If I could give zero stars, I would.
As a mother, there are very few things more heartbreaking than watching your child do everything right in life, only to be treated like he doesn't matter when he needs help the most.
My son is an exceptional young man. He is a full-time college student while also working full time for one of the most respected colleges and medical organizations in the St. Louis area. He doesn't make excuses, he doesn't expect handouts, and he works incredibly hard for everything he has. He pays his insurance premiums faithfully because he believed that if something ever happened, State Farm would be there for him.
Instead, they completely failed him.
On April 3, 2026, my son was sitting at a complete stop when another driver rear-ended him. The other driver later claimed that an unknown object from an unknown vehicle somehow pushed him into my son's car. His insurance denied liability on May 21, 2026, and from that day forward, we desperately tried to get help from State Farm.
Phone calls/Emails/Portal messages/Text messages/Voicemails. Weeks turned into months.
During all of this, my son was forced to continue driving a vehicle that wasn't safe because he had no other choice. He had to replace a tire out of his own pocket after it ripped open from the accident. His driver's side brake light was completely gone, making him even more vulnerable to another accident. But what was he supposed to do? Quit his job? Drop out of school? He kept pushing forward because that's the kind of person he is.
Finally, after more than two months, State Farm approved a rental so he could leave his vehicle for repairs.
Then, after we believed his vehicle was actually being repaired, they suddenly decided to total it instead.
When my son went to retrieve his belongings, the vehicle had been completely torn apart internally. We had invested over $5,000 in a new transmission just months earlier. Almost immediately after deciding to total it, State Farm ended the rental coverage that my son had been paying premiums for over several years.
Once again, he was left scrambling.
He had to purchase another vehicle immediately just so he could continue getting to work and school. Instead of helping him, State Farm left him making payments on two vehicles while this claim dragged on with no clear direction.
But nothing compares to what happened today.
Today, July 7, 2026, I finally decided enough was enough.
I called Derek Miller's office myself because I couldn't continue watching my son be pushed aside.
I left a voicemail asking someone--anyone--to please help us.
No one called me back.
My son then drove over 35 minutes each way to Derek Miller's office because we had specifically been instructed during a conference call with State Farm that the fastest way to move this process forward was to hand-deliver his signed title to his local State Farm office.
After driving more than an hour round trip, they turned him away.
When he called me, my heart absolutely sank.
I immediately called the office and spoke with Troy Morton.
I have honestly never felt so dismissed, disrespected, or insignificant by someone working in customer service.
I wasn't angry
/I wasn't screaming/I wasn't demanding anything unreasonable/I was simply a mother trying to help her son. I was trying to find out where his title needed to go. I was trying to figure out how he was supposed to obtain his sales tax waiver. I was trying to help him legally register the replacement vehicle before his inspection and emissions expired. I was trying to prevent my son from continuing to lose money every single day because this claim has been handled so poorly. Instead of helping me, Troy continually interrupted me before I could finish a sentence. Every time I tried to explain why I was concerned, he talked over me. Every time I attempted to ask a question, he cut me off. Then he laughed/He actually laughed.
I cannot put into words how much that hurt.
Here I was, worried sick about my son--watching a hardworking young man who has done absolutely everything right get buried financially because of delays completely outside of his control--and the person representing the company he trusted found the situation amusing enough to laugh.
That moment will stay with me for a very long time.
I wasn't calling for special treatment.
I wasn't asking anyone to bend the rules.
I was begging someone to point us in the right direction because no one else had.
If he didn't know the answer, that's okay. But compassion costs nothing. Respect costs nothing. Simply saying, "I don't know, but let me see if I can find someone who does," would have changed everything.
Instead, I hung up feeling embarrassed, defeated, and completely helpless.
No parent should ever have to feel like they're bothering an insurance company simply for trying to help their child navigate a claim.
My son has spent years paying premiums to State Farm believing they would stand beside him if he ever needed them. read more
