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You'll pay a premium for Commerce Insurance coverage on your vehicle and you better pray that if you have an accident it is within the New England area. I paid my $150.00 every month on time yet when it came for Commerce Insurance to pay my body shop $146.50 it took them 5 days to get approval. This displays the greed that Commerce Insurance practices on a daily basis. I stated that I would pay the $146.50 if Commerce Insurance was willing to wave my month payment, instead they raised my monthly payment for what they stated was a "garaged out of state" fee.

If your expecting to be treated like a valued customer I hope that you don't expect much. I have been bounced around like a basketball between representatives and when you request a courtesy call back you won't get it. If you choose to leave a message you are taking a chance as I have yet to receive a response from any of the ones I have left.

Customer courtesy is at the bottom of the list for Commerce Insurance. A couple of the representatives that I spoke with decided that it was my problem that the shop would not release the vehicle due to non-payment by the insurance company. I was told that I don't know the insurance industry and that I have a closed mind on how things operate in the insurance world. When I expressed that I would be leaving Commerce Insurance after all this was said and done the representative simply said "sir that is your choice if you decide to leave, the issue with your claim is with you and your body shop not Commerce Insurance, if you leave good luck with finding another insurance company like Commerce Insurance." I've come to the conclusion that my main claim representative doesn't really exists as I've only spoken with her 3 times.

I would not recommend Commerce Insurance unless you're an insurance attorney or just don't care how you or your vehicle is treated. The damage to my vehicle was less than $10,000.00 I would hate to see what a struggle I would be met with had it been more then what it was.

_________________________________________________________________________

If you are new to the New England area or are currently living in the area you are limited to a number of insurance companies. This being said if you are looking to join Commerce Insurance company you might want to think twice before dishing out the money.

As a former resident of the New England area I signed up with Commerce Insurance as my fiancé at the time had suggested and due to the limit of insurance companies it just seemed like the right fit. I signed up through an independent agent as I was told that you could only sign up through an agent and not directly with the insurance company. My previous insurance was with Progressive insurance. Although not 100% satisfied with them at the time I was happy to try something new. Besides at the time Progressive was not writing insurance in the state that I resided and thus really didn't have a choice.

The first let down that I was faced with was a significant increase in my premium due to being a new customer and for an vehicle incident that happened seven years ago. I was being penalized for not only being a new customer but for something that I had already dealt with seven years prior. I was informed that I would pay an increased rate until I had been with Commerce Insurance for at least a year, at which time my driving record would be evaluated and a possible decrease would be considered. I was very upset as with Progressive insurance I was only penalized for 6months and the increase in the premium was not more than $30.00 not $400.00 as it was with Commerce. Seeing my insurance options limited within the state I decided to just deal with it even though my monthly payment would jump to about $100.00 more a month then I was used too.

My first year with Commerce Insurance was uneventful as I hope every year is. When the evaluation time came I was granted an adjustment to my premium of $50.00 hardly the adjustment that I was expecting but it was something. Four months into my second year with Commerce Insurance I was unfortunately unable to stay in the New England area. I was forced to relocate back home to Florida due to financial reasons beyond my control.

I was only in the state of Florida for roughly a week when my nightmare with Commerce Insurance began. While stopped at a stop light I was rear ended by a careless driver who was busy texting instead of driving. Since accidents seem to happen to me under no fault of my own I knew the process that was about to happen. The police came filed out an accident report, however no tickets were issued which I was shocked to see happen as last time I checked when someone else hits you they are at fault unless you intentionally get in there way.

I contacted Commerce Insurance moments after the accident occurred. I explained what had happened and was informed in a very casual voice "We are sorry to hear of your accident, we have the information that we need to open a claim once the claim is opened you will be contacted by your account representative for more information." Later that evening I received a call from Jennifer Ferguson with Commerce Insurance she informed me that she would be assisting me through the claim process and that she needed a little more information. As requested I gave the needed information, Jennifer informed me that since Commerce Insurance does not write policies in Florida an independent adjuster would be contacting me to set up a time to look at the initial appraisal for repair.

This is where it really starts to get fun.

The date of the accident was 8/24/2010 the insurance claim was opened the same day. I received a call from a Dennis Kempf from Metro Appraisal out of Tampa, FL on 8/25/2010. Dennis informed me that he would be out on 8/25/2010 at 9am to do the appraisal. On 8/25/2010 at 9am there was no sign of Dennis and no contact from his office. 10am rolls around and Dennis shows up. Dennis is an older man probably in his lower to mid 60's, he did not knock on my door and he did not call to state that he was at my location. Had I not looked out the window wondering who this man was looking at my vehicle and taking pictures I would have not known he was even here. I went out and introduced myself to Dennis who was quick to say his name hand me his business card and get on with continuing to take pictures and document the damages. I explained that since the accident a leak had happened in my vehicle which caused the entire drivers' side floor to be soaked. Dennis said that he didn't see how that could be related as the damage was to the back not in an area that would affect the driver. Dennis was very short, very rude, and could have cared less about my vehicle stating that he needed to hurry this up so that he could move on to the next client that was 30mins away. After about 10 minutes of taking pictures and documenting the damage Dennis went to his vehicle and created the appraisal that he thought was a good estimate of the damage cost just under $4,500.00 on a 05 Chevy Colorado that was worth only about $8,000.00. I thought this would total the vehicle but since it was not 80% of the vehicles value in whatever book he used to get the value I was wrong. Dennis sternly stated that I needed to have the vehicle towed to which ever shop I wanted to do the body work.

I called the local tow company and had the vehicle towed to my local Chevy dealership. The rear of my truck was in new condition prior to the accident and I wanted to make sure that it met factory standards once the repairs began. I signed all the required paperwork to get the repairs started and left my property in the hands of the dealerships body shop. I called Commerce to inform them what was going on with the vehicle and to inform them that I would also be getting a rental vehicle. I was told that I had rental privileges on my policy and that I could rent from my Local Hertz dealership for $17.00/day rate.

Things were going fine with the repairs although unbeknown to me things were about to go south. I called the Chevy dealership after the first two weeks to see what the progress was with the vehicle. I was informed that parts had been ordered but not arrived yet. I was ok with that and went about my business of the day. Later that day I receive a phone call from Commerce Insurance stating the following; "Mr. Morenus we are authorized to send you a check for the payment of the repairs cost to the vehicle." I was shocked how in the world had they known what the final cost was and why were they sending me a check. I asked this to the agent and was given this response; "We are sending you a check based on the appraisal that we received from Metro Appraisal for the amount of $4,500.00 plus or minus some change. We are sending it to you because you did not file a direction of pay with the repair shop." I informed the agent to hold on sending that check so that I could verify what she was telling me. I called the repair shop and was informed that my initial paperwork that I had filled out when the vehicle was dropped off included the direction of pay and that it had been submitted to Commerce Insurance.

I contacted Commerce Insurance immediately and informed them of what I had just been told by the repair shop that the requested direction of pay was signed and that payment should go to the shop directly. It was on this call that I realized that Jennifer Ferguson was no longer my account representative with Commerce Insurance, the claim was now being handled by a Tara Hemmingway.

On 9/23 I called the repair shop to find out the status of the repairs to my vehicle. I was informed that the vehicle was completed and that the body shop was waiting on payment from Commerce Insurance. I called Commerce Insurance to see what the status was on their end. I spoke with Tara, (one of the few times I would actually speak to her) and she informed me that they were waiting on the direction of pay from the body shop. Confused I explained that the direction of pay was already filled out and sent to Commerce. After my conversation with Tara I contacted my body shop and informed them that Commerce Insurance was waiting for the direction of pay from them. The body shop explained that they had faxed the information to Commerce Insurance and that they would fax it again. I was going out of town that weekend and was assured by Commerce Insurance that payment should be received by the repair shop no later than that Monday 9/27. With this in mind I turned in my rental car as I was traveling with someone else so it was no longer needed.

Well 9/27 came along and half way through the day I was wondering if I could pick my vehicle up so I called the shop. I was informed that the shop still had not been paid. I then called Commerce Insurance and spoke with a George, who informed me that they were waiting for direction of pay and the initial appraisal from Metro Appraisal. I was once again confused and by this time annoyed, I stated that as of 9/23 the direction of pay had been faxed twice and I could not understand how they could not have the appraisal from Metro. George stated that all he could do is read what Tara had apparently noted within my Claim. Expressing my concerns to George that I would like the issue resolved by the end of the day so that I could pick up my vehicle on 9/28, I asked for a call back by the end of the day.

That requested phone call from Commerce Insurance did not happen, neither did any of them that I was promised. It is now 10/5/2010 and I am still without my vehicle even though it has been done since 9/23/2010. When I call Commerce Insurance to find out what is going on they either don't answer the phone or someone other than my account representative answers the phone and just reads notes that are left on the claim. I have been given miss information on my claim status, given excuse after excuse as to why payment has been delayed and in the end just told to deal with it from Commerce Insurance. I have had to do all the calling between the repair shop, the insurance company and the appraisal company. No one has returned any of my calls, or voice mails and at this point I don't even bother to leave them. It has been a nightmare that I don't deserve but unfortunately have the opportunity to experience.

The bottom line is this:

You'll pay a premium for Commerce Insurance coverage on your vehicle and you better pray that if you have an accident it is within the New England area. I paid my $150.00 every month on time yet when it came for Commerce Insurance to pay my body shop $146.50 it took them 5 days to get approval. This displays the greed that Commerce Insurance practices on a daily basis. I stated that I would pay the $146.50 if Commerce Insurance was willing to wave my month payment, instead they raised my monthly payment for what they stated was a "garaged out of state" fee.

If your expecting to be treated like a valued customer I hope that you don't expect much. I have been bounced around like a basketball between representatives and when you request a courtesy call back you won't get it. If you choose to leave a message you are taking a chance as I have yet to receive a response from any of the ones I have left.

Customer courtesy is at the bottom of the list for Commerce Insurance. A couple of the representatives that I spoke with decided that it was my problem that the shop would not release the vehicle due to non-payment by the insurance company. I was told that I don't know the insurance industry and that I have a closed mind on how things operate in the insurance world. When I expressed that I would be leaving Commerce Insurance after all this was said and done the representative simply said "sir that is your choice if you decide to leave, the issue with your claim is with you and your body shop not Commerce Insurance, if you leave good luck with finding another insurance company like Commerce Insurance." I've come to the conclusion that my main claim representative doesn't really exists as I've only spoken with her 3 times.

I would not recommend Commerce Insurance unless you're an insurance attorney or just don't care how you or your vehicle is treated. The damage to my vehicle was less than $10,000.00 I would hate to see what a struggle I would be met with had it been more then what it was.

Location: Orlando, Florida

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