I was in an auto accident about three weeks ago with a person insured by founders. Sandra Brown the Claim adjuster called me on friday June 17, 11 and we spoke regarding the car being totaled and my personal injury and she politely told me that I should hear something from her by early next week. Here it is today June 27, and I have not heard anything. I called and left a message on friday June 24, 11 from someone name Emily and she offered to send me a check for a third of what my car is worth so I ask to speak to Sandra Brown regarding the medical bill and the personal injury before accepting the offer for the car. Today I must have called them 25 times with no answer and no return call from all the messages I have left. So now I will be contact a personal injury attorney to persue this matter. Especially after reading this board this is terrible and very shady. This company needs to be stopped I will also per sue this matter with the Insurance Commission and BBB and whom ever else I need to so that nobody else have to go through this BS. If you thinking about settling this with them think again legal action need to be taken.

So my wife was in an accident where our car was rear-ended by a Founders Insurance policyholder. Fortunately, she was was unhurt but our car sustained considerable damage. The other car sustained alot of damage as well and even had the windshield shattered and both front air bags deploy. Strangely enough, the driver of that car drove that car from the scene with the bags out (shows you the mentality of a Founders customer). At any rate, we went and got our estimates that day, one from a shop of our choice and from the 2-bit body shop they sent us to here in Berwyn (you should see this place ... it should be called BondoWorld and it is on Ogden Ave. in Berwyn). Coincidently, after telling a friend that our car was in an accident, he blurted out "Don't take it to "XXXXXX, they will f your car up worse" ... the same body shop that Founders sent us to and my buddy had no idea we got an estimate from there! So moving along, we were told our estimate would be submitted by the following Monday (this happened on a Friday). Well a week went by and we called Founders. Our claims adjuster, Susana, said she had not received the estimate yet. I called "BondoWorld" and was assured that the estimate had been sent 2 days prior electronically to Susana, not the Monday we were promised but close enough. I further called again the next day and was told the same thing by "BondoWorld". So for the next week, I left numerous messages for Susana, none of which was returned. Finally, I called Founders and asked to speak to someone else and was directed to Javier, the Claims "Team Leader" ... you guessed it, I got his voicemail and no call back but suddenly i got a private call on my cell ... you know the type ... when someone calls you anonymously and no number appears, making it less likely for you to pick up the call. You guessed it, it was Susana leaving me a message that she had not received the estimate yet! How can a public insurance company make a private call like that? I know for a fact you have to punch something on the phone to disguise your number. I called Javier again and of course "Javy" can't return my calls either. So here I am with a car with a trunk that won't shut, a passenger door that won't close completely and 5 kids that need transportation to everywhere. Oh by the way, the time we were able to speak to Susuana, her advice was to go ahead and claim the accident on my own insurance and let them fight it out ... this way I could get my car fixed. My Allstate agent and I chuckled about that one ... but even they cannot reach this mysterious Susana or Javy. By the way, all of these people are hispanic, including the driver of the other car. I am not saying this to be racial, because my wife is also hispanic. They tried to play the "no speak ingles" thing with me and were rather taken aback when my wife spoke to them in spanish! So my advice is 2 fold ... do not get Founder's Insurance and if you have an accident with a Founders policyholder, GET AN ATTORNEY IMMEDIATELY ... I am doing so tomorrow. Thanks for reading this, any advice or comments (or a dirty a$$ attorney), contact me at [email protected].

In late March, I was traveling north along Interstate 94 in the Deerfield, IL area. A car insured by Founders Insurance swerved into my lane, broadsiding my car. We exchanged insurance information, but did not file a police report - response times were two hours and over (the Northern suburbs would get nine inches of snow by the end of the day). I contacted Founders, filed the requisite paperwork and got damage repair estimates. After six weeks and a number of phone calls, I was told my claim was being denied - their insured was not at fault. I asked how they could claim he was not at fault - I didn't hit him, he hit me! Their reasoning was that since their insured swerved to avoid another car, this first car was the proximate cause of the accident and not their insured. I pointed out that I had been hit by their insured, not by this "proximate cause" but they continued to pronounce their insured not at fault and were denying the claim. I asked if they were also blaming the Illinois Tollway Authority for the condition of the road surface and the Sun for shining in their poor widdle insured eyes. They failed to see the humor of the situation, again stated firmly they were denying the claim because their insured had not caused the accident. So not only did I have to fill out their forms, go see Founders-approved repair shops and make numerous calls, but they take six weeks to blow me off.