should come as no surprise we sustained the same damage. In fact, all of the units on the second floor sustained similar damage. We were 22 feet above sea level and believe the storm surge where we lived was 21 feet above sea level. In a storage room on the first floor, there is a high water mark one foot below the ceiling.

Insurance coverage:

The actual building was covered by our homeowners association policy. The following discussion concerns "content" and "loss of use" coverage.

We were insured by MetLife. Andy was insured by Lexington. Both of our policies had similar sounding language as to what was excluded. For example,

MetLife's policy included the following exclusion:

 D.        Water Damage, meaning any loss caused by, resulting from, contributed to or aggravated by: 1. Flood, surface water, waves, tidal water or overflow of any body of water, or spray from any of these, whether or not driven by wind;

Lexington's policy included the following exclusion:

3. Water Damage, meaning:

    a.    Flood, surface water, waves, tidal water, overflow of a body of water, or spray from any of these, whether or not driven by wind;

The only difference immediately apparent to us was that Andy's policy with Lexington had a regular deductible and a "wind and hail" deductible; whereas, our policy with MetLife had a regular deductible and a "hurricane loss" deductible. Yes, incredibly, we were covered for "hurricane" losses according to MetLife! You can read our declarations page, where "hurricane loss" is clearly stated, here.

Lexington paid Andy the full value of his policy, including "personal property" and "loss of use."

MetLife relied on reports of sustained wind speeds in Biloxi of "54.1" mph that drove a surge "30 feet high" and denied our claim!

Does anyone really believe a 54 mph wind can drive a surge 30 feet high? Does anyone really believe the "worst natural disaster ever to hit the United States" was simply the result of a breezy day on the Gulf? Does anyone believe MetLife is showing good faith in relying on such ridiculous figures? Does anyone believe MetLife's advertising slogan about integrity? Does anyone believe it does not matter which company you choose, as long as they are a nationally known company?

There was wind damage on all of the other floors of our building. Amazingly, MetLife found no wind damage on our floor, even though lumber from all of the docks breaking up along the beach was surely being blown into the first and second floor windows and glass doors all along the coast.

Examples of damage (wind or water - you be the judge)!

MetLife claims all of the damage evident in the pictures to follow was the result of a torrent of storm surge flowing through our Condo!

Here is a picture of a cabinet in an adjacent condo, with the contents just the way we found them. Would not water have flipped the cups right side up? Would not the blue OREO cookie bags have floated out of the cabinet? Would not all of the cups and bowls have floated out?

Here is another cabinet also on the second floor. Would not water have shifted the contents? That is, would not the buoyant items have floated to the top (or out of the cabinet completely)? Look at all of the cardboard packages (the salt and pepper shakers, the big Morton's Salt container, the boxes of Jello, and the Domino Sugar boxes). Does anyone with any experience with wet cardboard think it looks just the same wet or after it has dried as it did before it was wet? The Jello boxes contained air tight packages of pudding mix (we all know that). Would they not have floated out of the cabinet? Would not everything with air inside have floated out of the cabinet?

The wind was blowing through the condo parallel to the cabinets (so it blew the doors off, but blew by the contents inside). These pictures were provided to MetLife. Clearly, there was no water at this level. In fact, there is no evidence of any water at any level in our condo. The damage was done by winds well in excess of 100 mph.

Given the overwhelming data in favor of "wind" as opposed to "flood" damage, it should come as no surprise that Lexington Insurance paid Andy's claim (in full) and paid it promptly! Similarly, one should not be surprised to learn that Farm Bureau paid (in full) a "wind" claim for the unit next to our unit. Nor should anyone be surprised that residents of another unit on the second floor received payment from their insurance company (the details of which are a bit vague due to the owner's absence). Why has MetLife failed to step up to the plate and pay for covered losses? Is their failure to pay our claim a reflection of a corporate policy of cheating policy holders out of their rightful settlements?

Even more telling: although State Farm seems to have come under fire of late for allegedly shredding documents for the purpose of denying rightful claims, it has come to our attention that even State Farm has paid 70% of a "wind" policy for residents of the FIRST floor! That’s right, "wind" damage on the first floor, which we know was eventually flooded by water! The rationale for such payments is that the wind damage occurred first and was "masked" by the ensuing storm surge. Once again, why has MetLife failed to step up to the plate and pay for covered losses on the SECOND floor? Could it be a corporate policy to cheat policy holders out of their money? Does this not represent a blatant lack of due diligence on their part? Does this not demonstrate their failure to deal with policy holders in good faith?

Incredibly, MetLife is now entering their second year of unconscionable delinquency!

It does make a difference.

When people buy insurance, they expect to deal with reputable people.  If any loss due to "Hurricanes" is excluded, there should be no "hurricane loss" deductible. There should be no possibility for confusion on the part of the party that is buying coverage for protection in the event of a catastrophe. If their insurance fails to cover, they will, by definition, be victims of catastrophic loss. Clearly, we believed we were covered against loss due to Hurricanes, as would any reasonable policy holder. The fact that Lexington paid, Farm Bureau paid, State Farm paid, and MetLife failed to pay us speaks volumes about the kind of insurance coverage (integrity) you purchase from these companies.

The corporate culture that is responsible for some companies paying versus the corporate culture responsible for one company failing to pay cannot be ignored when customers shop for insurance coverage of any type. Ask yourself how you would feel, if Lexington and Farm Bureau were paying policies "in full" to your neighbors and State Farm was paying the lion's share to FIRST FLOOR residents, while your company ran from their obligation to pay you. Why would anyone buy any type of insurance from MetLife?

Clearly, the company you choose does make a difference! We hope you never choose MetLife.

Cynthia and Vincent

Please email this link (vstretch.net) to everyone you know who buys insurance.