Grinnell Mutual

My daughter was involved in an accident where the other person left the scene without providing information. She took a picture of the other persons license plate. My daughter said the claim agent always took about a week to get back to her on every occasion. When my daughter talked to the claim agent, the agent said they could not find current insurance information for the driver that left the scene and it should be covered under uninsured motorist coverage. I am the owner of the vehicle and initially declined to press charges on the runaway driver due to having uninsured coverage. I called the claim agent and after 5 days I missed the call and she left a message. With apparently too few claim agents if you miss a call you are left wondering if and when you will receive another call. The message the agent left said Grinnell would not cover the damage. which left me wondering why do I buy uninsured motorist coverage only to be denied. Too few claim agents equals pitiful customer service.

All seemed well at first, as most things do. We (my husband and I) had a couple claims with minor repairs (deer vs car) and were compensated quickly and our vehicles were repaired quickly and properly. Then the nightmare begins and unfortunately continues. My Husband was on his way to a job in Colorado (September 23, 2018). He hadn’t made it 10 miles from our home when he faced hitting a car head on that was in his lane coming around a corner so instincts set in and he swerved to avoid the collision and took the ditch occupied by A telephone pole., ( Thankfully not live), splitting the pole in half. Our 2014 Dodge Durango R/T was towed away to a local garage/storage facility, Obviously my Husband was not ticketed and only had minor injuries. He went to the hospital a few days later with whiplash, a sprained wrist and a sore, bruised shoulder. We were told we could use a mechanic of our choosing, we choose one we trust, one we have previously used with Grinnell and they also offer free rental cars. We were not allowed to use the mechanic we had used before because it was to far away. (52 miles to be exact) we offered to split the tow and still denied. We were told the car was totaled and grab our belongings and the adjuster ([REDACTED NAME]) would be out of town a few days and would be in touch. My Husband left for a job in Wyoming. Eleven days later, I contacted the towing company who still hadn’t heard from Grinnell or [REDACTED NAME] the adjuster. When he called my Husband at work he told him they had a mechanic near by that they have used in the past look our vehicle and now our vehicle only had $10,000 worth of damage, it was no longer totaled (with a cracked and bent frame on a 2014 Dodge Durango R/T) We were mind blown with this information and wanted a second opinion with our first choice mechanic. The mechanic they had was extremely angry that we wanted a second opinion. The mechanic stated our suv was outside with the keys in it and we could pick it up. When I arrived to meet the tow truck to my dismay our vehicle was towed back to the storage facility because Grinnell hadn’t paid the towing or 12 day storage fee. A couple days later we were informed the fees were paid and We could have the suv towed at our expense, when we show up ( my Husband has now lost his job because he was so involved with doing the legwork with me that he couldn’t be responsible for his men at work being the Foreman on the job and the negligence of Grinnell), we were approached at the door of the storage facility and told to contact our insurance company because our vehicle had been burnt!!!! We were dumbfounded!!! Burnt!!! WTF!! We follow the gentleman to their storage facility of damaged cars looking like a small penitentiary. Our vehicle appeared to look the same as my Husbands accident until they opened the doors and it was burnt to a crisp! A devastating and heartbreaking.... words can’t explain. We (our whole family of 5, three children and us) loved our Durango. The keys were in the ignition still, doors were left unlocked, we wanted answers. What happened? Are other vehicles burnt? Do you have cameras?? No Cameras!!!! We were informed they had never had an incident before and they are now installing cameras. We had Police officers and Grinnell’s Fire Marshall come to our home (separate occasions) and questioned us and took our statements about the incident. We now have a new adjuster ([REDACTED NAME]) for a total loss claim. We spoke with [REDACTED NAME] often because we now had to deal with the car and storage fees all over again. They were to move the vehicle to their own storage facility after the Fire Marshall performed his investigation. It was ruled as an undetermined case, they couldn’t tell if it was vandalism or a mechanical issue (apparently this make and model did have Electrical issues) Our now wrecked and burnt vehicle was brought to our home to save Grinnell from more storage fees. It sat at our place for a good week until it was sold off by Grinnell. We waited patiently to be compensated and complied with everything they asked of us. Months go by. Original accident in September, fire in October and finally December 23rd [REDACTED NAME] comes with an offer, a huge slap in the face,she offers $12,000 because they had cut a check for $10,000 prior to the fire for the vehicle repair. We had a $2500 warranty still in place on top of a clean paid off title and a blue book price of $28,000. Not only did we feel completely taken advantage of, ripped off and totally inconvenienced; We only were allowed the rental car for 3 wks, we had to share one vehicle with a family of 5 and my dying Father who was 2.5 hrs away from our home in the hospital. We ended up coming out of pocket close to $1,000 for rental cars And we hadn’t pay two $1,000 deductibles to Grinnell for two separate incidences yet only compensated for one. We are still not whole, my Husbands medical bills still have not been paid, his credit has taken a hit, we were never compensated for him missing and loosing his jobs and then dropped from Grinnell auto policy all together. We now have another insurance adjuster ([REDACTED NAME]) who has only contacted us once as of today’s date , needing information for his superior , asking my Husband why he felt we had a case with the storage/towing company. My husband told [REDACTED NAME] what we were informed by two different lawyers and that was when a vehicle is received in one condition, it should be returned either fixed or in the same condition they had received it. We had to recommend to them to pursue this claim and we don’t know if they even are doing anything at all. This is total and utter negligence on there behalf in so many ways. We have given them ample time and patience only to be ignored and treated like we don’t exist. The purpose of having an insurance company is to have someone on your side, fighting for what’s rightfully yours and helping you become whole again after an accident. I would never recommend anyone using this company and surely would never want anyone to go through this horrifying nightmare that is still continuing to this day for our Family. It has been over a year now and we are still waiting for them to make this right.

Well all was well for 28 years. Home and auto prems paid on time and in full. Until we had a bad patch for a couple years. I think we had 5 claims in less than 3 years. The last one was my daughter who did not pay attention and backed out of a parking space into the side of a truck next to her. And we got CANCELLED after 28 years. I expected our rates to go up and they did, but then we get a letter in the mail and they are done with us. There have been two times I could have filed a claim for hail damage but didn't because I didn't want to soak the company for something I could live with. Lot of good that did me. I guess they didn't make enough money off us over the last 28 years to help us when we needed it. I called Grinnell to express my concerns and after talking to 3 people was told there really isn't anyone at the company for me to talk to. No option for dropping our full coverage to liability, which would have made all but one of the claims we had made not their problem if we continued to have stupid mishaps in our own driveway.....no options- just cancelled. Forget it. I'm yanking my home insurance as well. They don'[t need anymore of my money after they made enough off my policy for all those years. Thanks. For. Nothing.