New York Central Mutual
New York Central Mutual was founded in 1899 by VanNess D. Robinson. New York Central Mutual sells auto insurance policies to individuals and businesses. They also sell homeowners insurance, including renters, condo, and motor home coverage, as well as flood and water insurance. The company also offers a variety of discounts and sells through over 1,000 independent agents. Read our New York Central Mutual company overview to learn more.
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UPDATED: Jun 4, 2021
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2013 Total Admitted Assets: $1.01 billion2013 Net Income: $300.72 million2013 Direct written Premiums: $448.25 million
- A. Central Insurance Co.
Company Overview:
Company History: New York Central Mutual insurance was founded in 1899 by VanNess D. Robinson. In 2001 the company’s newest subsidiary, A. Central Insurance Company, was launched. Also in 2001, the Central Services Group was formed in order to act as an umbrella organization for NYCM insurance and their growing operations. Currently, the company employs over 1000 people and has over 490,000 policies in force.
Principle Sales Methods: Sells insurance through over 1000 independent agents
Auto Business: New York Central Mutual sells Auto insurance policies to individuals and businesses. The company also offers a variety of discounts.
Homeowners Business: New York Central Mutual sells Homeowners, Motor homes, Renters, Condo, Valuables, Water Damage, and Flood insurance. The company also offers a variety of discounts.
Special Business: New York Central Mutual offers identity fraud insurance and umbrella insurance. The company also offers a variety of commercial coverages.
our home was a total loss due to a fire in 4/27/06 and n.y.c.m. was unable as well as it’s numerous investigators to find the cause/orgin and to this date our claim has not been paid and we hired an attorney to sue them.Our family and financial stability that we have worked so hard for has been destroyed…we live like college kids in a dorm…we all sleep on mattress’s on the floor…I will never own another home just to avoid house insurance as this experience with nycm has taught me a big lesson about insurance….you pay for policy ..but the policy won’t pay you regardless of how long you have had it…..or the offer you less than the policy dictates that you have been paying the premium on…….read the fine print,keep and updated home appraisal,and a whole home inventory down to clothes,towels,dishes in your home…..
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Accident 100% other persons fault,car less than 3 months old,, never told about GAP,Told should be lucky they fixed what they did,and to much to list
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The customer representatives are extreemly helpful and curtiouse which is especially helpful during stressful situations.
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All I can say is I am defeated and disgusted.
We recently had the misfortune of having to file our first claim with NYCM as home owners.
You never really know what type of insurance company you are dealing with until you really need to know. Put bluntly you would be a fool to get insurance with NYCM.
Here is a basic review of the events of our claim so far….
In August our neighbor’s house burned to the ground due to a lighting strike. We sustained damage because of this & the fire. As of today, we still have not seen any compensation, more then 2 months later. We are currently paying for repairs on credit, because they can no longer wait.
The First claim offer:
Was a joke, it didn’t take a fraction of the costs into account. We had to go to home depot and list the SKU & cost for EVERY single item for them to correct their offer. Example: $450 dollars for a 10×10 wood shed, if they can find that for that price – they can deliver it.
The Second claim offer:
They “Mistakenly” placed depression values on the offer; despite the fact our policy does not have this clause.
The First Check:
They did send us a check that had the wrong names on it & were told they could not send a new check with the information until we sent back the old check – that was last week – oh and it was our problem it get the mortgage companies to sign the check before we could cash it. We are still waiting.
The Driveway:
The worse part, is the building fell on our new driveway and garage pad (less the 2 weeks old), crushing parts of. We were told they would only patch and replace parts of it. The driveway and garage pad were a single pieces, cutting it up would look just awful. We are not talking a large driveway; it is not even 35 feet long.
They sent contractors that “quoted” repairs that did not even meet or came close building code (they didn’t even look at the code).
Here is the most telling part:
1.tNYCM rep refuses to talk to the contractor that installed the driveway.
2.tNYCM rep refuses to speak with the building inspector for the village.
3.tAt this point our NYCM rep bluntly told us, if you don’t like the settlement offer you can take us to court.
We don’t have the means to go to court, but clearly they do.
At this point the only thing we can do at this point file a complaint with New York State, eat our losses for the replacement of the rest of the driveway & change insurance companies.
If you want a company you can work with – go to State Farm, I had no problem with the Motorcycles we had insured with them being fixed from the fire.
NYCM is not a company you can have any faith in when you really need them is our experience so far.
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They’re dropping us after we’ve filed no claims and paid in all these years!! The bastards!!!
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It happened during an ice storm, so perhaps the delayed response was understandable, but a week later the adjuster does not answer phone or email.
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I have had New York Central Mutual home owners, auto, and liability coverage for almost 20 years. I filed one homeowners claim and two auto claims. I was extremely satisfied with all aspects of the claims process. It’s been 5 years since I filed a claim. I was shocked to see the other comments. Perhaps their claims handling service has gotten worse in more recent years.
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Extremely unsatisfied
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The customer serive was very,very poor.Took 1 week for adjusters to come out to home. The adjusters that came to my home were very,very rude act as if we had commited a crime.Wanted me to wash clothes that had visible mold stains that had set in. I will tell EVERYONE I come in contact with to NEVER use this company.
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when came to switching to another insurance (what a much better deal – save me about three thousand dollars per year), they made me pay for the premium of my car that might be good for a year coverage. What a rip off. I am going to see the District Attorney and file a complaint against this company.
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This company pushes to carry $300,000 SUM insurance. BUT, when its needed for future medical expenses, forget it! Currently suing them and will see what happens.
Of course, they have plenty of doctors who will rubber stamp whatever the company wants them to state. This would include completely false statements. Its absolutely the last company I would ever have ANY insurance with again. Caveat Emptor!
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I have had NY Central for over 20 years and have been happy with them.
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worst company ever for a 2003 celica they are trying to make me pay 10,000k for insurance for the year thats not even what the car is worth
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New York Central Mutual canceled my homeowners insurance with no prior notice. I will tell everybody I know about this rude and unethical practice. I will never trust this company again, and will cancel all my policies with this company.
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Had a house fire over 7 years ago still waiting for the claim to be paid in full. Have a law suit against them.
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Upon the death of my son and two years of litigation it came down to my family providing a history of his life. At which point NY Central determined the dollar value of my son. ROT IN HELL NY Central
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They are SUPER overpriced and not worth the money at all Switched to another company and saved over 800 for the year and when it came to my accident of which I did not file a claim to get my car fixed minor damage but reported it they took the side of the person who HIT ME. Screw them.
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OMG … stay away. Thieves They will work to make sure not to pay no matter what. THIEVES
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This company is so terribly unethical. They cancelled my auto insurance with NO WARNING. I have a perfectly clean driving record. This is after I paid them in full for the year. THIEVES.
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Did all that the adjuster asked and the company still would not accept the local estimates for the damage. A month later and still living with broken taped up windows In January in the east coast. Very expensive rates for such little help. Leavins ASAP after my claim
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This company is the pits. I had 1 claim in 30 years and they acted like i did it on purpose. Their ‘weekend adjuster’ was rude and refused to allow me to board up two windows even though it was raining and would invite bats and anything else into the house. He was so obnoxious that I was forced to get my own adjuster just so I would have to talk to this crappy company again. Furthermore their latest extortion includes adding a 4 fee just for sending you a renewal bill of all things like they are doing YOU a favor. I am on a hunt for a new company.
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Do NOT use them A complete waste of 13 years of insurance premiums paid to NYCM by me – over 15k on various properties I have paid. I put in a claim recently for stolen items out of my car. I have to dig for a ton of paperwork to verify the purchases of these items which I do. I then have to meet a claims agent to do a taped interview. Which I do. Then I have to go get a notary to sign the transcript. 4 weeks in folks. Then I get a call that it is going for ‘additional investigation’ and the agent says he has to interview me both my roommates and my ex husband. WOW Really?? For a few thousand dollars? Yes they are rewarded to get claims dropped so the agent encouraged me to drop the claim because it obviously is a lot of time and effort. He said that many customers do this. REALLY? What is insurance for then? What a joke this company is. Shame on them. In my opinion that is way overboard and bad business for such a good long term customer. Premiums were high but I thought that meant I’d get good quick low-hassle service if ever needed. Nope. This is a insurance bad faith move to not pay claims keep asking for documents and statements and time commitments to the point that the claimants drop the claim. Really a SMALL claim after all these years and you want to keep investigating? Shame on you NYCM. On principle I’m dropping and cancelling and will not refer you. Bad business move by you. I will also report this to as many sites and social media platforms that I can because on principle you deserve to NOT get more customers to sham. NYCM was a waste of money.
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I find it funny that a website called "Freeadvice.com" allows posters to anonymously discredit companies. For advise on insurance companies I’d recommend researching the state insurance department complaint log or a credible survey service such as JD Powers. The claims here sound very awful and unreasonable but keep in mind all of the stories are one sided and if they were stating the whole truth the state insurance department that regulates the insurance company would step in to make the company handle the situation properly. As for New York Central Mutual I have had great experiences both with my insurance agent and the 1-800 number. When I had a claim with my car they were very reasonable and understanding to my situation when I needed a rental car for an extra day as I was out of town for business.
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Does not satisfy customers. I was reading all comments and it is horrible that you will not pay out to your customers. you collect all that money and where does it go. To the people sitting on the top doing nothing. Shame on you people. You are not a satisfying insurance company.
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I am not only an employee of NYCM but an insured. I can honestly say they give a damn. A strong damn in fact. We have regular meetings about how to make the customer experience through the claim process better fair and faster. This year we won the JD Powers award for customer service against big brand name insurance companies. I feel the biggest strength of NYCM is that when you call them you are calling someone right in central new york. That big snowstorm that caused your accident this morning? Yep we just drove through it too and we understand just how bad winters are here in central New York. Cellar flooded? Mine too As an employer NYCM pushes for continued education health and wellness and it shows. Happy employee’s make happy customers. For those of you thinking this is coming from a big wig it is not. I wash the dishes at NYCM and couldn’t be happier. my 0.02The Dish Washah
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This insurance company is the worse. They take forever with everything. It took them 1 whole month to reimburse me my money for canceling with them. All I hear from customer service " oh I’m sorry" NO enough with the I’m sorry Quick to charge the money but takes a whole month to reimburse. How could they have been given a recognition from JD for lack of customer satisfaction. Definitely do not recommend this crap of insurance…
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I’ve been with NYCM for gosh 20 years. After 32 years of a clean driving record they punished me for 1 "accident" they claim is chargeable It wasn’t – hit my own car with another of my own cars while backing out of my garage – no one was in the other car and this happened in my driveway very far away from any road. This was the only claim ever filed in 32years. Nice way to treat a loyal customer.
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We have a barn that was insured with depreciation coverage. The company with held the depreciation value and said we have 180 days to replace it and we have to provide receipts for replacing the building before they will give us the balance. This of course was 2 weeks after we reported the loss so now we have used up 15 of the days.
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We got customer NO service. Extremely slow processing of claim from recent tornado. Inept adjusters and agents.
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Been a NY Central Mutual customer for 3 decades. Last two years my premium has jumped. I have no losses in over 15 years No moving violations. Very safe driver. Three years ago I was paying 200 less to insure two automobiles. Now I pay over 900 for one auto. Recently was in accident that was 100% other driver fault. Was advised by NY Central Mutual by phone that my car was totaled. Car was towed 150 miles away so NY Central Mutual would not incur storage fees. After 9 days Adjuster said car was not totaled so towed 150 miles back to local body shop. After another week NY Central calls and says the car is now Totaled and they want to tow it again so they don’t have to pay storage fees. Over a month passed since accident and still have yet to hear from company on how much they will pay to settle loss. Stay away very far away
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I called to report my claim because of a storm. No one returned the call so I called again and they said they were busy and sent my claim to another agency to process. I called that agency who told me they were also busy so they referred it to another agency too. It has now been 5 weeks and they still haven’t settled the claim. Don’t even consider NYCM
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Terrible company do not do business with them. I paid them for home owners insurance for over 8 years and paid thousands of dollars and had to file a minor claim for under 1000. They dropped me.
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Been insured with this horrid company for decades only I didn’t know how horrid they were till I filed a claim. Even if they threw in my deductable and erased depreciation their ‘estimate’ to do the job was BS. There was no Way anybody but a fly by night to effect the repairs on their estimate. I am dumping them as we speak.
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Excellent company
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I have always had great experiences with this company…always friendly and they were reasonable with my claim last year.
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I have been a customer for Home, Automobile and Umbrella for over 20 years. This company has provided stability with price and exceeded our expectations with service. We are also fortunate to have an excellent Independent Agent who provides an additional layer of protection and service This company is in upstate NY, only writes in NY, and all the employees live and work in NY – I am proud to be a policyholder of a local Insurance Company.
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I had a house claim resulting from damage from a burst pipe. NYCM sent five adjusters over three and a half months to inspect the damage to the basement. Photographs were taken. As a small example of the settlement, they allocated $900 to replace the heating plant actual cost $4800 $125 to replace a garage door, with actual cost $1250. These had replacement value coverage. In addition, they provided only twelve per cent reimbursement for furnishings. The only independent adjuster advised that NYCM is a tight fisted family owned insurer that tries to wear a claimant down and that a larger and major insurer would process claims more quickly, not viewing a claim as a personal affront to its pocket. This was one claim made in over 20 years. This company does not play fairly.
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Rude not helpful at all. Did not want to pay and threatening not to pay for repairs after house fire.
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I will probably have to hire an independent adjuster that is not in the company’s pocket and acquire the assistance of the New york State department of Insurance.
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Delay, deny cancel after 3 mos of coverage and cancel contract and then try to bury evidence.
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I would say that they are the used car salesman of the insurance world. Was a customer for over a decade, never even one parking ticket. Filed for an accident that was determined to be not my fault very minor damage besides and a glass claim in the span of several years and was informed that they were not renewing my policy because of ” too many claims”. Customer service is patronizing, dismissive, and rude. Their pricing is no better than any other company. Do yourself a favor and don’t do business with these people.
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If you want a outstanding insurance company – this is it. If you want one that spends 1 billion a year on ‘funny’ advertising – then go somewhere else
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They lie and deny claims. DO NOT USE.
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I have not had a claim, so I can’t comment on that aspect of this company. However, good customer service for adding a vehicle or discount for homeowners policy. Also has useful policy and billing info on website and iPhone app.
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My rates went up 300 since filing a 5000 or so dollar claim a year or so ago. It was storm damage caused by a neighbor’s tree. Since we both had the same company, NYCM, they decided to NAIL me for the costs of this one. It was the NEIGHBOR’s tree, not mine that fell on my barn. Yet I suffer the increase and I am the one making the claim I wasn’t given a choice on that issue. NYCM decided that I am the one that files the claim, not the neighbor.
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DO NOT USE. Go somewhere else. My policy has shot up in the past couple years. I have a truck that is 14 years old, over 200k miles on it, and I only add around 4000 miles to it each year, due to living only a couple miles from work. When asked to lower my policy with these facts in hand, they offered to drop it from 110 to 90. A WHOPPING 20 HOW GENEROUS OF THEM I immediately shopped around for a new company. The new companies 6 month premium costs only 60 dollars more than 1 monthly payment with NYCM.
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Inquiries as to what was covered under my existing policy were counted as claims. Again, they are simple inquiries as to a lost item being coveted. All I wanted was a yes or no. The company counted this as a. CLAIM Several years later, we had a garage fire, the first real claim in 23 years. The company paid, but dropped us citing excessive claims Don’t call to ask for info, NYCM construes this as a claim
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I had these bandits 16 years ago. Decided to try them again for auto coverage because I like to support local business. My quoted price doubled when the bill was sent because a member of the same house hit a deer last year with his own vehicle. Mind you, they dont use my car and have their own vehicle, and their own insurance with State Farm. I have cancelled my new policy and switched providers. I will never ever again deal with this company again. I’m through.
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My car sustained hail damage I filed a claim, only to learn that because my Title is ‘branded’ or salvage, my car is worth only 50% of its resale value. But I wasn’t paying a premium based on that. Totally unacceptable
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Liars and cheats. Stay far away from these pigs.
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Company is very eager to cancel your policy. Cost me 240 with NYS due to policy being canceled. Never will do business with this company again
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Very poor company. I am going to sue they to receive what is rightly mine. Very bogus in its approach.
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Started homeowner claim 35 – it’s now 320 and I’m being told I need to wait UNTIL WED. to see if my faxemail has been received sent Monday. My rep won’t speak to me, I’ve been passed to 3 other reps, and I’m very frustrated. With the amount of work I’VE HAD TO DO, this should be resolved by now.
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Dont waste your time with NYCM Insurance Company. I just bought my new auto policy with them and they are already cancelling me. I called to find out why and its due to a previous violation 2 years ago…cancelling me over a ZERO POINT VIOLATION Why underwrite the policy to begin with They also refuse to insure my new house due to a flat roof, even though they insured my last house in NY with a flat roof for over 10 years. So now Im already looking for a new insurance company. Dont waste your time with NYCM. They apparently just look for any and every reason not to insure you, even if it doesnt make sense. Not to mention extremely rude customer service reps. Save yourself the hassle and go elsewhere
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Great company and easy to work with.
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