State Farm® Insurance Agent Steve Sparkman

"Thank you for your kind words, Madeline! We are thrilled to hear that you had a positive experience with our team. Your recommendation means a lot to us!"

"Linda Jones, I would like to respond by saying that I completely understand that the premium increases stink. Myself and everyone are having to pay more than we were in 2023. While we reduced premiums for all customers in 2020 through 2022, we are now having to increase due to the extreme increase in car values. It now costs a lot more to replace vehicles when they are totaled than before. I hope we see the pricing of vehicle parts and vehicle costs go down moving forward to give us the relief to lower rates. As far as the truck that has been in the shop, we want to pay the claim and cut the check when the work is done. I understand your husband has had a number of issues with the body shop he originally chose and that is a body shop issue. We are ready to pay any shop when they do the work. After speaking with your husband and understanding that he has taken the truck to another shop hopefully the work will finally get done. Keep in mind we don’t take part in repairing a vehicle. When you take a vehicle to a body shop to get work done that is between you and the shop. Sadly we have no control over that shops employees, processes, or ability to get the work done. However, once the work is done and billed we will then pay. I hope this clears up your perception of our role in the repair process. I did have the pleasure of speaking with your husband today and it sounds like the new body shop is going to be better. We do appreciate your husband's service and your business."

"Shane, thank you for your 5-star review and recognition of Carrie and Michelle! We're so glad to hear they were able to assist you with your policy and save you some money. Your kind words are much appreciated."

"My team will be happy to review any increases with you to make sure you are taking advantage of all available discounts. While I cannot determine exactly who you are to reach out, it could benefit you, if you would reach out and make contact with the office. Here is an overview of what has been happening within the industry and rate increases. During the pandemic, State Farm, being a mutual company, owned by the policy holders, reduced rates 10-30% depending on location and the type of vehicle. The reason for such a reduction was that overall traffic and vehicle usage was way down and there was profit that needed to be distributed due to the lack of claims. State Farm found that the most cost effective way to distribute those funds was to reduce rates. During this time there was also a series of events that has had a massive impact on today’s rates. Those events were a chip shortage, factory shut downs due to Covid, stalled parts production and consumers having additional cash. The additional cash increased demand for vehicles and automotive prices drastically increased over 2021 and 2022. There was no formula for any insurance company to handle the situation of all the vehicles getting back on the road and now with vehicles that actually appreciated in value. We also had a Legislative change in Virginia, where the State legislature voted to make insurance companies increase payout and coverage for people who are injured by underinsured drivers, which created more pressure for additional increases in rates. However some customers have elected to opt out. The current increases in premium initially gets us back to the pre-pandemic rates and some additional rate to handle the drastic increases in automobiles pricing, increased parts pricing, increased labor pricing and the state legislation change. While most everyone got back on the road in 2022, we were able to hold off increases until this year. Please feel free to give us a call to review what we can do to help find a possible solution or discounts."

"Thank you for the fantastic feedback! We're thrilled to hear you were happy with the auto and home insurance rates we provided. We truly appreciate your kind words recognizing our team."

"Richard, thank you for the wonderful 5 star review recognizing Sam! We truly appreciate you taking the time to share your experience. "

"Thank you for the 5 star review recognizing our team members, Bess! We truly appreciate the compliment. "