American Freedom Insurance

An American Freedom insured bumped into my rear bumper as he was texting while driving. Damage was minor at $ 300. I contacted American Insurance and was amazed that they use only one body shop for estimates. It was located an hour away. I played their game as they literally took 50 digital photos of my car looking for any prior damage including the interior and front. Since my truck is only 4 months old and showroom new condition they could not void the claim I contacted American Freedom every day, twice a day for two months straight as you must be polite but persistent. FYI… Three days after their insured hit my car, I paid $ 300 of my own money to have bumper fixed by a bodyshop located across the street from my office. Their bodyshop is on the other side of world. In my opinion this is done deliberately to discourage consumers from filing a claim.
Finally two months later I advised two of their customer care representatives that I am filing a complaint with Illinois Department of Insurance. I have been driving for 29 years without any accidents. Within ten minutes I received panic stricken phone call from the owner asking me to please not file a complaint with the State of Illinois. They will overnight check. The check I received was not sufficient to cover the repairs, nor did it include two days of a rental automobile. I was afraid to deposit check into my checking account. I gladly paid the six dollar processing fee to have check cashed at their bank.
Word of advice to all who read this email.
1) remain calm, take detailed notes, ask for the name of representative, document, document, document all phone calls.
2) GO IN PERSON to their office (I visited them three times and hand delivered all the required paperwork). Since I had the name of each of the representatives that I hand delivered the paperwork, they could not deny receiving any of their required documents. They do NOT like when you visit them face to face as they cannot avoid you.
3) File a claim with Illinois Department of Insurance as that seems to be the only agency they are scared off (guess they can revoke their license to do business???)
4) If damage is severe and car is not roadworthy, you will have no choice but to file a claim with your own insurance company as American Freedom will do everything to avoid paying a claim.