Erie Insurance has been an institution for almost a century. Although the growth of the company from the vision of two men in 1920’s Pennsylvania is an American success story, people who make adverse Erie insurance claims after auto accidents are less likely to buy into the dream.
Like many other companies, Erie Insurance will make claims difficult for you and seek to pay you as little as possible. the company will likely take you less seriously if you make a claim without enlisting the help of a Maryland personal injury lawyer.
Erie, according to the company’s website, was set up by H.O. Hirt and O.G. Crawford. In 1924, they drew up a plan for the insurance company on a 10-cent tablet which is today’s equivalent of a business prospectus.
In just under four months, they raised the $31,000 they required and won over 90 stockholders with their hand-written business plan and their determination.
Today, Erie Insurance serves 12 states — Maryland, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia. it employs more than 5,300 people and holds more than 5.8 million policies for car, home, and business insurance. Here are some pertinent facts about Erie Insurance claims.
Where is the Erie Insurance Claims Office?
The Erie Insurance home office is in Erie, Pennsylvania. However, there are local Erie agents and Insurance claims offices in Maryland. To find the closest one go to this Erie Insurance link and enter your zip code. If you are unable to find a local agent, call (800) 367-3743 for round-the-clock help.
What is the Erie Insurance Claims Phone Number?
The Erie insurance claims phone number is (800) 367-3743. Like other big insurance companies such as GEICO, Erie offers 24-hour support. Erie states once you file your claim an Erie claims adjuster will get in touch with you promptly to review the accident details you provided and your auto insurance coverage.
Erie Insurance Claims Status
The Pennsylvania-based insurance company promises regular updates on Erie insurance claims status. As soon as a claim is filed an insurance adjuster gets in touch with an accident claimant.
The adjuster will review all of the details of the accident and go over the claimant’s auto insurance coverage. Erie insurance claims are made easier when the claimant keeps the following details at hand:
- The claimant’s insurance policy number and the name of the insured party as it appears on the policy;
- The claim number;
- The details of the agent and claims handler including names, email addresses and phone numbers;
- Details of estimates, notes of phone conversations and emails pertinent to any Erie insurance claims.
What is the Erie Insurance Claims Address?
Erie insurance has dozens of offices across the states it has offices in. If you are making a claim in Maryland, the relevant Erie insurance claims addresses are:
Hagerstown Claims Office
18544 Breeze Hill Drive
Hagerstown, MD 21742-1350
The mailing address for Erie insurance claims at Hagerstown is:
Hagerstown Claims Office
Erie Insurance Group
P. O. Box 4158
Hagerstown, MD 21741-4158.
There is another address for Erie insurance claims at Silver Spring in Montgomery County. the relevant address is:
Silver Spring Branch Office
12121 Tech Road
Silver Spring, MD 20904-1906
The mailing address for Erie insurance claims in the Silver Spring area is:
Silver Spring Branch Office
Erie Insurance Group
P. O. Box 4409
Silver Spring, MD 20914-4409
Erie Insurance Claims Reviews
It’s always worth checking reviews to find out how well an insurance company will handle your claim and you still may want to consider hiring a personal injury lawyer in Baltimore. Erie insurance claims reviews can be found on numerous platforms. They offer a variable picture of the standard of service Erie provides to claimants.
Erie was ranked fourth out of 23 insurers vetted in NerdWallet’s ranking of car insurance companies in 2018. Erie insurance claims earned the company 4.5 stars out of 5 for overall performance. NerdWallet’s stated its rating is based on three main factors.
- Ratings compiled by J.D. Power for claims satisfaction, customer service, and shopping satisfaction;
- Consumer Reports customer satisfaction ratings;
- The National Association of Insurance Commissioners database of consumer complaints against the insurer.
However, reviews on ConsumerAffairs.com painted a different picture. An overall rating of 3.7 stars based on 122 votes contained some scathing feedback. One former customer wrote.
“They take consumers’ hard-earned money only to in the event of an accident leave them high and dry.”
Issues with Erie insurance claims resulted in a rating of just 1.5 stars out of a possible 5 on Yelp. the rating was based on 27 reviews. A dump truck driver described how he signed up for a policy with Erie due to its cheap rate. However, the company dropped him when he was involved in an accident that he said was caused by a distracted driver.
“At first, I was impressed with Erie, the rate was lower than Progressive or Geico, and I thought that having an insurer based so close to where I live would be a dream,” he wrote. “No, it wasn’t, far from it. It was a nightmare.”
Erie Insurance Claims Fax Number
The Erie insurance claims fax number at its main office in Erie, PA is (814) 451-5209. the company provides contact details on its website.
Erie Insurance Homeowners Claims
As well as auto claims, thousands of people hold homeowners policies with Erie. You can find more details about Erie insurance homeowners claims on the company’s website.
People making a claim over damage to their home should contact a local agent or call Erie insurance at (800) 367-3743.
Erie advises people who have lost possessions in a theft or a burglary to contact the police and report the incident at the outset. You should protect your home from additional damage by boarding up broken windows, putting buckets in rooms after leaks, or protecting damaged areas with plastic sheeting.
No repairs should be carried out until an Erie claims adjuster has seen the damage and inspected it.
Erie has a home inventory form to help claimants document the details when making Erie insurance homeowners claims. the company’s property repair program helps customers who are making home insurance claims to find qualified local contractors who carry out repairs.
Erie Auto Insurance Phone Number
The phone number for Erie auto insurance claims is (800) 367-3743. Erie offers 24/7 support for people who have been involved in car, truck, or motorcycle accidents.
Once an auto insurance claim is filed Erie promises a claims adjuster will get in touch with the claimant immediately to review the details of the car wreck along with the auto insurance coverage.
Claimants should keep their insurance policy details handy as well as their claims number and email addresses and phone numbers of their agents.
They should retain all estimates provided as part of Erie insurance claims and emails, estimates, and notes of phone conversations relating to the claims.
How Well Does Erie Insurance Handle General Liability Claims?
Like most insurance companies, Erie talks a good game in ads and in its official publications. However, when people try to make an insurance claim, they may experience problems. Expensive ads cost a lot of money. Insurance companies seek to claw back that money by shortchanging people making claims.
General liability insurance protects individuals and businesses from “general” claims involving bodily injuries and damage to property. Almost every business requires a general liability insurance policy.
The minimum level of liability coverage required under Maryland law is $30,000 for bodily injury per person; $60,000 for bodily injury per accident; and $15,000 for property damage, states the Maryland Insurance Association.
A report on Generalliabilityinsure.com states reviews of how Erie Insurance handles general liability claims are mixed. the company received a rating of 3.87 out of 5 based on 22 reviews of general liability claims. the Better Business Bureau received 75 complaints in three years.
What Happened to Erie Insurance Online Claims?
In order to file a claim with Erie insurance, you will have to contact a local agent by either phone or email or call Erie Insurance at (800) 367-3743.
The complexity of insurance claims in the wake of a car accident makes it necessary to talk to an agent or an adjuster. However, you can submit an auto windshield or glass claim to Erie Insurance online.
What Does an Inside Claims Adjuster Make at Erie Insurance?
A claims adjuster 1 makes about $45,512 at Erie Insurance while a claims adjuster II makes about $49.097 a year, according to the salaries site Glassdoor. This is slightly less than Geico where a claims adjuster 1 makes about $49,000, according to Glassdoor.
How Much Do You Usually Get in Personal Injury Claims from Erie?
There is no hard and fast rule for how much you will receive in personal injury claims from Erie. it depends on a wide range of factors including the amount of coverage available on the policy, the extent of your injuries, and whether liability is disputed.
Erie is one of about 25 insurance companies that use the Colossus software to calculate pain and suffering in a personal injury claim. This is a clumsy way to calculate something as personal as the ordeal suffered by an injury victim. Erie has hundreds of different codes that are plugged into the program.
Rather than being unique to you and the circumstances of your case, Colossus lumps people together under various codes. According to CSC, the creator of the program, Colossus was intended to “minimize payout variance.” CSC says this brings more consistency in personal injury cases. it also reduces payouts to accident victims.
If you hire a Maryland car accident lawyer for your car accident case, the attorney will work on a more individualized approach to your pain and suffering claim in Maryland.
How Does Erie Insurance Pay Claims?
Erie insurance aims to resolve claims quickly, it states on its website. However, in more complicated cases, there may be disputes between what you believe your case is worth and what Erie Insurance is willing to offer you. Claims will take longer if they end up in litigation but your eventual payout is likely to be higher.
Erie Insurance points out its claims typically have “speedy resolutions,” although the nature of the accident is a pertinent factor. the company usually settles minor fender benders more quickly than chain-reaction wrecks involving multiple injuries and mangled vehicles.
Erie lists qualified businesses that are part of its Direct Repair program. Businesses that are part of the network will estimate the property damage caused to your vehicle in the accident, share their estimate with Erie and make the repairs. Erie has a service allowing people to find a repair shop close to their zip code.
How Does Erie Insurance Settle Claims?
Erie Insurance claims are typically settled via negotiations. If Erie is representing the at-fault driver in an accident, you should make a claim as soon as you are sufficiently healed from your injuries.
You can send a demand letter to Erie Insurance or get a Rockville personal injury lawyer to make an Erie insurance claim on your behalf.
Your demand letter should state the basic facts of what occurred in the accident and how severely you were hurt.
You should detail medical bills, lost income, and out-of-pocket expenses. You should put a figure on pain and suffering. You can do this by multiplying the expenses known as special damages with a number between two and five known as the multiplier.
The claims adjuster will respond to your demand. Erie Insurance claims are put into a computer system and an offer will be made to you based on the codes plugged in. Typically, it will be considerably less than your demand.
The claims adjuster from Erie Insurance may pressurize you to accept less than your case is worth, luring you with the promise of fast cash. If you don’t accept this offer you may make a counteroffer that is less than your original demand but more than the insurance company’s initial offer.
Erie will often increase its offer after a lawsuit is filed. Our Baltimore car accident lawyers have seen considerably more money put on the table at this point.
Erie Insurance claims are not as difficult to deal with as those involving some big insurers and the filing of a lawsuit often persuades adjusters to be more reasonable.
If the lawsuit is unsuccessful in leading to a settlement acceptable to both sides the case may go to mediation and eventually to trial.
What is the Surcharge at Fault Threshold for Erie Insurance Auto Claims?
There is no set surcharge for how much your Erie insurance premiums will rise after you are found to be at fault in an accident. it could increase in a range from 10 percent to 200 percent depending on factors like the severity of the accident, whether you were ticketed or whether you were intoxicated.
According to Carinsurence.com, the average insurance surcharge after an at-fault accident in Maryland is 13 percent.
Erie has an accident forgiveness policy for drivers who have been policyholders for three years. This means drivers pay no surcharge the first time they are at fault for an accident once they have been a customer for three years.
Who Do I call to Speak With at Claims at Erie Insurance?
Erie Insurance provides details of who to talk to at claims on its website. You can find a local agent by entering your zip code. Alternatively, call 800-367-3743 for 24/7 support.
Talk to a Maryland Injury Lawyer About Erie Insurance Claims
Insurance companies hire personable agents and adjusters who are well-trained in personal service. They are available around the clock and act like they are on the side of the claimant.
However, as we know from reviews of claims at Erie Insurance and other companies, the problems often start when you try to make a claim. the insurance company is not on your side and will seek to give you as little as possible for your injuries after a car, motorcycle, truck, bus, cycling, or pedestrian accident. You can be left out of pocket for medical treatment for serious injuries.
At Rice, Murtha & Psoras, it’s our Gaithersburg personal injury lawyers‘ job to fight the insurance company on the behalf of the injured party and to champion the rights of the injured. it can be daunting to face the big bureaucracy of an insurance company. We deal with numerous Erie Insurance claims and we know all of the tricks the insurance company will try to use.
If you or a loved one has been injured in a car wreck, a slip and fall, or another injury case, please call us for a free consultation today at (410) 694-7291