Ted Heaton III – State Farm Insurance Agent

What a great office! I just relocated to Austin and wanted to take care of switching over my car insurance quickly as I was going to start work soon. I had seen that this particular State Farm office had good reviews.
When I went to the office, I had not set up an appointment. The receptionist was very welcoming and even gave me a great goodie bag including a sun shield for my car, shopping bags (as Austin is on a bag ban), cups, letter opener, post its, and so on.
I was directed to an agent names Rick and he was great! He too was very warm and friendly and made the whole process quick and painless.
I highly recommend choosing this State Farm Agent and office, esp if you’ve just moved to Austin and already have State Farm.

We are extremely happy with this agent/​office. They are cheerful, respectful, knowledgable, and they get the job done.

Yeah, I’m writing a review for an insurance agent. I know, right! But if anyone deserves 20 stars, it’s this office. I will admit that I’ve shied away from big companies over the years and started to use local smaller ones. But Ted’s office is one that I always forget the «State Farm» part of it. I honestly feel like they know me there. If I call (or email, I work best by email and they do everything they can to accommodate me), they know who I am and what I have with them. I never ever EVER feel like «just a number» in their office.
The proof is in the fact that I have been with Ted since 1998 when we moved to Austin. Nearly 15 years. I’ve never really thought of changing! His office was smaller back then, but as they’ve grown, I haven’t noticed any difference in service. They just FIX it and deal with it.
Unfortunately, I’ve used them a few times, hail damage on vehicles and our roof. A roof leak. They show up. They give you a check. When there’s a bigger difference, they send you another check. End of story. Period. No fighting. No arguing. They just fix it.
That, my friends, is what an insurance company SHOULD be.
Currently, I have my homeowners, 2 vehicles, personal property (for my kid’s clarinet that we all know he’ll lose eventually LOL), business liability and professional liability plus a retirement plan with this office. I honestly haven’t even considered for a single second that I might should change. I love them too much.
Are they the cheapest in town? Probably not. I could probably save a few bucks by going elsewhere, honestly. BUT they are competitively priced and frankly, I’m willing to pay a little more for people that show up, do their jobs and are just plain good caring folks — especially when it comes to something as important as insurance.
Highly recommended to anyone in the Austin area that needs insurance of any type. You name it, they can insure it. Plus they make insurance painless.

I have been with Ted since I moved in here in 1995. I was the office mgr for a SF agent in my «previous life», so I know how offices are supposed to operate.
When my husband and I married in 1996 we moved his policies over. We’ve had home/​rental property/​auto/​health etc. with them all these years. We’ve had exemplary service from his team all these years. We’ve only had a couple of claims, and they were great to work with. We nearly had a claim on a slab leak but State Farm encouraged the builder to stand by the product (it was the builder’s fault but they’d quit building because of the economy) and the builder got it taken care of. It saved policyholder money and our deductible. I was a REALTOR for several years, and included Ted on the short list of recommendations to my clients when they needed someone. Those who went to him were very happy with the service and products. I have no intention of changing from them for any reason any time soon. I don’t see Ted very often – he’s a busy guy and always on the run, but his staff are always available when we need them and they are very thorough, professional, knowledgeable and pleasant.

I’ve been with Ted for 12 years now. Was refereed by my real estate agent all those years ago. I had a nice experience with them recently and just refereed a friend there so I thought I would take a moment to write a nice review. In the 12 years i’ve been there i’ve made numerous requests and always been impressed with the speed and professionalism of the people in the office. Last time I was pulled over I needed an insurance card and had one emailed to me to show the cop… too cool!

Ted Heaton has a reputation for being one of the best agents, and I’ve had him for my homeowners and auto insurance for over five years.
Around 2008, I had a shower pan leak that caused the floor in the bathroom to give, and State Farm replaced my bathroom, coordinated things between me and the contractors (VenCo Construction), and I ended up with a very nice bathroom with very little headache.
However, in 2010, I had a roof leak which caused ceiling damage, and I called VenCo again for a quote. The owner Frank showed up, gave me a quote, and I requested repair about a week later. From there it went downhill. At the time I had to take a business trip to India, so phone contact wasn’t possible. I gave them my girlfriend’s phone number and gave them permission to coordinate with her. The short version is that there were some mixups on State Farm’s end, and I contacted Ted directly to help push things through. State Farm’s check came, but the contractor never showed up. I e-​mailed him, called him, and he never got back to me to schedule a repair.
I spoke with the Texas Department of Insurance to ask who was responsible since State Farm already paid for the claim, and TDI told me that it was still State Farm’s responsibility to see this repair through. So I e-​mailed Ted for one final plea to help me out and to help me figure out what was going on. I asked if there was anything I could have done differently, and how he could help fix this. The next day I got a call from Frank at VenCo asking to schedule repairs. I gave him an open schedule and again he never replied, and neither did Ted. From there, I performed a home mold test with a kit, got positive results, searched my e-​mail and Google Voice records from the entire ordeal, and filed a TDI complaint.
The early mixup was frustrating but forgivable. Lots of things can happen. And based on past history, I would have given a higher score than two stars. But in the end, Ted never replied to me, he never followed up with me, and as a result I had to go to a third party which cost me a lot of time. I lost faith in Ted’s ability to get the job done for me. State Farm issued me more money for additional repairs and never even tried to dispute my complaint.
P. S. Kids, insurance companies are legally required to respond to TDI complaints. Make sure you have made every effort possible to resolve this, and make sure you have excellent documentation.
Here is the link to my review of VenCo, which has a copy of my TDI report at the end:

Ted Heaton has been our insurance agent for over 20 years. Jammie Nork is our go-​to person there she is FANTASTIC. We have all of our homes and autos with them. I wouldn’t go any where else. Their customer service is ‘World Class Benchmark’ performance. I have never had any issues getting claims resolved. They always keep us updated on what is new and beneficial to us. Raising 4 teenage boys and keeping autos insured was a bit tricky at times but thanks to Ted and his staff we made it through. Thanks.
PT in Leander

I’ll say this. you don’t have to deal with a distant agent instead you are dealing with local people and a local insurance company. it makes a big difference. So far these guys are blow customer service out of the water for a insurance company that’s pretty damn good.
I go with these guys for rental insurance only. the cheapest and best rates of any company I found. They offer discounts on multiple things under one roof being insured. ie: car plus rental/​homeowners
Also do life insurance and 401K.
The only exception to the rule is State Farm doesn’t have good rates on Motorcycles. and they don’t do Trip Insurance.

We’ve had insurance with Ted Heaton in Austin off and on for about 15 years, and they have been great. The people who work there are always polite and follow through very well, and their prices have been quite competitive.