Chicago homeowner claims insurer used Google images to deny porch collapse claim

CHICAGO - A Chicago homeowner said her insurance company used Google Images to deny her claim after her porch collapsed.

Now, she's asking if the problem was already there, why was she insured in the first place?

What we know:

Taneika Smith, a letter carrier on the South Side, bought her home on the 6800 block of South Indiana in August 2019. 

"I was always scared to do a home-owning," Smith said. "I went to this class, Dream, over on Stony Island, and I met this lady named Amanda. And she said, ‘you should buy an investment property.’ And I’m like, ‘do you think I can afford it?’ And she said, ‘yes.’"

After touring several properties, she fell in love with her building. 

"Every time I came, no one was outside. Everybody that is on this block works. It was quiet, and I was just ready for a move. And everything was up-to-date in the building," Smith said.

Smith secured homeowner's insurance and passed inspection without issue. But nearly five years later, her dream began to unravel. 

In March 2024, following a brutal winter, "my stairs collapsed. When they collapsed, it was nothing underneath it. So I called my insurance, filed a claim."

What followed was months of frustration. 

"They gave me the runaround. They said they had to send an adjuster, from Florida, then Wisconsin, finally Ohio. A few days after the claim, they denied it. They said that they took a Google picture and that they saw the stairs were patched up," she said.

The denial left Smith at a loss. 

"Everyone I call to get the stairs fixed, they want $6,000 to $10,000. Because I’m a single woman that works every day. I don’t have that kind of money," Smith said.

State Farm Insurance, Smith says, relied on Google images from 2022 to argue the damage was pre-existing. 

"I got a picture of Google from 2018, and the stairs looked just how it did in 2023. I got Google picture in 2019 when I bought it. It’s the same how the pictures looked when I bought the building in 2019. I never touched the stairs at all," Smith said.

The situation has left Smith, who delivers mail for a living, with an unusable front porch. 

"I have to come home every day, I work 12 hours, and I have to look at this. It’s embarrassing," she said.

She says the damage has also impacted how she receives deliveries. 

"My carriers can’t even do their job properly or they have to throw it on the side of the porch just for me to get my packages," Smith said.

The ordeal has stretched over a year. 

"Insurance is for people to pay for when everyday life happens… Why am I paying and when I file a claim, you either deny it or once you do it, they drop me," Smith said.

Smith has considered paying out of pocket, estimating the cost at $6,000 to $10,000. 

"We work hard to pay insurance… we should be entitled to get things fixed because that’s what we pay for."

What they're saying:

State Farm Insurance issued this statement on the case, shared below: 

"We understand how difficult it can be when a claim decision isn’t the outcome a customer expected. State Farm reviews every claim based on the policy terms and the facts we can verify,  including speaking with the customer, inspecting the damage, and, when needed, consulting experts such as engineers to better understand the cause and extent of loss. After completing our review in 2024, we explained our decision and the reason for it directly to the customer. Because of customer privacy, we can’t discuss the details publicly. If the customer has questions or additional information, we encourage them to contact us or their agent. We welcome the opportunity to talk with them and take another look."

What's next:

For now, she’s forced to use her back door. 

"It’s a hassle. Got to go around groceries, shopping… I slide things to my son at the top, but it’s still a household issue," Smith said. 

Smith says she’s done with her insurer. "I’m dropping them, they don’t deserve my money."

ChicagoNews