Farmers Insurance

[HoneySuckle]

We have been with Tom Leding/Ron Leding, and now God alone knows who else at Farmers Insurance company for over 20+ years.

Once Tom (was he the elder?) retired, his son took over and we thought everything would run smoothly.  Then we got the news that Ron died and someone else was taking over.  That someone else didn't seem to last too long before another guy took his place.  In the last couple of months, I had spoken to "that other guy" who assured me he was going to be with the company until he retired which would be a long time.

NOOOOOTT!!  Called this morning to hear that "that guy" supposedly left because his father was ill and he had to take care of him.  Now this would be sad and cause me to be sympathetic but considering the lies I have been told by this company about why their people are dying/leaving, I only have to say, "yeah right."  Now we have a new agent once more who claims he bought the building and is here to stay...right.

So, if you are dealing with the same company, are you feeling secure about having your home, cars insured with them?  If you are dealing with another company and are happy, please share said info with me.  I have seen adverts for All State and State Farm but since I only know one company, I have no idea who might be a reliable company to switch to.  Mind you, any company would be more reliable than this Farmers insurance group I have been dealing with. 

[RecycleMichael]

I have Farmer's Insurance and my agent has been the same forever.

Harold Bilby at 55th and Peoria.

They also own Weber's Root Beer on Brookside

[Conan71]

My girlfriend was a Farmer's agent.  She's now an independent and said she will never go back to being a "captive" agent.  Essentially what she has told me is the big companies like Farmers, State Farm, Allstate, etc. are making life tough on agents in various ways.  As well, with rapid rate increases due to all the loss activity in Oklahoma in the last few years (major ice storms, hail damage, wind and tornado damage, flooding) that customers are no longer as loyal as they once were as they shop around trying to find better deals on auto and home insurance.  I'm kind of gathering that being a captive agent isn't as easy as it was 20 years ago where once you worked your butt off for five years you could go play a lot of golf as referrals and renewals rolled in on a daily basis. 

My agent just left Oklahoma Farm Bureau, but I saw that coming when my rates took a huge hike this year with no claims experience.  He said Farm Bureau had been hit hard by losses and the Insurance Commission was not allowing them to take on any new customers for the next 45 to 60 days as they were more or less on probation.  I'm aware of more and more agents selling their book of business back to the parent company and doing something else or going independent.

My mother has been with State Farm for 50 years now.  All with the same agent or his family.  That kind of loyalty is incredibly rare.

Back to your quandry: either find another agent who has been in the system for some time with Farmers if you have generally been happy with their claims work or move on to another company.  Two agents I know of with Farmers who have been around for awhile are Michael Francisco and Rafy Santiago.  I think you simply ran into some odd luck with the agency you were dealing with.  If you'd like to get quotes from an independent agent, PM me and I'd be happy to give you my GF's contact info at her office.

[heironymouspasparagus]

Start with a look at Consumer's Reports.

I was with Traveler's for about 25 years and just before the agent I had dealt with all that time left, they hosed me royally.  I then checked CR and looked for the ratings.  These are survey opinions of subscribers.  At that time - about 20 years ago, Countrywide was #1, a local northeast US company was #2 and State Farm was #3 nationally.  I went with State Farm and have been reasonably well treated for the entire time.  Have had one agent change, but the new guy (15 years) has been ok.

State Farm is still a mutual company.  Short story - that means they don't have stock like a "regular" corporation, they are 'customer owned' and while they are definitely in it to make money, I have occasionally received refunds on premiums when they had "good" years.

AAA is used by some of family and they are all happy with it.  Their regular membership program is one of the best bargains you will ever find in the automotive world.  Get the Plus membership (gold card).