Even After Being Fined For Wrongly Denying Claims, American Freedom Insurance's Denials Still Raising Questions
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The state fined a troubled auto insurance company for incorrect denials, but a South Side man says that company hasn't changed their ways years later.
Morning Insider Tim McNicholas reports Lance Baker is fighting with American Freedom Insurance to cover his car damage after a hit and run, and that car is especially important because he was born with a disability.
Baker and Shantel Cole don't need pictures to remember the crash.
"He rear-ended me from behind," Baker said. "He just took right off."
The hit-and-run sent the couple to the hospital with back injuries.
"It was painful right away," Cole said.
Baker's auto insurance policy is supposed to cover hit-and-runs, so he filed a claim in August.
But American Freedom Insurance denied him multiple times, with varying explanations, including, "This policy is Comprehensive and Collision only."
He'd certainly call this a collision.
"Every time I call, it's a different story," Baker said.
"It doesn't seem like they're doing things by the book like they should," Cole said.
We've found other complaints about puzzling denials on American Freedom's Better Business Bureau page.
Data from the Illinois Department of Insurance shows the company has 9 times the amount of complaints of a typical business its size.
Earlier this year, they denied a Tom Noonan's claim, after he was in a crash with one of their clients in Tinley Park.
In Noonan's case, a letter from the company read "our insured has failed to provide the company with a written statement of facts."
"They can't get a hold of him, so I'm on my own. I'll have to sue the guy that hit me," Noonan told CBS 2 in April.
Back in 2016, the State of Illinois fined the company $20,000 for various violations, including incorrect denials.
Baker wound up with the company through a third-party insurance broker.
"These people take your money and they'll run for it," he said.
Baker walks with a prosthetic leg, so getting around without a car is a challenge.
For weeks, he says he didn't even know where his car was.
About a month ago, he got a letter from a tow yard saying his car could be auctioned off.
"Now they're looking for me to pay for storage fees and to get the vehicle out. They haven't told me if the vehicle was fixed or anything," Baker said.
One wreck after another.
The company has not answered questions from CBS 2 .They only sent us an email insisting the denial was correct, according to their policies.