Listen to this line of bull.....

[Arrow3]

I got a letter in the mail today from Farm Bureau regarding the claim against the drunk driver that hit my truck.....The letter stated that they have the right to review every claim and can decide if they want to pay or not....Well, they stated that since the guy that hit me had a suspended license, they felt that the policy was void and they wern't gonna pay me a dime....

I called the agent and we GOT into it big time....He told me my only option was to seek legal action against the guy....I told him I was gonna get my money one way or another...

I contacted my insurance company and they told me I could file my claim with them and they would cut me a check for the lowest estimate...Minus my deductable....They would then turn it over to their lawyers and they would go after the money from Farm Bureau....

Looks like they are trying to find a loophole to try to stick it to me....

Sorry insurance companies....

 

[Woody's Janitor]

I feel your pain. Been there!!!!

 

[Al33]

It happened to me too Brandon

The motorist who hit me did not have insurance. It occurred on private property (apartments), so no charges made against her. I had to pay the deductible, the insurance adjuster said they would try to collct it from the party at fault. Yeah right. Like they are going to spend 50 man hours trying to recover $500 for me.

That was many years ago so this ain't nothin' new.

I once had to pay two deductibles. I slid off an icy road and hit a tree. The driver behind me did the same thing but hit me. Two accidents, two deductibles.

 

[GeauxLSU]

That sounds completely expected. I would expect his insurance to look for an out. I would also expect your insurance to do exactly what they are doing, pay you and then go after them for reimbursement. You're still paid.
I know it's a major pain, but it's no shock. Either way, you'll get paid. Be glad YOUR insurance company is cooperative. It's amazing how much grief idiots can cause people....

 

[Woody's Janitor]

Brandon, you need to take the little drunk to small claims court, then, when you see him, beat the elmo-big toe out of him!!!!!!

 

[Al33]

Brandon, you need to take the little drunk to small claims court, then, when you see him, beat the elmo-big toe out of him!!!!!!

Now Teddy, doncha think you oughtta change your signature line after a post like that?

 

[Toliver]

Arrow3, as bad as I hated to, I had to hire an attorney when the drunk driver hit me. It's the insurance company's "job" to save money and they'll tell you the partial truth in hopes that you'll think it's too much trouble to proceed. And many times, it is. If you file with your insurance company, you can bet they'll do what they can to recover their money. I'm not 100% sure, but I don't think they can raise your premiums in a case that's not your fault. If you suffered injuries that you're going to seek damages for, then a lawyer might be worth it. But remember, most of them get 35% of whatever you get in a settlement.

 

[Woody's Janitor]

Now Teddy, doncha think you oughtta change your signature line after a post like that?

Al, cut me some slack!!!

But you are right!!!!

 

[dixie]

Farm Bureau's the best co in the world----------til you need your coverage, we ended up calling the insurance comm. office, that worked for us. Cancelled with "those people" Oxidine's office will work you if you have a case at all.

 

[Arrow3]

Farm Bureau's the best co in the world----------til you need your coverage, we ended up calling the insurance comm. office, that worked for us. Cancelled with "those people" Oxidine's office will work you if you have a case at all.

I tried to call them today but was put on hold FOREVER.....I hung up after about 10 minutes...I had to get back to work...

 

[Ta-ton-ka chips]

An attorney lived in a small town and was almost "dead broke", another attorney moved into town and soon both were millionaires.
It's too bad Farm Bureau has to hide behind attorneys, file a complaint with the state insurrance commissioner and also talk to the solicitor's office; when they prosecute the drunk driver, part of his sentence might be to reimburse your deductible

 

[CAL]

Farm Bureau's the best co in the world----------til you need your coverage,

I have also had it with Farm Bureau!!Everything looks good till you need the insurance coverage and then they do everything in their power to keep from paying off.I just changed companies as of this past Tuesday.After all was said and done it cost me $50.00 more to have a better company.That figures .96 cents more a week for peace of mind.I thought that was pretty cheap!!

 

[Snakeman]

Arrow, I know you don't want to hear this, but speaking from experience, your best course of action is to do what your insurance company suggested. Get the check from your insurance company, get your truck fixed, and let your insurance company go after the other driver/insurance company. They will also get your out-of-pocket expenses (rental car, deductible, etc). You won't have to do anything except wait for the check for your deductible.

If you decide to go after the money yourself, it'll be a big headache, and there's no guarantee that you'll get anything.

Again, free advice, and worth everything you paid!

The Snakeman

 

[Skipper]

Really, this depends on what Ga law says, and I really don't know.

Technically, all auto insurance policies have a clause in them that says there will be no coverage if the car is being used in a crime. Driving on a suspended license would qualify, although it's weak at best. Basically, the clause is intended to keep the insurance company from paying out when someone robs a bank or convenient store and runs over someone in the process of getting away.

In Kentucky, the law will not allow us to use that clause totally. The state requires a minimum of 25,000/50,000 BI and 10,000 PD. Most people carry 25/50/25. Some go way above that like 300/500/100 and there are some in between. If you rob a store and flee from police and wreck and hurt someone or their property we can lower the coverage from whatever you have to the state minimum limits, but we can not deny the claim totally. Again, that is under Kentucky Law, and I'm sure GA is different.

To my knowledge we've never tried that in a DUI case although we do cancel the insurance for the DUI client at the next opportunity. It is our claims people's opinion that if the agent was stupid enough to write a drunk, then the agent ought to get his Loss Ratio charged a big un.

I don't guess it's a secret, but I'm a FB agent in Kentucky. FB companies are different state to state though. Kentucky has nothing to do with GA. Most states are independent companies. I believe GA is as well, but wouldn't swear to it. Some of the southern states are part of Southern Farm Bureau. They are almost as big as Kentucky, so I'd assume they aren't.

Skipper

 

[Skipper]

Oh, I wouldn't bother suing the guy, it's probably useless. We do this kind of thing all the time and get a judgement for several thousand bucks. The court sets up a payment schedule for them, something like $50 per month till they get the $25,000 bill paid off. We can only hope they do it twice more and we get 3 judgements on them so they can pay the interest on the first.

Skipper

 

[gtaff]

I too have about had it with Farm Bureau. The first instance I had with them was a home owners claim. Tree fell on my fence I was going to get them to fix iit. They claimed the tree was dead and was not going to fix the fence, this is the only homeowners claim I have made and have had the pokicy for 7 years. Now that my son is 18 and has his drivrs license and we have a car for him to drive they are trying to make him the primary dirver of this car. He is going to Ga Tech this fall and will not be driving the car at all and they are trying to force me to pay the rates of him being the primary driver. They claim that it is a rule that if you have licensed drivers and there are as many vehicles as licensed drivers then one of the young drivers has to be the primary driver. I say bULLHockey on that

 

[Skipper]

gtaff,

I may tee you off with this, but this is how it is.

Nobody wants to pay for insurance for a teenage driver, but when they wreck, you can darn sure well expect they want Farm Bureau or whoever to pay for the accident. The fact is, teenagers will wreck, and likely sooner rather than later. For the insurer, it is a matter of how much they will be paying out on the wreck.

The rule is, the company has to be notified of all drivers in the household including those with a permit. (BTW: This might be Arrow3's problem and it wouldn't surprise me if it is) Failure to tell the company that a teenager lives in the household or someone with a DUI suspended licese for the purpose of obtaining insurance at a cheaper rate is called FRAUD, and it is a crime. It may very well be that whoever insured this vehicle the 4 time DUI guy was driving did not tell the agent that the 4 time DUI guy lived in the household. I know if he had, Farm Bureau would not have been his insurance company. If that is indeed what happened, they may be fixing to prosecute someone for fraud, and the victim is unfortunately Brandon with his wrecked truck.

As far as the teenager goes. There is no way that I am going to believe any 18 year old is not driving a vehicle in the household. I've been in this business over 20 years and didn't fall off a turnip truck yesterday. If you were my client and had the underage driver he/she would be listed on your policy and charged for or you would be welcomed to go somewhere else to obtain insurance.

Understand, the agent is under the gun. The company tracks that agent's loss ratio. If he/she pays out more in claims that they take in in premium he/she will soon be finding a new occupation. I'm not sure about Georgia, but my contract with Kentucky is very plain. If Farm Bureau or I ever terminate my agent contract, I can not be an insurance agent in this area of the state for anyone else. The surest way for an agent to get into that kind of money loosing problem is to not properly charge for the drivers in a household.

Even if your son does not take a car to college, he will be home on the weekends I'm sure. He may also drive another kid's car who lives in the dorm with him, possibly a room mate. What happens if he wrecks that car? Did you know that your insurance may have to pay for part or all of the damages even though it was someone else's car that was wrecked? I bet you didn't know that you could be sued in a situation like that?

I have lost several clients over the years because they wont follow the rules regarding underage drivers, but it has never bothered me that they left. In my county, between dad and I we have just over 4700 member clients. We have an obligation to all 4700 clients to do our jobs properly so that our rates are as low as possible for all 4700 clients. Farm Bureau rates by county in Kentucky, and because we have strictly followed to rules, our county's rates are significantly cheaper than all 3 of our surrounding counties. The 4700 people we service in our offices seem to appreciate that. There have always been 2 kinds of clients. Those that want to follow the rules and do the right thing and those that don't. I have people call me to tell me their son/daughter is fixing to get a permit or license and ask what to do and those that we find out they have an underage driver when there is an accident. I believe in treating all 4700 clients equally, and if I am charging 1 family for a 16 year old son, I'm going to charge the rest for a 16 year old son as I'm fairly sure the family paying for their underage driver only wants to pay for theirs and not yours as well.

Skipper

 

[Gumpond]

Farm Bureau

Based on posts so far, I'm probably going to get my agent in trouble, but I've had great experience with Farm Bureau.

First experience: Had a Tractor and trailer for sale. This equipment was commercial property in the adjacent county when stolen. My agent took the police report stating the above and my newspaper ad for settlement basis. I was paid full askin price less deduct. All I had to do was agree to let FB have any recovery. Guess what? They got it. Caught the guy and he paid!
Point is I probably did better than I would have selling.

Next case: Had a great, big running bird dog. Friendliest dog you ever saw. Only problem is "big running". One day as my son was feeding him , he got out and left. I got a call the next morning at 6:00am from a very nice man who had my dog. He lived at our local subsidised appt. complex. I went and picked up the dog and thanked the nice man. About 4:30 pm I got a call from a lady who was the complex manager. It seems my dog had dented several cars, broke windshields, tore out screen doors, etc.. Now I called my agent and I was livid. I said there were dogs all over the complex when I arrived.. My agent said if they made a report to the police, Farm Bureau would pay. They did, Farm bureau did. No deductible, No increases.

Next case: When I bought the farm and added coverage, I became a sho nuf farmer and with discounts on my homeowners ins. my liability coverage for the farm was REAL low.

Point is, you need an agent who will look after you! The 2 cases listed are public record , I was pleasently surprised when the insurance paid for the tractor and shocked when they did not fight the "dog damage". It's about folks and if your agent is not working for you, he's working against you. STEALING!

Greg

 

[Jeff Phillips]

Call Ken Nugent, he'll get you the check you deserve!

I'd sic a lawyer on em! Get you 1 of the sleezy guys who advertise on late night TV. Why should you have to pay the deductible when the wreck was not your fault?

 

[FESTUSHAGGIN]

This is a real crapper here. When my wife was 17 she was hit head on by a guy who came into her lane. she was told she would never walk again. the other guy had no insurance and her dad ended up having toi file bankruptcy because he could not pay her dr bills. so people get screwed every day by these ins companies that are supposed to be here to protect us. its all a racket. and BTW she walks just fine even though her knee has been wired back together and she has a pin in her hip. dont even have a limp.