Farmers Insurance Fined $1 Million
webmaster
January 24, 2006
The majority of the complaints and violations cited in the December
settlement involve claims handling delays; failure to commence
investigation of a claim within 15 days; failure to properly notify
policyholders of the need for additional investigation time; failure to pay
a claim within 30 days after liability was accepted; and failure to respond
to the Department within 21 days of receipt of communication from the
Department. January 24, 2006
http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/west/2006/01/24/64475.htm
Boycott Farmers Insurance! Farmers Insurance Sucks!
For more complaints and information see web site below
===========================================
http://www.FarmersInsuranceGroupSucks.com/
===========================================
John A. Weeks III
webmaster <me@BoycottFarmersInsurance> wrote:
> Farmers Insurance Fined $1 Million
> January 24, 2006
>
> The majority of the complaints and violations cited in the December
> settlement involve claims handling delays; failure to commence
> investigation of a claim within 15 days; failure to properly notify
> policyholders of the need for additional investigation time; failure to pay
> a claim within 30 days after liability was accepted; and failure to respond
> to the Department within 21 days of receipt of communication from the
> Department. January 24, 2006
> http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/west/2006/01/24/64475.htm
Without having some context, this means very little. The
link goes to an article that says that Farmers mishandled
350 claims in California. Farmers probably handles tens
of thousands of claims per year. This is like 0.007%,
hardly enough to even measure. Unless you can show that
this is far worse than other insurance companies, then we
have to conclude based on the numbers that Farmers is
doing a pretty good job.
> Boycott Farmers Insurance! Farmers Insurance Sucks!
> For more complaints and information see web site below
Boycott the boycotters. Buy only stuff that other people
are boycotting over stupid reasons.
-john-
--
======================================================================
John A. Weeks III 952-432-2708 jo...@johnweeks.com
Newave Communications http://www.johnweeks.com
======================================================================
Pam Caneva
A few months ago, we had a major storm that ran through the northern
sububrbs. Our neighborhood looked like a war zone. Trees down
everywhere, no power for 8 days. My neighbor had a hundred year oak go
down on his house. He is a contractor - checked out the damage - the
joists in the roof were cracked, there was a 20 foot by 15 foot hole in
his roof and water was running into the house. There were also trees
down accross the power lines going to his house.
He called Farmers and they said they would send someone out to look at
the damage. What about a hotel room since the house was dangerous with
the joists cracked? Farmer's said no. After repeated calls since no
one had come out, two weeks later farmers said to go ahead and pay to
have the tree removed - just make sure to take pictures. No - don't
have the trees removed from the power lines. Put a tarp on the roof.
After a month, Farmers had still not been out to assess the damage.
Today, a tarp is till over the roof. I haven't talked to my neighbor,
but my guess is that he is having a hard time getting them to pay for
the damage.
About 10 years ago, a major hail storm hit our neighborhood - everyone
in Fridley got a new roof. My next door neighbor (another farmers
customer) had to fight to get her roof paid for. My insurance company
came and wrote me a check within 5 days of the storm. Farmers claimed
her roof was in bad shape to begin with so they wouldn't replace it.
Mine was a lot worse - I was going to get it replaced the following year.
When the Fridley officials came out to look at the damage this last
time, they were asking everyone who their insurance was through. When
my neighbor told them Farmers, the official said - "oh, no". They
obviously have a reputation.
webmaster
Pam, T
Thanks for sharing your story!
This doesn't surprise me, Farmers Insurance are a bunch of snakes. The are
the worst or one of the worst insurance companies out there. See my web
site for complaints, allegations and articles that will blow mind.
=====================================
http://www.farmersinsurancegroupsucks.com/
=====================================
Jim Land
news:Xns9757935641A38me...@216.196.97.136:
>
> This doesn't surprise me, Farmers Insurance are a bunch of snakes.
> The are the worst or one of the worst insurance companies out there.
> See my web site for complaints, allegations and articles that will
> blow mind.
>
> =====================================
>
> http://www.farmersinsurancegroupsucks.com/
>
> =====================================
Out of curiosity, I looked up the Sept '04 issue of Consumer Reports to
see where Farmers Insurance ranks in their ratings of Homeowners
Insurance.
Dead last, with a score of 66. The next higher company had 74. The top
of the list had 95. Farmers scored in the lowest category in both
"Problems with claims" and "Delayed payments."
The fine print: Ratings were based on 14,243 Consumer Reports subscribers
who filed claims. Reader score gauges readers' overall satisfaction with
their company's claims handling.
Jack B
Jim Land <RrrrFfffTttt(NO)@(SPAM)hotmail.com> wrote:
Last time I contacted my Farmers agent was about a car crash. A person
ran a red light and I hit her broadside. Three witnesses stopped and
gave me their business cards and said they would testify on my behalf.
I called the agent who said something like "you have the other party's
insurance info?" yes, and I have witnesses too "well, then call that
insurance company and see if they'll pay; if not, we'll just make it an
at-fault and you'll pay your full deductible." Of course, after the
first talk with the other car's company, they did not respond to
numerous follow-up calls.
So I'm shopping around.
--
Jack
Fred
> Last time I contacted my Farmers agent was about a car crash. A person
> ran a red light and I hit her broadside. Three witnesses stopped and
> gave me their business cards and said they would testify on my behalf.
>
> I called the agent who said something like "you have the other party's
> insurance info?" yes, and I have witnesses too "well, then call that
> insurance company and see if they'll pay; if not, we'll just make it an
> at-fault and you'll pay your full deductible." Of course, after the
> first talk with the other car's company, they did not respond to
> numerous follow-up calls.
>
> So I'm shopping around.
>
I had Farmers a couple of decades ago. Got hit by a plumbing truck, and
they tried to raise my rates because they said I was "accident prone." I
had new coverage the next day. When I told the new agent about what
Farmers had said, he laughed. Said he'd heard that one before.
How that company stays in business I will never know.
Bill Towne
her alleyway and I hit her right on the driver's side door.
It was my first accident, and I knew enough to get the info about the
other driver, but wasn't really sure of what I should expect from the
insurance company. So I give them (Farmer's) a call, tell them what
happened, and ask them if a rental car is covered; they say it isn't.
(I don't pay for that coverage; having never had "used" my insurance I
really wasn't sure if it was part of my policy).
Anyhow, when State Farm (the insurance company of the person I hit)
called, they asked me if I had paid for a rental car because they
would reimburse me. I had made my family's life a minor mess because
my car was out of service for over a week with two daycares and two
jobs...I took the bus, but my wife had to drive all over dropping and
picking up kids.
The part that made me a bit upset (and enough to change my insurance)
was that my Farmer's agent never mentioned to me that the other
company would (even maybe) pay for a rental because it was obviously
the other person's fault. I know that my agent probably wouldn't have
had known for sure, but you would think that if you have a client that
has never needed anything in the ten years that you've been collecting
money from him, that he might not exactly be a pro. I thought that was
what I was paying him for, to do this kind of work.
Anyhow, with another company now, and hopefully I'll never need to
talk to them.
~Bill
=================================
Bill Towne
Minneapolis, Minnesota
www.billtowne.com
=================================
Howard Beale
"Bill Towne" <bill....@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:q5pit1pfopkmje9mj...@4ax.com...
> The part that made me a bit upset (and enough to change my insurance)
> was that my Farmer's agent never mentioned to me that the other
> company would (even maybe) pay for a rental because it was obviously
> the other person's fault. I know that my agent probably wouldn't have
> had known for sure, but you would think that if you have a client that
> has never needed anything in the ten years that you've been collecting
> money from him, that he might not exactly be a pro. I thought that was
> what I was paying him for, to do this kind of work.
I relied on a motorcycle as my sole means of transport for many years. I
parked in a ramp downtown that leased out the dead space by the booth as
bike parking. Someone unfamiliar with the ramp came down to exit and drove
past the pay booth to the permit-only exit. She ended up backing up and ran
into my parked bike, knocking it over.
I managed to get her insurance company to rent me a car for 3 weeks because
she smashed the fairing and mirror, making it unsafe to ride and it was my
sole source of transportation.
Her claims adjuster rejected the repair recommendations of my chosen shop;
my insurance, State Farm, accepted them, so I had them process the claim.
They won in subrugation, so I also got my deposit back.
I've had generally good luck with State Farm claims.
Bill Haverberg
<RrrrFfffTttt(NO)@(SPAM)hotmail.com> wrote:
>Out of curiosity, I looked up the Sept '04 issue of Consumer Reports to
>see where Farmers Insurance ranks in their ratings of Homeowners
>Insurance.
>
>Dead last, with a score of 66. The next higher company had 74. The top
>of the list had 95. Farmers scored in the lowest category in both
>"Problems with claims" and "Delayed payments."
>
Any chance you could post the top three companies? I have Farmers and
have been universally unimpressed with them; definately looking to
change. Only reason I went with them in the first place was because
they were a block from home.
This time the duration is going to last longer than the war
(Paul Goodman, "The Empire City")
SamIAm
"Bill Haverberg" <have...@visi.com> wrote in message
news:lfuit1hge6pnd3ds9...@4ax.com...
For what its worth
I've been with American Family for almost 27 years, had 3-4 accidents and
one house damage claim during that time.
I have never had any problems with them. We find their rates to be pretty
competitive as well, especially for insuring the kids when they started
driving.
the notorious t-e-d
Ditto here. As of a matter of fact, I signed up with SF in '88 because
of the driver that hit me had State Farm. It literally took one call to
SF and my car was all fixed up and I was driving again. Service like
that sold me on SF big time. I've had 2 other claims since then with SF
and both were ZERO hassle.
Ted Novak
TRA#5512
IEAS#75
John A. Weeks III
Pam Caneva <pca...@visi.com> wrote:
> He called Farmers and they said they would send someone out to look at
> the damage. What about a hotel room since the house was dangerous with
> the joists cracked? Farmer's said no. After repeated calls since no
> one had come out, two weeks later farmers said to go ahead and pay to
> have the tree removed - just make sure to take pictures. No - don't
> have the trees removed from the power lines. Put a tarp on the roof.
> After a month, Farmers had still not been out to assess the damage.
> Today, a tarp is till over the roof. I haven't talked to my neighbor,
> but my guess is that he is having a hard time getting them to pay for
> the damage.
If you drive around Florida, there are still many, many houses
with tarps on the roof from the Hurricanes this past two years.
A talk show host that I listen to on XM lives near Tampa, and he
said that he waited well over a year to get an adjuster to look
at this home, which was a multi-million dollar house on the gulf
coast.
> About 10 years ago, a major hail storm hit our neighborhood - everyone
> in Fridley got a new roof. My next door neighbor (another farmers
> customer) had to fight to get her roof paid for. My insurance company
> came and wrote me a check within 5 days of the storm. Farmers claimed
> her roof was in bad shape to begin with so they wouldn't replace it.
> Mine was a lot worse - I was going to get it replaced the following year.
So you are admitting to insurance fraud in public? If your roof
was going to be replaced the next year, it had the value of only
1/30 of a new roof. The insurance company is only obligated to
make you whole, so you got 29/30 of a roof that you are not entitled
to. That is the reason that insurance is so costly--so many people
rip off the insurance companies.
John A. Weeks III
"SamIAm" <sm...@aol.com> wrote:
> For what its worth
> I've been with American Family for almost 27 years, had 3-4 accidents and
> one house damage claim during that time.
> I have never had any problems with them. We find their rates to be pretty
> competitive as well, especially for insuring the kids when they started
> driving.
I got one ticket with American Family, the first ticket I ever
had of any sort, and American Family cancelled me out. I had
a perfect driving record up to that point.
I went with Allstate after that. I paid the first time, then
renewed 4 times. On the 4th renewal, the agent skipped town,
cashed my check, and never sent it in to Allstate. Allstate
never sent me notice that I had lapsed or been cancelled. I
didn't find out until I was involved in a fender bender a
few months later, and the State Patrol found that my insurance
was not valid. The only thing that saved my hide was the
cancelled check and my copies of the paperwork.
Farmers is not the only rotten egg out there.
John A. Weeks III
Bill Towne <bill....@gmail.com> wrote:
> Anyhow, when State Farm (the insurance company of the person I hit)
> called, they asked me if I had paid for a rental car because they
> would reimburse me. I had made my family's life a minor mess because
> my car was out of service for over a week with two daycares and two
> jobs...I took the bus, but my wife had to drive all over dropping and
> picking up kids.
If you didn't have rental coverage, then you were not entitled to
get a paid for rental car. It might be that the other company would
have paid for it, but it is just as likely that they would have kicked
your claim back and had you take the rental car off.
I was hit head on by a drunk driver that was going the wrong way
on I-35W at Lake Street about a dozen years ago. It was very
messy. My beloved Ranger was totalled. I ordered a new one, and
it took 6 weeks to arrive. The other party was broke, so they got
a free attorney from Hennepin Co to challenge my damage claim. The
court ruled that state law says that I am only entitled to 4 days
of rental car coverage, so they rejected that part of my claim.
The judge said that it was my option to order a replacement vehicle
since other cars were available locally. My argument that a like
vehicle was not available without ordering did not prevail.
Jim Land
@4ax.com:
> On Thu, 26 Jan 2006 22:57:02 -0000, Jim Land
> <RrrrFfffTttt(NO)@(SPAM)hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>>Out of curiosity, I looked up the Sept '04 issue of Consumer Reports to
>>see where Farmers Insurance ranks in their ratings of Homeowners
>>Insurance.
>>
>>Dead last, with a score of 66. The next higher company had 74. The top
>>of the list had 95. Farmers scored in the lowest category in both
>>"Problems with claims" and "Delayed payments."
>>
> Any chance you could post the top three companies? I have Farmers and
> have been universally unimpressed with them; definately looking to
> change. Only reason I went with them in the first place was because
> they were a block from home.
*Homeowners* Insurance Ratings -- Consumer Reports 9/04
Points Problems with Delayed
Claim Payment
Amica Mutual Insurance 95 ++ +
Auto-Owners Insurance 90 + +
Cincinnati Insurance 89 + o
Chubb Indemnity 89 + o
USAA (military only) 88 o o
Hartford Ins. Midwest 85 + o
Nationwide Mutual Fire 85 + o
State Farm 83 o o
(Ten more companies in the bottom half of the list are omitted)
Reader score gauges readers' overall satisfaction with their company's claims
handling. More points = more satisfied. ++ = much better, + = better, o =
average.
Ratings were based on 14,243 Consumer Reports subscribers who filed claims on their
Homeowners insurance.
(I've omitted Erie Insurance Exchange and California State Automobile Association,
which don't write insurance policies in Minn.---they scored just above State Farm.)
Bill Towne
post. But it would have been nice if my agent brought up that I might
get it from the other company, and might even ask them himself. Like I
said, I know that he couldn't guarantee that I would get reimbursed,
as well.
I guess why I switched companies isn't so much Farmer's, but my agent
seemed to not work too hard for me even though my wife and I had given
about $15000 in auto claims over the last decade and only had this
once ever called him for some help. Telling me to call him if I needed
anything after filling out the claim is fine, but he could have given
me some ideas or options to help me out a bit when he knows that this
is the first time I've actually needed something from the insurance
company.
When I think of an insurance agent, I expect him to be like my
realtor. Realtors know that we buyers don't know much about how to buy
or sell a house, and they know that we don't do it enough to figure it
out through trial and error. So they walk you through every step of
the way. I don't need my hand held continuously, but the auto
insurance agent didn't help at all.
Actually, I was called a couple more times by the agent of the girl I
hit than by my own.
~Bill
On Thu, 26 Jan 2006 21:21:52 -0600, "John A. Weeks III"
<jo...@johnweeks.com> wrote:
>If you didn't have rental coverage, then you were not entitled to
>get a paid for rental car. It might be that the other company would
>have paid for it, but it is just as likely that they would have kicked
>your claim back and had you take the rental car off.
Pam Caneva
I didn't ask them to replace it, they just did. The neighbor down the
street had just put a roof on a few weeks before. he needed a roof,
too. Everyone in Fridley got a new roof from that storm.
SamIAm
"John A. Weeks III" <jo...@johnweeks.com> wrote in message
news:john-D15AB5.2...@sn-ip.vsrv-sjc.supernews.net...
> In article <11tj0iq...@corp.supernews.com>,
> "SamIAm" <sm...@aol.com> wrote:
>
>> For what its worth
>> I've been with American Family for almost 27 years, had 3-4 accidents and
>> one house damage claim during that time.
>> I have never had any problems with them. We find their rates to be pretty
>> competitive as well, especially for insuring the kids when they started
>> driving.
>
> I got one ticket with American Family, the first ticket I ever
> had of any sort, and American Family cancelled me out. I had
> a perfect driving record up to that point.
>
I cant imagine that, must be a lot more to the story. I've had American
Family for 27 years, I have family members who have had them for 20+years. I
have had tickets all along, at least 1 every 2-3 years, and my spouse has
had a lifetime of 30 or more (drives a lot) with a ticket every 2 years or
so. Both of us have had accidents, they did charge an accident surcharge for
2 years on one that was my fault, a single car accident where my driveway
was icy and I went in the ditch.
We have had 2 teenagers (male and female) on our insurance, both have gotten
tickets.
Everyone I know of that has had American Family has been very happy with
them.
Must be something personal. Doesnt your beloved Walmart offer insurance?
Being such an upstanding company I'm sure they would never screw you over.
John A. Weeks III
Bill Towne <bill....@gmail.com> wrote:
> When I think of an insurance agent, I expect him to be like my
> realtor. Realtors know that we buyers don't know much about how to buy
> or sell a house, and they know that we don't do it enough to figure it
> out through trial and error. So they walk you through every step of
> the way. I don't need my hand held continuously, but the auto
> insurance agent didn't help at all.
I think that is the difference between someone who wants to
be a full service agent, and someone who is just a salesperson.
My current agent (at State Farm) has been in the business for
over 30 years, and really know his stuff and how to work State
Farm's system to get results. He has my business as long as
he stays in business.
I once had Allstate. It was very, very convenient in that
they had kiosks in the Sears stores at every mall in the US,
and you could do business with them on Saturday in most places.
But the people running the kiosks were little more than
recycled shoe salespeople who had no clue about how insurance
worked. I ended up on the short end of that deal.
WDS
Pam Caneva wrote:
> I didn't ask them to replace it, they just did. The neighbor down the
> street had just put a roof on a few weeks before. he needed a roof,
> too. Everyone in Fridley got a new roof from that storm.
I don't know your specific circumstances but this is a source of real
scams. A storm comes through and the scam artists go through the
neighborhood convincing everyone that they need new roofs.
For instance:
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2005/il_hail_storm.html
Pam Caneva
The storm in question had golfball plus size hail. Every window on the
west side of my house needed to be replaced. The screens were shredded
and the windows had holes in them. The adjuster came out, assessed the
damage and wrote me a check. He is the one that determined what needed
replacing. This was my first claim ever and I didn't even know what to
ask for. The insurance company was awesome. It used to be CNA, and
now they are Encompass. I would highly recommend them. I have had
other claims with them and have had the same great experience every time.
Howard Beale
"WDS" <Bi...@seurer.net> wrote in message
news:1138372610.1...@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
We had real bad hail in our neighborhood two years ago. It was so bad that
the copper post caps on our deck all had major divots in them. Our neighbor
got his roof replaced (which was actually less than 5 years old) so we
called our State Farm agent and the appraiser said "no damage."
I guess I'm missing how a neighbor with a newer roof needs his replaced, our
metal post caps are beat to hell, but we don't need one. I'm not a roofing
expert, but that just seems hard to explain to me.
WDS
Howard Beale wrote:
> We had real bad hail in our neighborhood two years ago. It was so bad that
> the copper post caps on our deck all had major divots in them. Our neighbor
> got his roof replaced (which was actually less than 5 years old) so we
> called our State Farm agent and the appraiser said "no damage."
>
> I guess I'm missing how a neighbor with a newer roof needs his replaced, our
> metal post caps are beat to hell, but we don't need one. I'm not a roofing
> expert, but that just seems hard to explain to me.
My car and my wife's car were both in the same parking lot during a
hailstorm. Her car had almost $5000 damage on it (it looked like
someone took a ballpeen hammer to it) but mine was fine.
What was wrong with your roof anyway? Your neighbor's roof might have
been fine, too. Only an independent inspector (no financial outcome in
whether the roof was replaced or not) who looked at both your roof and
your neighbors would know for sure.
WDS
Pam Caneva wrote:
> The storm in question had golfball plus size hail. Every window on the
> west side of my house needed to be replaced. The screens were shredded
> and the windows had holes in them.
Again, I don't know your personal circumstances but the state of your
windows and screens means nothing about your roof.
Pam Caneva
there were chunks of shingles laying in the yard, gutters, etc Some
were completely missing. Same with the whole neighborhood.
Howard Beale
>
> Howard Beale wrote:
>> We had real bad hail in our neighborhood two years ago. It was so bad
>> that
>> the copper post caps on our deck all had major divots in them. Our
>> neighbor
>> got his roof replaced (which was actually less than 5 years old) so we
>> called our State Farm agent and the appraiser said "no damage."
>>
>> I guess I'm missing how a neighbor with a newer roof needs his replaced,
>> our
>> metal post caps are beat to hell, but we don't need one. I'm not a
>> roofing
>> expert, but that just seems hard to explain to me.
>
> My car and my wife's car were both in the same parking lot during a
> hailstorm. Her car had almost $5000 damage on it (it looked like
> someone took a ballpeen hammer to it) but mine was fine.
I could accept that if it was just a question of my roof vs. the one across
the street and up the block. But since the metal post caps on my deck were
all really dinged, I'm guessing that the hail intensity was as severe at my
house as it was at the neighbors, and his was approved by his insurance
adjuster.
> What was wrong with your roof anyway?
How the hell would I know? From my own narrow perspective, the goal of the
roof is to keep the insides of the house dry and mine does that, still. I
don't even understand how hail hurts roofs (it makes the little rocks fall
off the shingles?), but it seems like whenever there's a hail storm a lot of
guys get new roofs.
> Your neighbor's roof might have
> been fine, too. Only an independent inspector (no financial outcome in
> whether the roof was replaced or not) who looked at both your roof and
> your neighbors would know for sure.
Which kind of means finding an independent appraiser and fighting the
insurance company in court when they disagree.
webmaster
news:Xns9757AC6EF488ARr...@216.168.3.44:
>
> Out of curiosity, I looked up the Sept '04 issue of Consumer Reports
> to see where Farmers Insurance ranks in their ratings of Homeowners
> Insurance.
>
> Dead last, with a score of 66. The next higher company had 74. The
> top of the list had 95. Farmers scored in the lowest category in both
> "Problems with claims" and "Delayed payments."
>
> The fine print: Ratings were based on 14,243 Consumer Reports
> subscribers who filed claims. Reader score gauges readers' overall
> satisfaction with their company's claims handling.
>
==========================================
http://www.farmersinsurancegroupsucks.com/
==========================================
Yes, Consumer Reports rated Farmers Worst!
Farmers Insurance also has the MOST COMPLAINTS in many states.
See:
http://www.farmersinsurancegroupsucks.com/rated_worst.htm
If that isn't enough see:
Barbara Martins story:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/122105_colossus15xx.html
Ethel Adams story:
http://www.farmersinsurancegroupsucks.com/etheladams.htm
And Mary Mulcahy's:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002583855_mary26m.html
This is just a small taste of what Farmers Insurance is capable of.
Boycott all subsidiaries or sister companies of Farmers Insurance Group
including:
Farmers Insurance Exchange
Domestic State Companies
Fire Insurance Exchange
Truck Insurance Exchange
Farmers New World Life
Foremost Insurance Company
Mid Century Insurance Company
Farmers "Value Added"
Farmers Financial Solutions, LLC
Thanks and have a nice weekend! ;-)
==========================================
http://www.farmersinsurancegroupsucks.com/
==========================================
John Hanson
mn.general:
"The adjuster came out, assessed the damage and wrote me a check."