Bryan Scott – State Farm Insurance Agent

I’m sorry to say, but this is one incompetent, clueless office. In the three years that I’ve had a policy with them, they haven’t sent me a certificate of insurance, not even once! It doesn’t help that Statefarm’s business model is completely outdated, relying on agent offices rather than online and helpdesk service. They won’t even let me create an online account to check my policy. I have to «check with my agent’. Well, good luck with that — it’s Barbara who answers the phone — she’ll even tell you she’s not able to focus on work. Time to switch to another insurance company.

So funny– I’ve had the same insurance carrier since I moved to DC (late 1999). I haven’t read any reviews since then because I DETEST shopping for insurance. But, I recently had to shop for insurance and decided to read some Unilocal reviews– not surprisingly A LOT OF REVIEWERS have had the same problems with Barbara Melon at Bryan Scott State Farm. She is quite simply, incompetent. She promises to respond, never does. She promises to work up the claim, never does, she promises to send information, never does. I’m not quite sure how she still has a job. I’ve talked to Bryan Scott himself and he seems to want to remain clueless.
The last incident was the straw that broke the camel’s back– I changed my homeowners policy to a rental policy. All the documents were completed; after two weeks (in which time I was supposed to get the finalized documents from Barb) I receive a letter in the mail that State Farm is dropping me. What the what!!! My first instinct was to freak out and call Bryan Scott and scream– but then I rethought it, and said you know what… This is the exact motivation I need to shop for insurance. In ten minutes I had quotes from 3 different companies for more coverage at around the same quote provided by State Farm (one was lower, one was within $ 5 and one was $ 80 higher). I promptly switched. When I called to inform State Farm, Barb answered the phone and proceeded to tell me that State Farm was dropping me because I had an out of state address. Yeah, like we talked about for the past 2 months in pages and pages of correspondence. She literally had no idea what she was talking about or that we had emailed 20+ times. I never want to ridicule someone with mental health issues– and maybe that’s Barb’s problem, I don’t know. But she has no business being an insurance agent. None. State Farm just lost a customer they’ve had for over 20 years (I was with them before even moving to DC). Stupid.

Was referred to this office from my home rep in Chicagoland. Needed renter’s insurance and, then, car insurance. It certainly seemed like I was just another quick sell and I was quickly handed off for processing with an assistant. She was great and when I noted that I had things in storage elsewhere, they were helpful. UNTIL… I received a random notice from State Farm that they were cancelling my rental policy because I had items in storage in another state. When I called, they essentially hung up on me and said there was nothing they could do because «THEY» cancelled the policy. When I questioned this further, I was told they couldn’t talk with me any longer and, upon further investigation, it appears that the agent had to have called to tell the underwriters to cancel my policy. Bryan eventually found time to speak with me but was less than courteous and as I was a small account, did little to try to a) explain the situation or b) try to find a solution. Further, Mr. Scott deferred again to the «they» who made the decision. Now, he IS a sales rep for State Farm but interesting that suddenly he claimed little to no association with the company that appears on his business card. Not to mention an arrogant attitude prevails. Go elsewhere!

This email thread says it all:
Wow Barbara, what happened again? Even if you gave me a great quote for insurance, how could I ever think your branch would be responsive in the event of a claim or question?
On Fri, Nov 15, 2013 at 9:18 AM, Barbara Mellon
I will get off this call I am on and work up rates right away and shoot them over to you
Barbara A. Mellon
Bryan W. Scott Agency
Register at
Phone 202−293−5050 ext 102
Fax 202−659−3675
Email
From: Kevin S. Cochie [mailto:kevin.cochie@gmail.com]
Sent: Friday, November 15, 2013 9:17 AM
To: Barbara Mellon
Subject: Re: 500 M Street
I need it as soon as possible.
Sent from my iPhone
On Nov 15, 2013, at 8:42 AM, Barbara Mellon
I am so sorry. MY husband had surgery on Tuesday, and It has messed me all up. If I can work up a quote for you today, would that help?
Barbara A. Mellon
Bryan W. Scott Agency
Register at
From: Kevin Cochie [mailto:kevin.cochie@gmail.com]
Sent: Friday, November 15, 2013 7:11 AM
To: Barbara Mellon
Subject: Re: 500 M Street
Barbara,
I am going to go ahead and renew our previous policy with our previous provider. It expires today so I have no other option. I am deeply disappointed that you have been unresponsive to provide a quote from State Farm. Its been over 10 days since our initial communication, so I think there has been ample time for State Farm to provide a quote. Best of luck to you and your business in the future.
Respectfully,
Kevin
On Wed, Nov 13, 2013 at 8:40 AM, Barbara Mellon wrote:
I am sorry, I have been out, my hubby had surgery yesterday. I will try to get the rates out to you later today.
Barbara A. Mellon
Bryan W. Scott Agency
Register at
Phone 202−293−5050 ext 102
Fax 202−659−3675
Email
From: Kevin Cochie [mailto:kevin.cochie@gmail.com]
Sent: Saturday, November 09, 2013 11:38 AM
To: Barbara Mellon
Subject: Re: 500 M Street
Hey Barbara,
Were you able to work up a quote? Any questions?
/​r
Kevin
On Wed, Nov 6, 2013 at 7:44 AM, Barbara Mellon wrote:
Perfect. I will review it and work up a quote. I am sure I am going to have questions. I will shoot notes to you with them.
Barbara A. Mellon
Bryan W. Scott Agency
Register at
Phone 202−293−5050 ext 102
Fax 202−659−3675
From: Kevin Cochie [mailto:kevin.cochie@gmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, November 05, 2013 7:04 PM
To:
Cc: Kevin S. Cochie
Subject: Fwd: 500 M Street
Barbara,
Hey there. Here is our current policy. Can you look at the coverage and let me know what it would cost for similar coverage through y’all?
/​r
Kevin

I have been an active client of Bryan’s for over 30 years and throughout my entire tenure with Bryan, I have had anything but exceptional service and advice from him. At one point, I was even considering a career in the insurance business and Bryan encouraged me to go for it. Good thing — I have now been in the business for 28 years and run a successful insurance brokerage firm in Bethesda. SO — when one insurance broker highly recommends another insurance broker, it should definitely be considered high praise. Bryan’s integrity and commitment set a very high bar in our industry. He has been an outstanding role model and I am grateful that he is my agent.

After 12 years with this office I’m finally free of it. Yes, it was ridiculous of me to stay as long as I did, but with a large family, several properties, multiple vehicles, etc., it aint easy finding the time. But, hey, Unilocal isn’t about me! But, it is important for readers to know I have a depth of experience with this agent, Bryan Scott. Over the years I was shuffled from one staff to the next to handle my account. All of them, with the exception of one, made egregious errors on our policies and were caught by us through filing claims or scrutinizing our dec page. The agent himself is very hands off, does little client work himself, and I’m still confused about what exactly it is that he does. The straw that broke the camel’s back was the miswriting of a policy for a segway. I was advised it would be covered under homeowner’s and when the unit was stolen, State Farm denied my claim because I didn’t have motor vehicle insurance on it. Bryan Scott did nothing to intervene or help with this claim and let a 12 year client eat $ 5,000 through his (or his staff’s)ineptitude. I had been with State Farm for 26 years and left the company over this matter. So I’ll take the opportunity to say State Farm overall is a scheister company to be avoided.