Since when is State Farm cheaper, perhaps in areas that are of minimal risk. I live in south florida (Broward) and insured with Tower Hill….they had no problem paying their 2005 claims and are still 2,000 cheaper than SF on my home, not to mention Universal, Homewise, Travelers, Lib Mutual….should I go on? The problem with the Citizens scenario is all those who can’t or won’t compete (SF) automatically place their clients there. How can a company like SF not be profitable when $200k townhomes were paying $6500 a year in premiums…give me a break. Sorry you worked for SF so long, drinking the kool aid..vomitting “state farm is there” and now screwed because the boys that push the pen won’t let you be a REAL player in the market. The bottom line is most SF agents are lazy, take advantage of there clients and now are paying the price.
David you are clueless. All those companies your list off 1) Have never weathered a major storm and paid claims 2) Are completely under funded and 3) Have a lot less coverage, and I can go on and on and on about their financing. But that is not the point, in a free market the government has no right to come in and dictate to a business how much to charge for their product. That sort of government control is called fascism. (Privately owned business, but controlled by government) Freedom of choice is the real issues here. If you don’t want to pay for the more expensive insurance, than don’t! No one says you have to buy it! No one says you have to own a house or have a mortgage! Where does the government control end? But I am going to assume you are an Obama supporter as well and think bigger government is always the answer. Go read Liberal Fascism by Goldberg and wake up!
This is a sad day for Floridians. Watch for written proof that either the Governor is lying to Floridians or the Insurance Commissioner is lying about the “40 new companies and $4B in capital”. It’s just not true. Surplus lines companies account for $3.383B of the $4B and there are only 17 new companies writing homeowners since 2007. OIR has admitted their website is incorrect and they will be “taking down” that info. In addition, the “consumer groups” that he listened to are all headed by people who have either worked for or served on committees headed up by Kevin McCarty and they ARE NOT Floridians. So, Crist hear me…no more votes, no more money. Anything we can do to get either Rubio or Kendrick elected we will do.
What is to say State Farm will not go E&S to do business in the state? Even if they are to broker business if the judge says so by July 15. They will be supporting the insureds needs. Will they sell the smaller companies policies if they could?
You are kidding right? Clueless, everything that I mentioned in my last post is actually fact. Instead of you blowing off assuming that I am an Obama lover, I guess it would be just as easy to lable you as a Bush blower.
Fact, Tower Hill was exposed to losses of both 2004 & 2005 storm seasons AND like all carriers writing at that time, experienced record losses. Do I think we need bigger government…NO> But what we need are a set of tangible rules/guidelines in which companies are forced to abide by. Requests for premium increases have been out of control and it is ONE of the many causes of the foreclosure crisis we face throughout the state. But even you have to agree that arbitrary premium increases based partly on carriers bad investment on Wall Street shouldn’t be thrown upon the backs of policy holders. Meanwhile, the CEO’s are still cashing their multi-million dollar salaries w/ bennies. State Farm, Allstate have been bending over the consumer long enough. Just the simple concept of allowing a company that large to conduct business however they want, with no restrictions is “clueless” to the needs of the everyday consumer. If we’re talking about the four letter word “risk” and how it is assumed in Florida, then every home should have a modified Four Point Inspection, mandating that homeowners make sensible repairs and maintain their homes!!! I am for checks/balances on both sides of the fence, but let’s not cry on about how the insurance industry has it so bad. Most agents are glorified used cars salesman that employ idiotic personel that can’t even spell “insurance.” Meanwhile the agent isn’t in the office because they’re T’ing off on the back nine of the Blue Monster or attending a Chamber luncheon.
I know…factually…many SF agents that tell their clients that they are receiving their wind mitigation discounts knowing damn well that there’s no Wind Mit on file…but they aren’t exactly fibbing because they gave the homeowner a credit for their gable roof.
I cannot believe that Charlie Crist vetoed a bill that would call for less government intervention into my life and everyone else’s. He calls himself a republican. What a joke. Just another RINO. By vetoing this bill, he putting everyone with a check book on the hook for all the hurricane damage that is going to have to be paid when the next big one hits and Citizens goes under and assess everyone. With no outside money in this state, we will all have nice blue traps as roofs. This is all for political gain for Crist.
Charlie is betting on a good storm season again…….for all our sakes in Florida….I pray he is right! If he is not, he can count on a financial catastrophe on his hands.
How do you figure it will hurt any less or more. You would have cried like a baby had state farm been your homeowers company and gotten a 47% increase. And you would not have purchased the coverage if it was offered at that price
YEAH!!!! bye-bye State Farm!!! Let me see how this went down. Carriers got nailed hard from the storm seasons of 2004-2005 and took a 50+% premium increase. After cashing the checks, State Farm pleaded with the state to create the My Safe Florida Home Program, welcoming retro-fits and mitigation discounts. Homeowners actually took an interest in protecting their dwelling and received discounts because of the lower risk. Then SF requests a 47% prem increase because of the mitigation discounts and threatens to pull out if they don’t get what they want. Meanwhile their agents can’t write HO policies other than Citizens…..and all this is Christ’s fault.
Perhaps (1) stop with the NASCAR sponsorships and other BS expenditures (2) allow agents to write HO & wind with a select few carriers that ARE competitive (3) get over yourself.
If a company cannot make a profit with (3) years of storm free claims….then perhaps they have some upgrade opportunities within their management structure.
I hope Chalrie knows what he’s doing. When thousands of people start receiving cancellation letters daily in the next few months, I hope the market can absorb the risk. In case most of you haven’t read Demotechs 6/19 press bulletin, in it they re-confirmed the ratings of the Florida domestics. One of the conditions for those ratings was the passage of HB 1171. Guess we will all wait and see what happens….
David, free market = competetive prices, better service, etc. But with that also comes educated consumer. When you take away the risk of having to actually learn something you get lazy, like the consumer. The consumer has to understand what they are doing, then the educated consumer can do the right and go with a honest company. Crist has taken that out of the picture. SF will work around this, they never loss a fight, look at Mississippi, this would help your issues as well! HO premium had nothing to with the current housing problem. Barney Frank and community reinvestment act did that! NO and I not a Bush, blower, he is too liberal!
Hey Eugene! 47% increase in not bad. I have called around and with less coveage, any compnay that can pay a claim is a lot more. Now because of the Gov’t I have to insured my house with some fly by night carrier and hope and pray that I never have to make a claim. I voted for Crist and gave money to his campaign. I will make it my sole purpose in life to make sure he never serves in public office again. This is only going to hurt Florida, just wait for $1200 per year assessments that are coming after the next storm. Check your auto premium now, you are paying 1% to bail out Citizens after the 2005 season. Back when Citizens was charging the correct rates, before Crist and his HB1A came in a screwed it all up.
You’ve obviously not been in this business long. I can tell you as an independent agent, State Farm leaving is not going to be good for our business in the long-term. As soon as the smaller carriers reach capacity, it’s going to be Citizens or nothing. We all know how great Citizens is to work with.
As a matter of fact, I am already planning an all/out marketing campaign to SF policyholders when SF starts non-renewing them. Can you imagine how many of their policyholders with cars, boats and other stuff that will be cancelling all lines once they hear: hmmm, sorry, your home is being non-renewed after 25 years?!
We are certainly going to have a “fat” Christmas party this year!
the way I see it is that IF the bill would have passed State Farm would have raised the rate and then still pulled out of Florida leaving thousands of home owners with out any insurance then getting forcloused because not having the insurance. LOOK back on this and you will see that it has happend may times.
Florida insurance is a ripoff. house in florida $3000.00 a year the same house (size and square footage) in tennesse is approx $700.00 a year insuracne companies are ripping off florida people
YOU ARE RIGHT, insurance in Fla is a ripoff ! The regulators have caused the premium collected by insurers to be lower than the amount of the cost & claims involved in insuring homes in the Fla marketplace. So, in short, the insurers have been expected to pay out more than they collect in premium. This is a ripoff. You are right. If this were different, than why are all of the “REAL” insurance companies exiting the marketplace ?????????????
Enjoy your Christmas party this year. Hopefully State Farm leaving will draw new capital into the insurance market to fill the void. If not, when you run out of capacity…as we all will…you won’t be throwing any “fat” Christmas parties.
And they will cry when a storm hits and they are underinsured or maybe uninsured altogether…but don’t worry, the federal government will fork out some dough so you can put up another trailer and pocket the difference…
by A.M. Best is “B” with a negative outlook. this doesn’t look like a very strong company. One good storm could suck the air out of their surplus and then guess who gets to pay their claims? the Guarnanty fund! which is funded by assessments on guess who? all the other insurance companies! and you know who will ultimately pay for those assessments? all the other people who actually have insurance policies! why can’t anyone understand the simple logic in letting companies charge whatever they want, and if the premium is too high, guess what? the company won’t have any business and will have to lower rates in order to increase market share or go out of business (or withdraw!). In that event, if you don’t like the premium, you don’t have to pay it, just find another carrier! and guess what? there aren’t any more carriers because there is no competitive market. How do you think State Farm could do any business if their rates are too high? No one is forced ato buy insurance so if no one buys, the companies either leave the market or they have to lower rates; but let the companies compete, and you can bet that their will be price competition; if you know anything about insurance, this has been a soft market with all companies trying to steal business from their competitors…how? by lowering their prices!
Hey last I looked State Farm Florida had a b and a negative outlook as well. All of you that are in favor of State Farm Please stop calling it State Farm. It is not State Farm it is State Farm Florida which is a subsidiary of State Farm. After hurricane Andrew State farm went broke. So they had to reorganize under a new corp. to protect State Farm Mutual.
Get your facts right.
PS I am thrilled to see them go BYE BYE!!!!!
Why should we let anything as abstract as America’s founding principles get in the way of a big political football game? After all, they are only responsible for the growth and prosperity of the greatest nation the planet has ever seen, and will likely ever see.
Let’s let emotion control our actions. After all, the (imaginary) level playing field is much more important than allowing free-market capitalism and the laws of economics to work.
Those of you that are in agreement of Crist’s veto of HB1171 are seriously mis-informed. Those of you that are happy that State Farm is leaving the market place are clearly uneducated and feeding off your emotional interests and inability to manage your personal finances. Apparently you’ve already forgotten about other financially sound companies like USAA, AllState, Nationwide, etc.. that went down the same path in this State and were already forced out. They didn’t get as much publicity because they didn’t have as much market share – it’s that simple. You are plain wrong and what’s sad is that aren’t even aware of it – numbers don’t lie. To think that these “40 new companies” which have been around for a mere 2-3 years (years without hurricanes – duh) are funded properly to pay out all of their claims is ludicrous. They’re barely getting by! And some of them are actually accounting firms! Not insurance companyies – they are hedging their bets. The money isn’t there to pay the claims people – wake up. And oh by the way, they don’t all sell insurance throughout the entire State!! Wake up!! You can’t insure a $200,000 home for $700 a year and be solvent in this State – let alone tens or hundreds of thousands. Good luck trying to find a policy from one of these companies in South or Central Florida. Crist has screwed us again under the premise that he’s “looking out for the hard working Floridian” and most of you are completely unaware. Yep, I work in the insurance business and see clients like you that walk in every day and have absolutely NO clue what’s going on – all you do is listen to the nonsense that comes out of Charlie’s mouth. Glad I don’t work for State Farm, I’d be even more ticked off! To think that limiting consumer options is a good thing is absolute insanity. Here’s an easy analogy that you can relate to: If you want to buy the quality of a Mercedes-Benz E class, you pay for it. If you want the quality of a Ford EXPLODER, you pay less for it. You get what you pay for. I’m praying for a series of hurricanes to blow this nonsense out of the water in this State – that’s the only way to fix this mess now. When you see the FHCF assessments on your home and auto insurance bills go through the roof, then you’ll wake up. Or, you probably don’t know what that is either do you? Good luck.
The ratings are based on North Light’s solid risk-adjusted capitalization and operating support provided by the affiliates of Allstate Insurance Group. This operating support is demonstrated by a 100% quota share reinsurance contract with Allstate Insurance Company for countrywide business (excluding Florida and New Jersey). In the event North Light commences writing business in Florida and/or New Jersey, a similar 100% quota share reinsurance contract will be implemented with an Allstate subsidiary. It is anticipated that the Florida business will be reinsured with Allstate Floridian Insurance Company and the New Jersey business will be reinsured with Allstate New Jersey Insurance Company prior to North Light beginning to write business in those states. Operating support also is provided by the same underwriting, pricing and claims infrastructure that is used by Allstate Insurance Group.
The Governor’s veto is a signal to State Farm that they can’t get away with their business as usual tactics. Their bluff has been called and they will now leave the state.
It is State Farm Florida that is leaving (a B rated company with a negative outlook). They chose to do this to their agents and policyholders. They don’t want to write the business but they don’t want anyone else too either. They won’t allow their own agents to write fire business for other companies when they (State Farm Florida) don’t want it. Now is that the type of company anyone would really want to do business with?
The management of State Farm has shown their true colors and it has nothing to do with being “a good neighbor” it is more like being the bully of the block. This time the bully has been called out and they have painted themselves in a corner and will now see other markets take the business their agents have worked so hard to build over these many years.
Tower Hill has a surplus of less than $50 million; not much if you have high value homes. they can insure their own neck of the woods but will need to raise capital to increase market share to replace SF Florida. It will take a 20 companies this size to start….
“They created State Farm Florida to transfer their risk.”
They created State Farm Florida so they could cry broke and fudge numbers. I don’t think State Farm pulling out is going to help my business, especially 12 months out when we start to run out of capacity, but let’s call a spade a spade. I don’t think what State Farm has been doing in the years since Hurricane Andrew is prudent at all. They still have many millions allocated to marketing a product they don’t sell! How is that not fudging numbers? They buy all of their reinsurance from their parent company. How is that not fudging numbers?
I would have been for this bill had it allowed price deregulation for all companies doing business in Florida allowing an even playing field for all companies. Bottom line is too- consumers are to blame – when I can quote them an A rated or B++ rated carrier with AM Best- but the consumer chooses an A rated Demotech carrier in business less than 5 years because they are $300 a year cheaper- consumers will have to share some of the blame when the big wind blows again.
I would have been for this bill had it allowed price deregulation for all companies doing business in Florida allowing an even playing field for all companies. Bottom line is too- consumers are to blame – when I can quote them an A rated or B++ rated carrier with AM Best- but the consumer chooses an A rated Demotech carrier in business less than 5 years because they are $300 a year cheaper- consumers will have to share some of the blame when the big wind blows again.
It’s so bad it would be funny if it were not true. FL is the laughing stock until the storms finally hit (and they will…sooner or later). At that point, as others have pointed out the assessments will show up on all our bills. By then, Gov. Charlie hopes to be well moved on and not in any way associated with THE MESS he will leave. Politics as usual!!
I am calling a spade a spade. Regardless of whether people agree, or even like it, quite a few companies created the subsidiaries in order to transfer their risk.
Personally I don’t have a dog in the hunt so whether or not SF stays or leaves is of no consequence to me. However, I don’t think it helps the overall market.
Also, I’ve worked with a lot of SF agents over the years and virtually all were upstanding people who cared about what they did. They believed in what they did and believed in their products and company. I don’t see the purpose in bashing them because of decisions the parent company made. I agree the parent company has behaved like a bully and they’ve just lost a huge battle, but I feel for the agents who are getting screwed over on this one.
The best response I’ve seen is simply wait and see. This will either work or it won’t.
Advisor, I didn’t say that a lot of companies didn’t open PUP companies. I also didn’t say State Farm Florida leaving was a good thing. All I said was it was to fudge numbers. Same reason the others set up PUP companies.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.
The people and politicians of Florida have sowed the wind and now they are going to reap the whilwind, literally.
I don’t understand why all of the SF agents are on here crying already. You know as well as I do, the bill will be weto’d. They need a 2/3 vote to overide and the bill passed at 80%. What Crist did was called POLITICS. Big bad SF will get the SF Bill passed, they will stay, rates will sky-rocket, the insurance market will be stable and then when Crist compaigns for the Senate he can tell the Floridians its not his fault their rates are so high, he veto’d the bill.
There is a lot of mis-information floating on here, so here are some corrections/clarifications…
SF Florida doesn’t place ALL of its reinsurance with its parent. It does place most of it there, and at below market rates.
SF Florida was created to insulate the remainder of the company from Florida’s under-funded hurricane risk. It has nothing to do with fudging numbers.
SF didn’t go broke after Andrew. (This has already been addressed.)
SF Mutual recapitalized SF Florida after 04-05 storms depleted the pup’s surplus. They didn’t take the opportunity to “cry broke” and close the company. (Though they probably regret that decision now.)
1171 didn’t allow unregulated rates for smaller companies due to a compromise with the OIR, which the OIR ignored once the bill was passed.
E&S and veto override are the only hopes now for Florida citizens, who are unfortunately ill-informed by the lazy media to understand that more choice is better than less, even if you don’t like the additional option.
“SF Florida was created to insulate the remainder of the company from Florida’s under-funded hurricane risk. It has nothing to do with fudging numbers.”
Translation ….
SF Fire created SF Florida so that in the event of another Andrew they could declare bankruptcy without bringing down the rest of the Country.
Very good Readin….there is no reading between the lines necessary. That was the clear intent. As with any other business, they and every other insurance company is in business to make money, not bet the farm on one ill-advised state.
If you sold bagels and lost 2 cents on every 20 cent bagel you sold, how many bagels would you be selling?
The Federal Government does not regulate insurance since they have given this task to individual states. If we abondened this obligation, as this bill would have done, we are asking the Feds to step in. Also, obviously, this would have been very discriminator against smaller, domestic insurers that are trying to help with the “capacity” problem. Thank you Govenor and Commissioner for standing up for the “level playing field” the Federal Government” intended.
I guess I would do like every other business in the Country… find a way to lower my overhead, stop selling bagels or raise prices. Obviously they have tried #3 but since that didn’t work I would do #1.
What about lowering the pay of top executives. You know, similar to what most Fortune 500 companies are having to do? Or not spending as much on advertising? Or not giving out bonuses to executives? Would this not work and be even better for the people SF cares so much about?
It appears by your signon name that you are an insurance agent so let me use you as an example …. I am assuming you make a certain percentage of the premium as commission. So if you are an insurance agent who is losing money on every insurance policy you sell (like SF), what can you do? You cannot force the company you represent to raise rates? You cannot cancel policies or stop writing, correct? Your only responsible choice is to lower some of your fixed overhead. This is true for most business since raising rates ususally would not make them competitive with their competitors. Why is this not the first course of action for SF?
Your logic is sound, and would work in a business where those reductions would make a difference.
In this situation, however, there is no way to cut enough corners to come up with the shorfall. Cutting corners and making the type of sacrifices you are suggesting would be the likes of putting a bandaid on a compound fracture.
I can see your point. I do think that is where a majority of the public gets frustrated with this. They see State Farm spending millions upon millions on silly advertising on top of ridiculous bonuses to the executives. I have yet to be out in public or at a party where this conversation comes up and anyone say “Poor SF, I sure wish they would get their bill passed that would allow them to charge whatever they want.” The publicity from this is going to help them cut down on their market share, which may have been part of the bluff all along.
I can’t wait until SF starts non-renewing their customers. As a matter of fact, I already started training three new full timers to take on the extra work load. Thank you State Farm! Like a good neighbor, you are surely there for me!
Besides the ways already mentioned, a huge way companies can lower their overhead is by not paying claims… And (to my knowledge) they haven’t been getting cheap on paying claims (another reason people seem to love SF).
Call me crazy, but I’d rather spend more on Insurance and not have the company try to screw me later…
This came as a surprise. I expected that the Gov would allow for premium adequacy and market stabilization, but he screwed the pooch on this one. I cannot wait for SF to pull all policies then see the state get LEVELED by a FEW Cat 5 storms. This will be sooooo funny. Lets see how the Gov gets out of that situation ! The regulators and the Fla insureds are going to be soooo screwed then. The jackass’ will most likely try to blame Pres Bush ! Good Luck Florida, you folks are Finally going to get what you deserve. YEA !
I want to see your reaction when Florida gets ripped by a huge storm and does not have the general assets of a large, well reserved company like SF to pull your azz out of trouble. Where are you going to go?? Maybe Citizens ???? What other company selling in the marketplace has Billions (with a B and Plural) NOT, in your face – Looser. Go back to reading the sunday cartoon section, maybe thats more your speed !
Oh, I am so sorry, your memory has forgotten the BILLIONS that the Mother Ship at SF has paid for all of the Loosers in the Fla Marketplace. Yes, Billions.
I think that SF dropped 2 to 3 Bil on Andrew alone, not to mention the other storms that hit sense then. What’s wrong, can’t you count ? That is Billions with the letter “B”. Go back to grade school, but you might not pass with your math skills.
Rocketman, If you are going to suggest someone go back to school maybe you should check up on your spelling and or use of words.”not to mention the other storms that hit sense then. What’s wrong, can’t you count ? That is Billions with the letter “B”. Go back to grade school, but you might not pass with your math skills.” I believe the correct word you were trying to use was “since”.
again – playing off your personal emotions and personal dislike for a company. State Farm Florida was apparently paying out more in claims than they were taking in on premiums. they requested an increase to ensure solvency and future claims-paying capability. you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that government involement in free market capitalism is a bad thing. it’s really simple. if a company wants to charge a higher price for a product they sell, then let them do so. if the consumer doesn’t want to pay that price, they will shop elsewhere and the other company will get the business. it’s called capitalism. that basic premise is one of the aspects that has made this the best country in the world. make sense now?
Why is this so hard for people to understand? Let the market and consumer decide for themselves how much they want to pay for insurance.
Someone earlier gave a great example, when you are buying a car, you either pay less for a car that may not be as safe and last a long time or you fork over the extra money to ensure safety and longevity. Insurance is the same way! Go with a company you trust and know will be there for you, sure it may cost more, or you can go with an unknown and roll the dice.
Bottom line, the choice is yours and should not be dictated by the government. Stop relying on others to make your decisions for you and start taking personal responsibility.
I was an agent in Florida for 6 years and I am so happy that I left the state. The politicans are not looking out for you, they are looking out for themselves for re-election time. Good luck!!
Once again, free market only works when the playing field is even. Deregulation would br great for ALL companies not jsut a select few.
Also, I don’t think it really matters how much company a PARENT has. There is a reason why they made the separate company. So they did not have to keep giving it money. Look at Aaron Spelling … think it mattered to Tori that her PARENT had BILLIONS (with a B)??
FACT is SF of Florida is rated a B by MA Best with a negative outlook. There are SEVERAL domestic companies that are higher rated than that open in FL.
Once again, it was the OIR (government regulator) who created the distinction between large and small companies. Obviously the removal of government price controls for all companies would be best, but the legislators were led to believe that this compromise would get them the support of the OIR.
Well they were obviously wrong. From reading Charlie’s veto that was one of the mail reason (and I agree) it gives too much of an advantage to only a select few companies. I think someone used the example of cars. It would be like the government telling Mercedes they had to approve any pricing but letting BMW lower and raise prices as they see fit. Thats not capitalism.
Jim,
Read the article that was published last week relating to the rating downgrade. In a nutshell, the downgrade was generated by several points:
1) With the inability to adjust their rates so they had a better loss ratio then 1.21::1.00 the company is losing money at a rate that will see them bankrupt in 2 years (excluding any storms)
2) With the Non-Renewal notices they are sending out, they are losing market share and incoming premium dollars (accelerating the loss of money)
3) With the inability to write new business if they wanted, there’s no incoming premium dollars from lower risk areas that they might be willing to write in.
4) Increased reinsurance costs (they cannot purchase all of their coverage from the parent company)
As they still have the reserves to cover their responsibilities for the meantime, I don’t blame them for trying to get out now. I recall someone posting sometime back a prediction that if another massive storm hits, FL legistators will institute a freeze on all non-renewals and in effect trapping SF-FL in FL for the foreseeable future.
Finally, a knowledgeable respondent… Allstate of Florida was formed to protect the assets of the PARENT company. State Farm has done the same thing. If they need to fold up, “No Problem”, leave the people of Florida in the dust… The domestic insurers are putting their TOTAL ASSETS on the line. PUT UP OR SHUT UP STATE FARE AND ALLSTATE!!!!
A non-insurance person would like to know:
Do we even know whether State Farm would have written any new business in Fla even if they had been allowed to charge what they wanted? Does it all boil down to price? Does it have to do with concentration of business as well?
Would the marketplace really even changed that much if HB1171 had been signed?
Does anyone know what the maximum rate per some $$ of house cost is being charged for coastal homes?
Are the estimates that rates would have gone up 40% to 50% if the rate freeze had simply been allowed to lapse accurate?
As a State Senator I voted against this bill because it didn’t go far enough. Why deregulate the AIGs, Hartfords,(both TARP recipients), State Farms of the insurance world and keep the State thumb on top of the little guys. Let’s let the marketplace do it’s thing. If dereg. is a good thing, dereg. the whole market not just the big guys.
Senator Steve Oelrich
District 14
WHAT A BIG JOKE TRUTH AND INSURANCE COMPANY LIKE STATE FARM .”Why deregulate the AIGs”., Steve Oelrich
Comment: Let’s let the marketplace do it’s thing.Senator Steve Oelrich
District 14. DEAR STEVE THE GREED IS NOT WORKING. State Farm has history for not paying claim all of the U.S. WE say keep the State thumb up their butts. THATS THE WAY TO MAKE SURE THEY DO THE RIGHT. SEE HOW GREAT AIG HAS DONE.
I am also planning to switch all of my State Farm policies to other companies when I get new homeowners insurance. I understand that a lot of this mess was caused by the legislature and the governor, but that doesn’t excuse State Farm Mutual from hoarding it’s profits by using State Farm Florida as it’s “loss” company. I don’t understand how we can be paying all of these premiums in for years and years on end (my parents have been paying them for 40+ years now with no homeowners claims EVER) and yet they need to jack up our rates to cover “losses”. Meanwhile, State Farm Mutual is making huge profits in the rest of the country. I thought all of those profits were supposed to be used to cover claims, such as when a hurricane hits. I guess it’s to profit their share holders instead. So our premiums profit share holders, and then when we have a claim, they just charge us into eternity to pay for it. Screw them. I’ve got 6 policies with them, and they’ll be losing ALL of my business for this. I was glad to hear other co-workers who are planning to do the same thing. Go ahead State Farm, leave Florida and don’t let the door hit you on the way out.
Just got a letter from my agent that after 30 years he is retiring. He said the company is not the same as it was and in order to keep his dignity and not fire staff he retired.
His exisiting customers roll over to the next agent in town. He said many agents are trying to get out of cover their expenses.
Let me sum it up for all you morons. Why dosen’t the state tell Publix or any other store how much they can charge? How fare the govenor tell an industry what to charge. He should be in prison for fraud. What about the 18 billion dollar short fall in the hurricane reserves for Citizens insurance? He has purposefully kept rates low in order to get votes. Everyone will be paying more in taxes when the big one hits.
Bennett argued. He insisted he did not file the bill for State Farm, which he accused of playing a game of chicken with the state by declaring it would leave.
“I think State Farm was running a bluff when it did what it did; I think the insurance commissioner was running a bluff when he did what he did,” Bennett said. “I think they both lost. But I also think the Florida market is too large for them to walk away. … These are smart people; I don’t think they will leave the state of Florida entirely.”
Not Exactly!State Farm states their reason for wanting a 47% policy rate increase and why they are threatening to leave Florida is because “What’s most important to us is to meet our obligations to our current customers.” What a joke! What’s important to them is how much money they can fleece from consumers. Insurance has become nothing but legalized extortion!
They don’t need to panic at all, Florida would be better without these greedy insurance companies. Wanna teach the greedy a lesson in the USA? Use the Gandhi method. Everyone drop all car and home owners insurance..If the mortgage comapnanies tax on insurance pay only the house payment and not the insurance part.We need to teach our enemies through love…that includes, politicians, political appointees, investors, corporate thieves, CEOs and financial institutions.They won’t be happy until they’ve taken you for everything…What was yours will soon be somebody elses and they will play the same con game on them. Stop the madness with a Gandhi revolution
AS for State Farm leaving, I absolutely believe if they want to pull homeowners policies in Florida, the entire State Farm Group should be shown the door. No more auto, life, annuity, property casualty, business, or any other lines/products/services they offer everywhere else. And, that goes for any other insurer whose umbrella of services is not offered in its entirety here in Florida. Cherry picking should be a crime when it comes to insurance (a service EVERYONE has to have). It would be like petroleum companies delivering only Super Unleaded gasoline to stations in Florida. People wouldn’t stand for it. Almost 1 million homeowner policies in Florida, no major storms or catastrophes in years, and SF claims they can’t make ends meet without a 47% hike? Absolute Bull….
Your comments are just plain stupid. ‘Revolution’ first of all, the forced place insurance placed on by banks and mortgage companies is the highest priced of all insurance policies. Second, if you don’t pay the insurance portion of your loan the lender can repo your home and/or car. Refusing to pay for your insurance is like kids holding their breath to make their parents do what they want. I’ve sold several of my cars to friends and yes, I required they carry full coverage until they were paid off. Just plain common sense!
To ‘Cherrypicker’! Most insurance companies don’t sell both auto and home – much less the other type policies. If you required carriers to sell all lines of insurance you would eliminate 90% of them. If State Farm wants to quit selling home insurance then, that is their right to do so. Let them raise their prices and lets see their customers take their business to other carriers. I’ll bet most of their customers move more than just the home policies.
What is wrong with the situation is that State Farm doesn’t want its agents to contract with other carriers that will write the home policies that State Farm will drop.
SF Mutual is the Auto company (STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE CO, exact)
It does not insure homes, period.
Any monies made by Auto co (SF Mutual) are not to be confused with the Monies lost in the Fire company.
The State Govt of Florida (now called the PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF FLORIDA) has screwed the pooch on the whole market, not just SF. Any blame for the resulting mess should be direct at the GOV & Crist, not SF
One Last Thing, ONLY LOOSERS feel entitled to something that is not theirs or produced by others. Premiums paid across the country should NOT be paid to Florida Residents for their claims.
If FLA residents should have their claims paid from FLORIDA premiums. This is part of the problem. Floridians expect the rest of the country to fund their insurance losses. This is why anyone who disagrees with the bill are flat out LOOSERS, SCUM & LEACHES
Consumer Class Actions will not wake this guys up its not there money it belongs to the policy holders.SF has a proven track record of paying maybe 30 cents on the dollar try to recover on that you fat cats.
I am shocked at the comments from those of you that feel State Farm should take profits made in other states to lower the cost of insurance in Florida. The policyholders in those states where the profits were made deserve to keep those profits there to help lower their rates.
This is why State Farm’s can only LOAN their Florida subsidiary money.
Let me help you understand some important issues you are missing.
1) State Farm is a mutual company, not a stock company. When they have a profitable year, they send the customers dividends check, the last time was in 1999.
2) Being paying for 40 years and never had a claim. Let’s do the math, your average premium for 40 years has been $500 a year right, so you paid in $20,000. Now between cost of doing business and return on that premium it is about a wash. So, a hurricane hits and you have a $35,000 claim, you won, the insurance lost. Now, do that over and over again, and add in a fascist government, you have a perfect storm brewing.
3) The Florida CO was set up to protect the larger company. State Farm Fire went under after Andrew as no one saw a storm like that coming. So in order to make sure the company has money to pay claims in the other 49 states the FL co was set up. It make sense, if I am farmer in Idaho, why should I pay for a person living on a sand bar in So Florida.
Please understand the issues, they are very complex.
STATE FARM PAY TO SEAL UP COURT RECORDS I SAY LET TO A FULL AND formal investigation . NOT IN JUST ONE STATE BUT IN ALL STATE THIS REALLY BRING,S THE TRUTH TO LIGHT. LET PUT AD,S IN PAPERS LET ASK THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN TO HELL AND BACK DID YOU THINK YOU COULD GET AWAY WITH THIS FOREVER?SF O WANT YES BECAUSE YOU HAVE BEEN OF YRS. WELL KNOW MORE WE WILL STAND UP AND THE TRUTH WILL DESTORY YOU.
I think I understand the problem in Florida. The Governor is only looking out for his next move, you only care about money and greed and here I sit as the policyholder being kicked around from State Farm to Citizens to another no name company I worry will be here this year if a hurricane hits. In the end it is all about your greed and not about the consumer. It is sad to think you are someones agent.
I can’t wait for the first big storm to hit Florida after State Farm leaves. I guess the truth will be evident then. I am sick and tired of paying for all the folks who CONTINUE, time after time, to incur losses because they live in a high risk area. I say pay you one time for damages, or buy you out if you are willing to relocate out of the state. If not, you are on your own from then on. Move to Cleveland, Ohio… nothing ever happens there. You should pay higher premiums because you live in a high risk area, as should folks who live in the flood plain or perch their houses on the side of a cliff in California.
“I do not agree with you that just because they stop selling homeowners insurance in Florida that they should take their other business with them.” YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND. WE ARE SAYING THAT IF YOU MESS WITH PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY THAT HAVE BEEN THROUGH HELL AND BACK, THEN GET OUT. IN THIS COUNTRY YOU DO NOT SCREW WITH VICTIMS, PERIOD! WE HAVE THE FOURTH OF JULY COMING UP. IF THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY THINKS FOR ONE MINUTE THAT SCREWING YOUR NEIGHBOR MAKES YOU GOOD THEN I AM SAD FOR THIS COUNTRY. GOD BLESS AMERICA.
just waiting to trick some poor claim rep into making a mistake for them to make their income for the next few years. I MADE IN 2 MONTHS WHAT STATE FARM GIVE ME FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE. I DO WONDER WHAT BONUS WAS GIVE TO THE CLAIM REP.
TO THE UNTOUCHABLES. Edward B. Rust, Jr., will be happy to tell you that he is the Chief Executive Officer of State Farm Mutual Insurance Company. He has deep family ties to State Farm, as his father and grand father have both served in that capacity. He will also tell you that he is an educated man who has been to law school and is a past practicing attorney. In addition, he was the chairman of the Coalition for Excellence in Education and a member of George W. Bush’s transition advisory team on education. So with all of that education why will he not deal with his company’s inbred greed. Does he not know that we are in the 21st century where anyone can look on the internet and see the billions of dollars that are being spent to protect their empire from the consumer? In Utah, the company was fine $25 million in punitive damages, in part for the “systematic destruction of documents and systematic manipulation of individual claim files to conceal claim mishandling”. An Idaho appeals court fined the company $9.5 million in punitive damages for making use of “a completely bogus” outside bill review company that helped lower the cost of medical bills. In October of 1999, an Illinois jury rendered a $456 million judgment against State Farm and an additional $730 million in punitive damages for the insurer’s breach of contract with auto policy holders by relying on generic replacement parts. Rust was adamant in his insistence that fraud had not been committed. A class action law suit in the name of State Farm policy holders was filed in 2003 for breach of contract and statutory consumer fraud in which $1.1 billion was awarded to plaintiffs. When a company is misleading the public, should that not be considered fraud? A consumer would go to prison for that type of behavior. State Farm will let you know that, in several states, fraud and abuse is pushing up the cost of auto insurance. A court in late 2001 reached an unfriendly consumer decision that could have the effect of reaching deep into the pockets of the consumer. Sharply higher jury awards in vehicular liability cases are putting additional upward pressure on auto insurance rates. The average jury award in auto liability cases rose from $187,000 to $269,000 in 2000, an increase of 44%. I question if any of the lawsuits would be necessary if the company would just fairly pay their claims. The company represents on their web-site that consumer protection is one of their most important goals, but do they really think that courts would be awarding multiple millions of dollars in bad faith claims if that were their emphasis? State Farm’s ratings are based on their financial strength. State Farm states that their high ratings are also based on strong claims paying ability. With this ability, why is it necessary for their policy holders to allege that the claims department was directed, in evaluating their cases, to take them to trial instead of settling within the limits of the policy? This practice exposed policyholders to judgments above the limits of their policies, when the company was attempting to make an effort to win smaller decisions. Two former in-house attorneys for State Farm contend that they were often called upon by the insurer to represent its’ policy holders and were forced to commit “unlawful and unethical activities, including requiring the two to stay silent about the rights of the policyholders”. State Farm seems to have reckless indifference for the truth for the purpose of corporate and personal economic gain. State Farm should know that continued scrutiny of their claims paying practices will continue especially with the advent of new claims that are surfacing from lawsuits revolving around Hurricane Katrina. A message to Mr. Rust, and any employee of the company that is acting in bad faith for its policy holders. Its time to stop no more.
When a company is misleading the public, should that not be considered fraud? A consumer would go to prison for that type of behavior. State Farm will let you know that, in several states, fraud and abuse is pushing up the cost of auto insurance. A court in late 2001 reached an unfriendly consumer decision that could have the effect of reaching deep into the pockets of the consumer. Sharply higher jury awards in vehicular liability cases are putting additional upward pressure on auto insurance rates. The average jury award in auto liability cases rose from $187,000 to $269,000 in 2000, an increase of 44%.
I question if any of the lawsuits would be necessary if the company would just fairly pay their claims. The company represents on their web-site that consumer protection is one of their most important goals, but do they really think that courts would be awarding multiple millions of dollars in bad faith claims if that were their emphasis?
I am sure you would love for us all to simply take your allegations at face value and conclude that SF is the corporate greedy giant you say it is. What the public will never see, nor is interested in retaining in their mind is the numerous greedy fraudulent claims made by the “legal professionals” whose livelihoods hinge on State Farm making a mistake for them to pounce in a “bad faith” claim.
As a past claim adjuster I can tell you that it literally made me sick to see the manipulation of the claim and legal process I saw from attorneys. Yes there have been punitive awards, but the majority of those claims and payments have been made as a result of the greed and manipulations of those in the legal field, just waiting to trick some poor claim rep into making a mistake for them to make their income for the next few years.
If you really agree with yourself you better get the government going. Many of the new companies that are writing in Florida are only writing the center of the State and are currently cherry picking. I don’t hear many people talking about that. I’m sure you are only talk and won’t really push the government to stop the cherry picking so why blog about it.
I do not agree with you that just because they stop selling homeowners insurance in Florida that they should take their other business with them. That would be like a store that stops selling a product I like and I want them to leave. Should Publix shut down because they don’t sell a product I like. What if you still like the store and only buy other products they sell and never bought the one they stopped selling. Should you suffer, should they be foreced to leave the state because I don’t like what they did. That is what you are saying, what you want is more government control over our lives. You could move to North Korea if you want to live like. I will stay in America where we have freedom at least a little while longer.
•Companies consistently put profits over policyholders. The report concludes that many insurance companies may “talk the talk”, but don’t “walk the walk.” They may advertise that your “in good hands”, are “like a good neighbor” or “provide the strength to be there”, but fall short when it comes to actually serving their customers.
•Companies continually deny, delay and defend. Insurance companies make more money when they pay out fewer claims. Obvious? Yes. Ethical? No. The industry as a whole routinely denies, delays and defends claims – all in the name of the “bottom line.”
•Profits and salaries are skyrocketing. The property/casualty and life insurance industries average $30B in profits every year. In fact, the U.S. insurance industry as a whole receives premiums of over $1 trillion (with a “T”) every year and has assets of $3.8 trillion.
The Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of the ten insurers in the report averaged an annual salary of nearly $9 million in 2007.
Who made the list?
These ten companies were named the worst insurers in America for denying claims, raising premiums, refusing insurance to those who need it most and many other reasons:
all in the name of the “bottom line.”
;Profits and salaries are skyrocketing. The property/casualty and life insurance industries average $30B in profits every year. In fact, the U.S. insurance industry as a whole receives premiums of over $1 trillion (with a “T”) every year and has assets of $3.8 trillion.
The Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of the ten insurers in the report averaged an annual salary of nearly $9 million in 2007.
I highly recommend the video at the link below. This is the reality of all insurance. I guess all you can do is laugh as you pay those premiums each month.
all in the name of the “bottom line.”
;Profits and salaries are skyrocketing. The property/casualty and life insurance industries average $30B in profits every year. In fact, the U.S. insurance industry as a whole receives premiums of over $1 trillion (with a “T”) every year and has assets of $3.8 trillion.
The Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of the ten insurers in the report averaged an annual salary of nearly $9 million in 2007.
Based on the article I read today maybe the Governor and Insurance commissioner have not been telling us all the truth. They have been dishonest about the number of and assets of the new companies that are coming to Florida. They have told us 4.3 billion in new Capital has come he but really only 300 million for homeowners.
Why is our Government providing false information is it so they can run companies out of the State. Is someone is getting money put in their pockets to make this happen? Time will tell.
Excuse Me…but State Farm Has to Pay for Wind Damage ESPECIALLY when there is proof. So please don’t act like they are so generous in doing us a favor.
It’s like PEEING ON YOUR LEG AND TELLING YOU IT’S ONLY WATER.
FACT: Katrina Winds were 100-200 MPH AND HIT LAND 1 TO 4 HRS BEFORE THE WATER…
Hell it blew the roof off the Superdome in New Orleans and whiped out major cities from LA to MS. True to Form, they waited for their Best Friend to arrive, Mr. Water and they blamed all of the damage on the water. Refusing to pay for wind by blaming the water. Shame on all involved with his crime against your fellow American. No wonder other countries don’t trust us. Look what’s done to one another. It’s wrong.
FEMA SHOULD SELL HURRICANE INS.
WIND AND WATER DAMAGES ALL IN ONE POLICY.
The answer to your question is a big fat $0000.00. Claim reps do not make any bonuses! Can you imagin if they did…oh, the claim rep did not want to pay my cliam because it would affect his bonus. You are a real genious if you could not see this one coming.
YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND. WE ARE SAYING THAT IF YOU MESS WITH PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY THAT HAVE BEEN THROUGH HELL AND BACK, THEN GET OUT. IN THIS COUNTRY YOU DO NOT SCREW WITH VICTIMS, PERIOD! WE HAVE THE FOURTH OF JULY COMING UP. IF THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY THINKS FOR ONE MINUTE THAT SCREWING YOUR NEIGHBOR MAKES YOU GOOD THEN I AM SAD FOR THIS COUNTRY. GOD BLESS AMERICA
ySpace
State Farm is not my idea of an ideal work place. My overall experience was negative. I left for two reasons: training was poor and I dislike being forced to sell regardless of need. The rest wasn’t that great either:
Pay: My pay was what I asked for. I don’t know if others were paid more than I was, but I do know that I was paid more than some others. I did receive periodic raises, which was confusing as I generally had the impression that I did my job poorly.
Respect: Absoluely none, but it ran both ways. My agent consistently threw the team members under the bus when it helped him save face with an angry customer. I had no problem doing the same thing right back! He would also either give the team members a silly name or make fun of where they were from.
Benefits: None. No health insurance or life insurance, which is ironic as the company sells it! We didn’t even have a retirement plan, again ironic as we sold those too. I worked for two different agents and this applied to both. I cannot say whether this is standard or just among newer agents.
Job security: Both the people I worked with and I generally felt like we were always on the razor’s edge of losing our jobs. Employment at an agent’s office is at the will of the agent only. Some of these guys have some serious turnover! I think that if the training was better the job security would improve. Many staff members are not properly trained and then fired for not knowing how to do their job.
Work/Life Balance: In my experience, the job is stressfully consuming. You’re always worrying about performance and whether you will get fired soon. I was so stressed out that I had an impossible time leaving work at work. But depending on the agent, taking time off for illness, dental appointments and your child’s school play can be extremely easy. Other agents will make you feel guilty when you leave work early because your kid was sent home from school/daycare because of vomiting and fever. As I’ve had both of these types of agents, I’m fairly neutral on this aspect.
Career Potential/Growth: State Farm’s agency structure does not lend itself to upward mobility. You’re either the agent or the team member. There are agency field offices that support the agents, but the employees there tend to be failed agents.
Location: State Farm offices are as ubiquitous as Starbucks stores. Their operations centers are rarer, but we’re talking about the agencies. If you give it some time you should be able to find a location close to home.
Co-worker Competence: I’m grading this on my most recent experience, but I will say that there are some highly competent people working at State Farm. Each one should take their knowledge and experience elsewhere as they will have money and gratitude heaped upon them. But back to the not so good ones. My agent had no knowledge of a basic auto policy, and so neither did my co-workers. I heard everyone repeatedly give incorrect advice and explanations to customers. My co-workers were not licensed to sell insurance, but did anyway AND received commission. The agent’s philosophy was to simply get new policies and it didn’t matter what had to be done to get them. It didn’t matter to him that nobody knew what they were doing as long as they sold.
Work Environment: I worked at two very different offices. The first one was uncomfortable. The agent sucked all pleasantness out of the air when he was around. He was mainly belittling and controlling, and when/if he was nice it was confusing. The second one fancied himself The Cool Boss. He seems to have a pathological need to have everyone like him so he was over the top with the chumminess sometimes. One good thing was that he was very liberal with the praise. He would then heap on the criticism, negating any nice thing he said. He was also very numbers focused. As team members were paid commission for every policy, there was a lot of sniping. There was no incentive for being fair in this office. Sell, sell, sell and do whatever you have to!
I didn’t like State Farm the first time around. I didn’t like it from the day I started and I was happy when I left. I didn’t like being micro-managed. I didn’t like being stagnant and learning nothing new. I didn’t like that I would never be promoted no matter what I did because there was nowhere to go! I came back thinking maybe things would be different since I would be working for a different agent. I was wrong, unfortunately. My State Farm days are over and I couldn’t be happier
Murfreesboro TN Bad place to work-no rewards for long hours and dedication. Who you know means more than your work ethic. Discrimination in the office on daily basis; employees are told lies from management about the hiring process & promotion process. I worked 4 years for the company and I left for a better position. I feel normal again. When I started to work for State Farm, I was very excited and shortly thereafter realized the place was very stressful and created constant anxiety for its employees. There are alot of employees on meds due to the stress; wish I had some numbers as they would be very high. There’s not a sense that a person can be themselves; the push is always there by management and 20-30 daily e-mails that want to know if you are at your desk. God forbid you need a restroom break or just a chance to refresh your mind from the constant phone volume. Call State Farm a call center because this is what IT IS. They don’t tell you this when you walk in the door SO BEWARE!
Go to work somewhere else if you have a family; they portray a 4 day work week but I know of NOONE who has accomplished this yet. Insurance education is pushed down your throat but most are too stressed from working & don’t have time to pursue the very thing they try to get you to do for promotions. Most people I talked to in this company HATE their jobs-they will openly tell their peers but not management. I know that this copany will eventually be sued by it’s employees due to the discrimination and illegal tactics. It is just a matter of time before we hear about it in the news. Find another job or lose your identity. This place will suck the living life out of you and you will lose confidence in yourself. I do feel normal again after leaving and I am grateful that I got out when I did. I prayed for over a year that God would help me find something better and he did. I’m a good person, extremely hard worker-missed 2 days in 3 years, and have worked jobs long term…so I just want you to know that my reasons for leaving were justified in that this place is not a good place to work for honest folk.
Houston, Texas I don’t know where to start. I am a long term employee and wish I would have walked away years ago. Things have changed drastically in the last several years and it seems like everyone hates their job at State Farm. When you get on the elevator in the morning the talk is how much you hate your job and how you cannot wait for the end of the day to get here.
When you first begin your career with State Farm the pay sounds really good but the more years you are there the worst it gets. They expect you to write your own performance review and then give you reasons why your percentage is not as high as you would have hoped. They explain it as a piece of a pie and make you feel you are lucky to get the small slice that you did receive even though there are others on your team who do absolutely nothing at all except volunteer for everything they can to keep them out of work, and those are the people who get the really big slice while the rest of us are working our butts off for nothing. There is always some reason why you are not worthy of more. But, for all the hard work we do, I hear management gets a substantial bonus every year plus they still get their performance cash. Doesn’t seem fair since we are the little guys who do all the work. We are treated with no respect whatsoever. Someone is always looking over your shoulder and anything you do is never enough. I feel like I am in kindergarten all over again. People will stab you in the back any chance they get including management. Speaking of management. That’s a joke. Where is your management, working from home of course. And when we submit a proposal to work a four day work week, management always has an excuse why they need you in the office everyday. I will say your job is pretty secure with State Farm and they are so afraid of being sued that they hardly ever fire anyone for performance issues. Therefore if you do just enough to get you by then you can pretty much feel safe that your job will always be there. If you dont’ have a college degree then you can pretty much kiss any type of advancement goodbye. They post for positions but is is the opinion of everyone in the company that they already know who they will promote before the posting ever comes out. I don’t know why they haven’t been sued before for some of the reasons given why you were not picked for a particular position. Don’t get me wrong, there are still a few State Farm Employees that love their jobs. But if you were a fly on the wall and could hear the gossip around the office you would quickly learn that the majority is fed up. There are so many of us who are so close to retirement and just cannot walk away.
Louisiana I once worked at State Farm in Louisiana for 18 months. I had a college degree with a high gpa. I was hired on as a claim expiditer (one position below a rep). The company hired me on making $23k a year, but promised to give me the first claim rep position that came available. Three rep positions came open within a year. I was allowed to try out for two of them. I got neither position. My coworkers were mostly great and knowledgeable, but they had been there for years. From what I could tell by talking to other coworkers, the company would have strung me along forever. So, I quit and took a job somewhere else making double the money. So far as “job security” goes. SF will be happy to work you to death, and makes a big deal out of “never having a massive period of layoffs” or something to that effect. However, they will give you options like “you can move to a different state and take a huge pay cut or quit”. Those are the types of choices they give you. In other words, they strive to never lay anyone off, but they will give you options that let you stay with the company…but many times those options really suck and make employees prefer to quit, so SF avoids laying off (and therefore giving unemployment benefits). However, they are telling the “truth” when they claim to rarely lay anyone off. Also, promotions do seem completely related to who you know. SF will also do whatever they can to avoid giving you a raise. One manager actually pulled my phone records for the last six months to see if I can called my home phone from work. I hadn’t, which stunned him. This was a total “suprise” during the review period, but would have been an excuse to not give me a raise otherwise. Mananagement was friendly, but in typical dilbert style, they always sat together and whispered among each other at lunch, rarely bothering to speak with regular employees or reps outside of the office. …the office was well kept, and they company did try to give us perks in whatever fashion they could. (car wash service while you’re at work, oil changes while you’re at work, etc, but you had to pay for all those services). Overall, I’d say SF met my expectations for a bloated corporation who will eventually be eaten alive by smaller competition. Management would hand down a new way of doing things every few months, which might work well in some states, but would make work more difficult in other states (due to varying state laws on traffic and insurance regulations).
If you can get in good with the company (esp in management), making decent money, then it might not be so bad. If you’re single and work on the CATastrophe team, there is some serious money to be made. If you’re married and your spouse works on the CAT team with you, even better. However, most non-CAT team personel weren’t overly happy with their jobs or chances for promotion.
I don’t hate SF, but I would avoid trying to work for them again.
Oh, you all are giving SF too much credit. Look at the people complaining.
What about this: The people who are railing at SF just couldn’t handle the demands of working at SF, period.
State Farm does ask their employees, agents and agents staff for to produce, and I mean really put out the good stuff.
How else do they remain at the top of their industry for so long. Not everyone can hack or handle this.
Some people are just not cut out to be the “BEST”, this is why we have jobs for them at McDonalds, Cosco or the Thrift Stores……
It’s ok, just think when our country is totally transformed into a Socialist State as Obama (Looser) is currently doing, you people on the lower end of the gene pool will have the same benefits as all of us who are the BEST at what we do.
Thanks for bringing a little reality into the picture Rocketman.
I am an agent and I bring my staff in making mid 30’s. I provide a retirment plan that I match up to 3% of salary. I offer either health insurance for the employee, or $500 cash extra a month so they can buy it elsewhere if they choose.
I do not micromanage. I manage for results. I have no intention of chasing employees to see what they are doing…as long as sales are being made, and I am not getting complaint calls from clients.
Each agent is different….but I run my office based on suggestions from the majority of my peers.
If you claim to be an American then feedom should mean something to you. Your not for freedom your views are of government control. You have the right to purchase a product or not but to tell companies to stop selling all products because one if not profitable is wrong. Where will it end?
Freedom is choice not government or controls. If we go your way soon governemt will tell us we can buy bread on Tuesday but will pay more than the man buying it on Thursday because you get it earlier in the week. That will be when we go to Hell and Back. This issue is nothing but a current political football that will change with the next Governor or Hurricane which ever gets here first.
You don’t want to start responding to our resident multiple name SF hater. I tried and found that this individual has no intention of discussing any issues, just posting hate notes about them for their own reasons. I still think they are paid for their posts since they seem to post huge reponses over and over and over. It doesn’t matter the topic, this individual just hates SF so much they are willing to post anything they can to slander the largest insurer in the U.S. With the huge number of policies they write you can always find bad situations or simply unhappy claimants. What is their actual ratio of complaints to the state? Does our resident SF hater know or even care? Of course not. Get treatment.
Can someone please get a gun and kill Bill Payer. Given the degree of cognitive degeneration and delusion, I think it would be the most human thing to do.
Now lets help Bill understand:
BILL PLEASE READ THIS VERY SLOWLY, I DO NOT WANT YOU TO MISUNDERSTAND THE FOLLOWING:
SF AGENTS ARE PAID A COMMISSION THAT IS MUCH LOWER THAN MOST INDEPENDENT AGENTS…..DID YOU GET THAT !
AND FROM THAT COMMISSION, MANY BILLS ARE PAID.
FROM THAT COMMISSION, THEY PAY FOR THOUSANDS OF STAFF PEOPLE, ADDING TO THE LOCAL ECONOMY.
FROM THAT COMMISSION, THEY HAVE TO PURCHASE/RENT THEIR FACILITIES.
FROM THAT COMMISSION, THEY HAVE TO PAY LOCAL, SCHOOL, STATE AND FEDERAL TAXES
FROM THAT COMMISSION, THEY HAVE TO PAY UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION INSURANCE, WORKERS COMPENSATION INSURANCE, LIABILITY INSURANCE, ERRORS AND OMISSIONS INSURANCE, EMPLOYEES BONDING, HEALTH INSURANCE, LIFE INSURANCE, DISABILITY INSURANCE, AUTO INSURANCE, BUSINESS INSURANCE & WFU INSURANCE HAS TO BE PAID.
FROM THAT COMMISSION THEY HAVE TO PAY FOR ADVERTISING & MARKETING, PUBLIC RELATIONS AND BUY EVERY GIRL SCOUT COOKIE IN THE COUNTY
FROM THAT COMMISSION THEY HAVE TO PAY FOR ELECTRIC, GAS, WATER & SEWER
FROM THAT COMMISSION THEY HAVE TO PAY LAWYERS TO PROTECT THEM FROM AZZHOLES WHO TRY TO TAKE THEIR HARD EARNED MONEY
FROM THAT COMMISSION THEY HAVE TO PAY ACCOUNTANTS TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY HAVE PAID ALL OF THEIR BILLS AND TAXES
AND LASTLY, AFTER EVERY INTEREST HAS BEEN PAID, THE AGENT HAS TO HOPE THAT THEY HAVE ENOUGH TO PAY FOR THEIR FAMILIES NEEDS AND HOPES.
BILL, DOES THAT CLEAR IT UP FOR YOU ?
NOW GO BACK TO BEING A JEALOUS BLOOD SUCKING LOOSER TRYING TO SH!T ON ALL OF THE GOOD STATE FARM AGENTS WHO ACTUALLY HAVE MADE SOMETHING GOOD OF THEIR LIVES.
NOW, BACK AWAY FROM THE COMPUTER AND GO BACK THE REGISTER AT WALMART WHERE BELONG.
an increase of 44%.
Comment:
When a company is misleading the public, should that not be considered fraud? A consumer would go to prison for that type of behavior. State Farm will let you know that, in several states, fraud and abuse is pushing up the cost of auto insurance. A court in late 2001 reached an unfriendly consumer decision that could have the effect of reaching deep into the pockets of the consumer. Sharply higher jury awards in vehicular liability cases are putting additional upward pressure on auto insurance rates. The average jury award in auto liability cases rose from $187,000 to $269,000 in 2000, an increase of 44%.
The biggest Ponzi Scheme
Fye wrote in a Florida case
“I have been witnessing document destruction, concealment, and obstruction of discovery by State Farm for many years in connection with my review of internal claim practices documents of the insurer. I have accumulated certain Exhibits which show the company’s goals and objectives for document handling by its employees. The documents show close to 28 years of intentional destruction, concealment and distortion of claim practices records.”
:
PLEASE EVERYONE OUT THERE DO NOT AND I REPEAT DO NOT GET STATE FARM AS AN INSURANCE COMPANY, ON DECEMBER 30 2008 MY 2007 TOYOTA CAMRY WAS STOLEN OUT OF MY DRIVE WAY, I REPORTED THE CLAIM TO STATE FARM, I ALSO COMPLIED WITH THERE INVESTIGATION FULLY, THEY JERK ME AROUND FOR 4 MONTHS AND THEN THE DENIED MY CLAIM, AND WAS STILL TALKING MY MONEY OUT EVERY MONTH – THEY FAILED TO INFORM ME ABOUT ANY INFORMATION, IF I WANTED INFORMATION I HAD TO KEEP CALLING THEM, STATE FARM DOES NOT CARE ABOUT YOU AT ALL, WHEN YOU HAVE A CLAIM THEY LOOK AT YOU LIKE YOUR A CRIMINAL AND THEN THE WILL DINED YOU, I OVER HEARD THE SUPERVISOR AT STATE FARM SAYING THAT QUOTE ( HE’S BLACK HE DON’T HAVE ANY MONEY TO SUE US. UNQUOTE} PLEASE I WILL SAY OVER AND OVER AGAIN DO NOT GET STATE FARM AND IF YOU ALREADY HAVE STATE FARM CANCEL ASAP THEY JUST WANT YOUR MONEY, THEY WILL NOT HELP YOU WHEN YOU HAVE A CLAIM. IF THERES ANYONE OUT THERE THAT CAN HELP ME PLEASE DO SO. THANK YOU
MY POLICY WAS TO HELP IN CASE. BUT I DO GET IT IT,S JUST A NUMMBER GAME
numbers game. 25,851 18 PEOPLE Denial of Claim SORRY GUYS ITS JUST A NUMMBER GAME. THE LESS NUMMERS WE PAY THE MORE WE PLAY PUTTING THE MONEY IN THE WRONG POCKETS. WAKE UP !!!!
This site is being taken over by multiple posting loons. Fraud would be the slanders that this one poster puts out under new names each time. What do you do for a living multiple name poster? Does your business ever receive complaints? Does your business have politicians telling you what you can sell and at what price? Do you have to ask for approval of the format of every product you sell? I doubt it. No business is more regulated by the government than insurance. I hope they pay you well to spend 10 hours a day posting garbage on this and probably other sites.
Thick, as in your head when it comes to this one company. Your posts are laughable. Do you really think you have changed one opinion based on barraging us with nonsense constantly? I have said before, you can’t do anything to change anything here. This is an opinion site. If you have evidence of the great satan, SF, performing criminal acts, nothing you post here is going to make a difference. Run for FL Insurance Commisioner. Even a loon like you can’t do a worse job than the current politicians in that state. Otherwise, get a life.
No multiname moron. It’s just a hobby responding to you. It amuses me to see you waste your time. I get paid to work in one of the best and most important industries in the country, insurance. I work with excellent, hard working and honest people. Your experience seems to be less than satisfactory. You probably bought insurance because it was cheap rather than because it was a good claim paying company. Your problem. That doesn’t make the insurance industry bad, just you stupid. Have fun this weekend. I hope you don’t burn anything down with your fireworks because you probably no longer have insurance, liability or otherwise. Now get back to your job of posting cut and paste move on type nonsense.
” I get paid to work in one of the best and most important industries in the country, insurance” WHO WOULD THAT BE nobody important TELL ALL OF US WHO YOU WORK FOR.
If you are sensing that my attitude is a little jaded, it is. I am not a mean person, it is just that the crowd here is as one person mentioned “Thick”. Other’s would say that they are brain dead or mentally deficient. I am not sure myself.
The short of it is that the Fla market has been heading to the toilet for a long time.
State Farm has the HIGHEST reputation of any large carrier.
When people support the State in this case, they are just wrong.
When people try to run down State Farm they are, again, just wrong.
I don’t have much patience for those people, I don’t know if it shows a little ? What do you think ?
Who I work for is none of your business. I have repeatedly asked why you bear such hate for SF. My question is far more pertinent to and discussion. You have done nothing in response except post hate message, one after another. Your type of messages do not belong on any discussion site and approach the level of abuse that should have you banned from the site. I would ask any moderator, if one exists on this site, to think hard about banning this person. They don’t discuss, they just post hate mail. Cut and paste idiots like this have no actual opinion to add to the discussion. Your stupid comments just became less amusing. You are unfunny enough to be a Senator from Minnesota.
What an interesting contradiction in ideals! On the day that we celebrate the country’s independence, one that was fought and died for to develop a Bill of Rights, you recommend silencing someone because their opinions don’t line up with yours. “Me thinks thou protesteth too much!” I am not just “spewing hate”, but reflecting the results of years of investigation of the industry that you are so proud of. An industry that uses hundreds of attornies to draft policies in “plain language” in which they do not hesitate to make up their own definitions to. Webster would roll over in his grave to see how his dictionary has changed. And if the original draft isn’t enough, every few weeks you get an amendment to your policy that you must accept or cancel, which coincidentally makes it that much harder to get a policy from another company. I could paper the walls of your office with the amendments that I have received from your “beloved” companies. The sum and substance of my findings over the last four years is that when the buying public that has been paying your premiums for the majority of their lives really needed you, you bailed and tried to pin the liability on the federal government. Have I had a bad experience with State Farm? Obviously you haven’t been really paying attention to my posts. I made more money in my business in 2 months than they were willing to pay for permanent injury to my neck. Do you really think that I am spending my time just to irritate you? I am trying to get you insurance “professionals” to pay attention to your industry and deliver on the promises that you make to customers that buy that promise when they need it the most. Is that “thick” or can we, the public, actually depend on you to do what you say you will do? What do you think, guys, can YOU step up to the plate?
I think that it is time for my voice to be heard. I have been a licensed insurance agent since 1986 and a national award winning district sales manager for 13 years, so don’t think that I don’t know the industry. I am sickened when I read stories from the poster that has been sparing with “mr. nobody” for the past few years, but not for the reason that you may think. I am embarrassed when my industry lets our clients down to the degree that they apparently have this individual. Is anyone really listening to what is being said here? I have fought with underwriters for years to get coverage put in place for people that really need it when they want to cherry pick the best and brightest insureds to limit their liability, only to then fight with the claims department to keep them from jumping through loop holes in the policies to deny payable claims. I feel the posters pain and can only hope that my fellow agents on this post will redouble their efforts to honestly represent their clients, forget about the corporate bottom line (believe me, all of the companies that I represent are doing just fine with their profit pictures) put their commission concerns on a back burner and get back to serving the public and sharing the risk rather than focusing on pushing the pendulum in the direction of the insurer. The American College and NALU teach us the basis of insurance and set the standards for us to follow and one of them is to listen to our insureds, not limit the input that we receive because the message is distasteful. How about agreeing to conduct our business better rather than striking out at someone who has obviously been harmed beyond belief by someone in our chosen profession.
Well excuse me concerned agent. I have asked how this individual has been harmed any number of times with no response. How is posting rambling hate cut and paste posts about SF helping them resolve whatever problem they have. Our industry has an excellent record of helping people. I attack this messenger because they appear to be a paid poster. There are such things. If you have such sympathy for this individual, you try and have a discussion and give them big hugs. You will find that they don’t care what you have to say. To call this individual anything but a insurance industry hating poster is naive.
July 2, 2009, 8:38 am CDT
Posted By: nobody important
Comment:
Thick, as in your head when it comes to this one company. Your posts are laughable. Do you really think you have changed one opinion based on barraging us with nonsense constantly? I have said before, you can’t do anything to change anything here. This is an opinion site. If you have evidence of the great satan, SF, performing criminal acts, nothing you post here is going to make a difference. Run for FL Insurance Commisioner. Even a loon like you can’t do a worse job than the current politicians in that state. Otherwise, get a life.
July 3, 2009, 8:12 pm CDT
Posted By: nobody important
Comment:
No multiname moron. It’s just a hobby responding to you. It amuses me to see you waste your time. I get paid to work in one of the best and most important industries in the country, insurance. I work with excellent, hard working and honest people. Your experience seems to be less than satisfactory. You probably bought insurance because it was cheap rather than because it was a good claim paying company. Your problem. That doesn’t make the insurance industry bad, just you stupid. Have fun this weekend. I hope you don’t burn anything down with your fireworks because you probably no longer have insurance, liability or otherwise. Now get back to your job of posting cut and paste move on type nonsense. July 6, 2009, 7:30 am CDT
Posted By: nobody important
Comment:
Well excuse me concerned agent. I have asked how this individual has been harmed any number of times with no response. How is posting rambling hate cut and paste posts about SF helping them resolve whatever problem they have. Our industry has an excellent record of helping people. I attack this messenger because they appear to be a paid poster. There are such things. If you have such sympathy for this individual, you try and have a discussion and give them big hugs. You will find that they don’t care what you have to say. To call this individual anything but a insurance industry hating poster is naive.
July 4, 2009, 6:44 pm CDT
Posted By: nobody important
Comment:
Who I work for is none of your business. I have repeatedly asked why you bear such hate for SF. My question is far more pertinent to and discussion. You have done nothing in response except post hate message, one after another. Your type of messages do not belong on any discussion site and approach the level of abuse that should have you banned from the site. I would ask any moderator, if one exists on this site, to think hard about banning this person. They don’t discuss, they just post hate mail. Cut and paste idiots like this have no actual opinion to add to the discussion. Your stupid comments just became less amusing. You are unfunny enough to be a Senator from Minnesota.
IT,S NOT NICE TO CALL PEOPLE NAMES!!
July 5, 2009, 12:53 pm CDT
Posted By: Girl Scout
Comment:
What an interesting contradiction in ideals! On the day that we celebrate the country’s independence, one that was fought and died for to develop a Bill of Rights, you recommend silencing someone because their opinions don’t line up with yours. “Me thinks thou protesteth too much!” I am not just “spewing hate”, but reflecting the results of years of investigation of the industry that you are so proud of. An industry that uses hundreds of attornies to draft policies in “plain language” in which they do not hesitate to make up their own definitions to. Webster would roll over in his grave to see how his dictionary has changed. And if the original draft isn’t enough, every few weeks you get an amendment to your policy that you must accept or cancel, which coincidentally makes it that much harder to get a policy from another company. I could paper the walls of your office with the amendments that I have received from your “beloved” companies. The sum and substance of my findings over the last four years is that when the buying public that has been paying your premiums for the majority of their lives really needed you, you bailed and tried to pin the liability on the federal government. Have I had a bad experience with State Farm? Obviously you haven’t been really paying attention to my posts. I made more money in my business in 2 months than they were willing to pay for permanent injury to my neck. Do you really think that I am spending my time just to irritate you? I am trying to get you insurance “professionals” to pay attention to your industry and deliver on the promises that you make to customers that buy that promise when they need it the most. Is that “thick” or can we, the public, actually depend on you to do what you say you will do? What do you think, guys, can YOU step up to the plate?
years of investigation of the industry
”I have said before, you can’t do anything to change anything here. This is an opinion site ”. A increase of 44%. I question if any of the lawsuits would be necessary if the company would just fairly pay their claims. The company represents on their web-site that consumer protection is one of their most important goals, but do they really think that courts would be awarding multiple millions of dollars in bad faith claims if that were their emphasis? State Farm’s ratings are based on their financial strength. State Farm states that their high ratings are also based on strong claims paying ability. With this ability, why is it necessary for their policy holders to allege that the claims department was directed, in evaluating their cases, to take them to trial instead of settling within the limits of the policy?
Your numbers are highly suspect as are your general posts. I tried to advise you early on to file complaints with the insurance departments if you have specific issues. You choose to ignore any actual advice. You earn any name calling since you aren’t actually interesting in resolving real issues, just calling my industry and the people within it criminals. I have no respect for you or your methods. Make up any numbers you want or post numbers you find at insurance hating websites and you still are not dealing with actual issues. I am calling you and your so called facts totally nonfactual. Laughable, in fact. You don’t have a clue.
two independent adjusters provided evidence to Mississippi officials that they said supported claims of impropriety against State Farm. The two adjusters contended that State Farm destroyed large numbers of documents related to their payments for Hurricane Katrina . ”Your type of messages do not belong on any discussion site” . No this site is perfect for this type of messages .
An industry that uses hundreds of attornies to draft policies in “plain language” in which they do not hesitate to make up their own definitions to. Webster would roll over in his grave to see how his dictionary has changed. And if the original draft isn’t enough, every few weeks you get an amendment to your policy that you must accept or cancel, which coincidentally makes it that much harder to get a policy from another company. I could paper the walls of your office with the amendments that I have received from your “beloved” companies
I agree,concerned agent, that my comments do not serve any purpose in responding to the SF hater posts and will not look to respond to them again. I get a bit upset with people who hate the industry that I have served for over 30 years. We do a huge amount of good and slander of their type doesn’t serve any real purpose. It is typical of public discourse on all levels these days. Attack over and over. I am properly chastised and will avoid the easily spotted posts from this individal. My apologies.
July 5, 2009, 1:28 pm CDT
Posted By: concerned agent
Comment:
I think that it is time for my voice to be heard. I have been a licensed insurance agent since 1986 and a national award winning district sales manager for 13 years, so don’t think that I don’t know the industry. I am sickened when I read stories from the poster that has been sparing with “mr. nobody” for the past few years, but not for the reason that you may think. I am embarrassed when my industry lets our clients down to the degree that they apparently have this individual. Is anyone really listening to what is being said here? I have fought with underwriters for years to get coverage put in place for people that really need it when they want to cherry pick the best and brightest insureds to limit their liability, only to then fight with the claims department to keep them from jumping through loop holes in the policies to deny payable claims. I feel the posters pain and can only hope that my fellow agents on this post will redouble their efforts to honestly represent their clients, forget about the corporate bottom line (believe me, all of the companies that I represent are doing just fine with their profit pictures) put their commission concerns on a back burner and get back to serving the public and sharing the risk rather than focusing on pushing the pendulum in the direction of the insurer. The American College and NALU teach us the basis of insurance and set the standards for us to follow and one of them is to listen to our insureds, not limit the input that we receive because the message is distasteful. How about agreeing to conduct our business better rather than striking out at someone who has obviously been harmed beyond belief by someone in our chosen profession.
Subject
The report State Farm ordered included a sticky note on the first page that said, “Put in Wind file — DO NOT Pay Bill, DO NOT discuss.” is this ethics journalists maybe you should ask Patricia Harned at the ethics resource she is the President ask her about the code of ethics.202-872-4771
nobody important is this ethics.
Since when is State Farm cheaper, perhaps in areas that are of minimal risk. I live in south florida (Broward) and insured with Tower Hill….they had no problem paying their 2005 claims and are still 2,000 cheaper than SF on my home, not to mention Universal, Homewise, Travelers, Lib Mutual….should I go on? The problem with the Citizens scenario is all those who can’t or won’t compete (SF) automatically place their clients there. How can a company like SF not be profitable when $200k townhomes were paying $6500 a year in premiums…give me a break. Sorry you worked for SF so long, drinking the kool aid..vomitting “state farm is there” and now screwed because the boys that push the pen won’t let you be a REAL player in the market. The bottom line is most SF agents are lazy, take advantage of there clients and now are paying the price.
Have a great day!
David you are clueless. All those companies your list off 1) Have never weathered a major storm and paid claims 2) Are completely under funded and 3) Have a lot less coverage, and I can go on and on and on about their financing. But that is not the point, in a free market the government has no right to come in and dictate to a business how much to charge for their product. That sort of government control is called fascism. (Privately owned business, but controlled by government) Freedom of choice is the real issues here. If you don’t want to pay for the more expensive insurance, than don’t! No one says you have to buy it! No one says you have to own a house or have a mortgage! Where does the government control end? But I am going to assume you are an Obama supporter as well and think bigger government is always the answer. Go read Liberal Fascism by Goldberg and wake up!
This is a sad day for Floridians. Watch for written proof that either the Governor is lying to Floridians or the Insurance Commissioner is lying about the “40 new companies and $4B in capital”. It’s just not true. Surplus lines companies account for $3.383B of the $4B and there are only 17 new companies writing homeowners since 2007. OIR has admitted their website is incorrect and they will be “taking down” that info. In addition, the “consumer groups” that he listened to are all headed by people who have either worked for or served on committees headed up by Kevin McCarty and they ARE NOT Floridians. So, Crist hear me…no more votes, no more money. Anything we can do to get either Rubio or Kendrick elected we will do.
What is to say State Farm will not go E&S to do business in the state? Even if they are to broker business if the judge says so by July 15. They will be supporting the insureds needs. Will they sell the smaller companies policies if they could?
DS.
You are kidding right? Clueless, everything that I mentioned in my last post is actually fact. Instead of you blowing off assuming that I am an Obama lover, I guess it would be just as easy to lable you as a Bush blower.
Fact, Tower Hill was exposed to losses of both 2004 & 2005 storm seasons AND like all carriers writing at that time, experienced record losses. Do I think we need bigger government…NO> But what we need are a set of tangible rules/guidelines in which companies are forced to abide by. Requests for premium increases have been out of control and it is ONE of the many causes of the foreclosure crisis we face throughout the state. But even you have to agree that arbitrary premium increases based partly on carriers bad investment on Wall Street shouldn’t be thrown upon the backs of policy holders. Meanwhile, the CEO’s are still cashing their multi-million dollar salaries w/ bennies. State Farm, Allstate have been bending over the consumer long enough. Just the simple concept of allowing a company that large to conduct business however they want, with no restrictions is “clueless” to the needs of the everyday consumer. If we’re talking about the four letter word “risk” and how it is assumed in Florida, then every home should have a modified Four Point Inspection, mandating that homeowners make sensible repairs and maintain their homes!!! I am for checks/balances on both sides of the fence, but let’s not cry on about how the insurance industry has it so bad. Most agents are glorified used cars salesman that employ idiotic personel that can’t even spell “insurance.” Meanwhile the agent isn’t in the office because they’re T’ing off on the back nine of the Blue Monster or attending a Chamber luncheon.
I know…factually…many SF agents that tell their clients that they are receiving their wind mitigation discounts knowing damn well that there’s no Wind Mit on file…but they aren’t exactly fibbing because they gave the homeowner a credit for their gable roof.
I cannot believe that Charlie Crist vetoed a bill that would call for less government intervention into my life and everyone else’s. He calls himself a republican. What a joke. Just another RINO. By vetoing this bill, he putting everyone with a check book on the hook for all the hurricane damage that is going to have to be paid when the next big one hits and Citizens goes under and assess everyone. With no outside money in this state, we will all have nice blue traps as roofs. This is all for political gain for Crist.
Charlie is betting on a good storm season again…….for all our sakes in Florida….I pray he is right! If he is not, he can count on a financial catastrophe on his hands.
Thank you for not putting up with the State Farm nonsense of cherrypicking.
It is about time they did the right thing for the consumer instead of corporate greed.
Thanks Charlie. You’ve just unemployed my mother.
How do you figure it will hurt any less or more. You would have cried like a baby had state farm been your homeowers company and gotten a 47% increase. And you would not have purchased the coverage if it was offered at that price
YEAH!!!! bye-bye State Farm!!! Let me see how this went down. Carriers got nailed hard from the storm seasons of 2004-2005 and took a 50+% premium increase. After cashing the checks, State Farm pleaded with the state to create the My Safe Florida Home Program, welcoming retro-fits and mitigation discounts. Homeowners actually took an interest in protecting their dwelling and received discounts because of the lower risk. Then SF requests a 47% prem increase because of the mitigation discounts and threatens to pull out if they don’t get what they want. Meanwhile their agents can’t write HO policies other than Citizens…..and all this is Christ’s fault.
Perhaps (1) stop with the NASCAR sponsorships and other BS expenditures (2) allow agents to write HO & wind with a select few carriers that ARE competitive (3) get over yourself.
If a company cannot make a profit with (3) years of storm free claims….then perhaps they have some upgrade opportunities within their management structure.
I hope Chalrie knows what he’s doing. When thousands of people start receiving cancellation letters daily in the next few months, I hope the market can absorb the risk. In case most of you haven’t read Demotechs 6/19 press bulletin, in it they re-confirmed the ratings of the Florida domestics. One of the conditions for those ratings was the passage of HB 1171. Guess we will all wait and see what happens….
David, free market = competetive prices, better service, etc. But with that also comes educated consumer. When you take away the risk of having to actually learn something you get lazy, like the consumer. The consumer has to understand what they are doing, then the educated consumer can do the right and go with a honest company. Crist has taken that out of the picture. SF will work around this, they never loss a fight, look at Mississippi, this would help your issues as well! HO premium had nothing to with the current housing problem. Barney Frank and community reinvestment act did that! NO and I not a Bush, blower, he is too liberal!
St Farm is not the only rated company out there, and they haven’t been writing homes in years. Let them go, glad that Crist didn’t give in to them.
Thank You Governor for doing such a fine job in our State.
The Property Insurance market has been re-vitalized by your measures.
Thank you for fighting against the “mafiosos” of the US Chamber of Commerce and other corrupted special interests groups
We can use the extra help from your mother and all the State Farm staff when we sweep them into our agency.
Hey Eugene! 47% increase in not bad. I have called around and with less coveage, any compnay that can pay a claim is a lot more. Now because of the Gov’t I have to insured my house with some fly by night carrier and hope and pray that I never have to make a claim. I voted for Crist and gave money to his campaign. I will make it my sole purpose in life to make sure he never serves in public office again. This is only going to hurt Florida, just wait for $1200 per year assessments that are coming after the next storm. Check your auto premium now, you are paying 1% to bail out Citizens after the 2005 season. Back when Citizens was charging the correct rates, before Crist and his HB1A came in a screwed it all up.
William,
You’ve obviously not been in this business long. I can tell you as an independent agent, State Farm leaving is not going to be good for our business in the long-term. As soon as the smaller carriers reach capacity, it’s going to be Citizens or nothing. We all know how great Citizens is to work with.
I beg to disagree!
As a matter of fact, I am already planning an all/out marketing campaign to SF policyholders when SF starts non-renewing them. Can you imagine how many of their policyholders with cars, boats and other stuff that will be cancelling all lines once they hear: hmmm, sorry, your home is being non-renewed after 25 years?!
We are certainly going to have a “fat” Christmas party this year!
the way I see it is that IF the bill would have passed State Farm would have raised the rate and then still pulled out of Florida leaving thousands of home owners with out any insurance then getting forcloused because not having the insurance. LOOK back on this and you will see that it has happend may times.
Florida insurance is a ripoff. house in florida $3000.00 a year the same house (size and square footage) in tennesse is approx $700.00 a year insuracne companies are ripping off florida people
YOU ARE RIGHT, insurance in Fla is a ripoff ! The regulators have caused the premium collected by insurers to be lower than the amount of the cost & claims involved in insuring homes in the Fla marketplace. So, in short, the insurers have been expected to pay out more than they collect in premium. This is a ripoff. You are right. If this were different, than why are all of the “REAL” insurance companies exiting the marketplace ?????????????
Enjoy your Christmas party this year. Hopefully State Farm leaving will draw new capital into the insurance market to fill the void. If not, when you run out of capacity…as we all will…you won’t be throwing any “fat” Christmas parties.
And they will cry when a storm hits and they are underinsured or maybe uninsured altogether…but don’t worry, the federal government will fork out some dough so you can put up another trailer and pocket the difference…
Sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G all our hard earned after tax money away. We need a clean sweep next election including senate race, anybody!
by A.M. Best is “B” with a negative outlook. this doesn’t look like a very strong company. One good storm could suck the air out of their surplus and then guess who gets to pay their claims? the Guarnanty fund! which is funded by assessments on guess who? all the other insurance companies! and you know who will ultimately pay for those assessments? all the other people who actually have insurance policies! why can’t anyone understand the simple logic in letting companies charge whatever they want, and if the premium is too high, guess what? the company won’t have any business and will have to lower rates in order to increase market share or go out of business (or withdraw!). In that event, if you don’t like the premium, you don’t have to pay it, just find another carrier! and guess what? there aren’t any more carriers because there is no competitive market. How do you think State Farm could do any business if their rates are too high? No one is forced ato buy insurance so if no one buys, the companies either leave the market or they have to lower rates; but let the companies compete, and you can bet that their will be price competition; if you know anything about insurance, this has been a soft market with all companies trying to steal business from their competitors…how? by lowering their prices!
Google them. This is Allstate’s new E&S carrier they have created to write “catastrophe exposed” property. Right in time for State Farm to leave.
Hey last I looked State Farm Florida had a b and a negative outlook as well. All of you that are in favor of State Farm Please stop calling it State Farm. It is not State Farm it is State Farm Florida which is a subsidiary of State Farm. After hurricane Andrew State farm went broke. So they had to reorganize under a new corp. to protect State Farm Mutual.
Get your facts right.
PS I am thrilled to see them go BYE BYE!!!!!
Oh, geez.
Why should we let anything as abstract as America’s founding principles get in the way of a big political football game? After all, they are only responsible for the growth and prosperity of the greatest nation the planet has ever seen, and will likely ever see.
Let’s let emotion control our actions. After all, the (imaginary) level playing field is much more important than allowing free-market capitalism and the laws of economics to work.
Way to go Governor Crist! It’s all about the green- no one cares about florida homeowners.
Thank you so much for standing up for the citizens of Florida.
Is anyone counting this idiots stupid decisions? Way to go DUMMY.
Those of you that are in agreement of Crist’s veto of HB1171 are seriously mis-informed. Those of you that are happy that State Farm is leaving the market place are clearly uneducated and feeding off your emotional interests and inability to manage your personal finances. Apparently you’ve already forgotten about other financially sound companies like USAA, AllState, Nationwide, etc.. that went down the same path in this State and were already forced out. They didn’t get as much publicity because they didn’t have as much market share – it’s that simple. You are plain wrong and what’s sad is that aren’t even aware of it – numbers don’t lie. To think that these “40 new companies” which have been around for a mere 2-3 years (years without hurricanes – duh) are funded properly to pay out all of their claims is ludicrous. They’re barely getting by! And some of them are actually accounting firms! Not insurance companyies – they are hedging their bets. The money isn’t there to pay the claims people – wake up. And oh by the way, they don’t all sell insurance throughout the entire State!! Wake up!! You can’t insure a $200,000 home for $700 a year and be solvent in this State – let alone tens or hundreds of thousands. Good luck trying to find a policy from one of these companies in South or Central Florida. Crist has screwed us again under the premise that he’s “looking out for the hard working Floridian” and most of you are completely unaware. Yep, I work in the insurance business and see clients like you that walk in every day and have absolutely NO clue what’s going on – all you do is listen to the nonsense that comes out of Charlie’s mouth. Glad I don’t work for State Farm, I’d be even more ticked off! To think that limiting consumer options is a good thing is absolute insanity. Here’s an easy analogy that you can relate to: If you want to buy the quality of a Mercedes-Benz E class, you pay for it. If you want the quality of a Ford EXPLODER, you pay less for it. You get what you pay for. I’m praying for a series of hurricanes to blow this nonsense out of the water in this State – that’s the only way to fix this mess now. When you see the FHCF assessments on your home and auto insurance bills go through the roof, then you’ll wake up. Or, you probably don’t know what that is either do you? Good luck.
The ratings are based on North Light’s solid risk-adjusted capitalization and operating support provided by the affiliates of Allstate Insurance Group. This operating support is demonstrated by a 100% quota share reinsurance contract with Allstate Insurance Company for countrywide business (excluding Florida and New Jersey). In the event North Light commences writing business in Florida and/or New Jersey, a similar 100% quota share reinsurance contract will be implemented with an Allstate subsidiary. It is anticipated that the Florida business will be reinsured with Allstate Floridian Insurance Company and the New Jersey business will be reinsured with Allstate New Jersey Insurance Company prior to North Light beginning to write business in those states. Operating support also is provided by the same underwriting, pricing and claims infrastructure that is used by Allstate Insurance Group.
http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/ticker/article.aspx?symbol=US:ALL&feed=BW&date=20090402&id=9756286
The Governor’s veto is a signal to State Farm that they can’t get away with their business as usual tactics. Their bluff has been called and they will now leave the state.
It is State Farm Florida that is leaving (a B rated company with a negative outlook). They chose to do this to their agents and policyholders. They don’t want to write the business but they don’t want anyone else too either. They won’t allow their own agents to write fire business for other companies when they (State Farm Florida) don’t want it. Now is that the type of company anyone would really want to do business with?
The management of State Farm has shown their true colors and it has nothing to do with being “a good neighbor” it is more like being the bully of the block. This time the bully has been called out and they have painted themselves in a corner and will now see other markets take the business their agents have worked so hard to build over these many years.
Maria: I believe you’re mistaken. State Farm did not go broke. They created State Farm Florida to transfer their risk.
Tower Hill has a surplus of less than $50 million; not much if you have high value homes. they can insure their own neck of the woods but will need to raise capital to increase market share to replace SF Florida. It will take a 20 companies this size to start….
“They created State Farm Florida to transfer their risk.”
They created State Farm Florida so they could cry broke and fudge numbers. I don’t think State Farm pulling out is going to help my business, especially 12 months out when we start to run out of capacity, but let’s call a spade a spade. I don’t think what State Farm has been doing in the years since Hurricane Andrew is prudent at all. They still have many millions allocated to marketing a product they don’t sell! How is that not fudging numbers? They buy all of their reinsurance from their parent company. How is that not fudging numbers?
I would have been for this bill had it allowed price deregulation for all companies doing business in Florida allowing an even playing field for all companies. Bottom line is too- consumers are to blame – when I can quote them an A rated or B++ rated carrier with AM Best- but the consumer chooses an A rated Demotech carrier in business less than 5 years because they are $300 a year cheaper- consumers will have to share some of the blame when the big wind blows again.
I would have been for this bill had it allowed price deregulation for all companies doing business in Florida allowing an even playing field for all companies. Bottom line is too- consumers are to blame – when I can quote them an A rated or B++ rated carrier with AM Best- but the consumer chooses an A rated Demotech carrier in business less than 5 years because they are $300 a year cheaper- consumers will have to share some of the blame when the big wind blows again.
It’s so bad it would be funny if it were not true. FL is the laughing stock until the storms finally hit (and they will…sooner or later). At that point, as others have pointed out the assessments will show up on all our bills. By then, Gov. Charlie hopes to be well moved on and not in any way associated with THE MESS he will leave. Politics as usual!!
get it right mate.. Jim Jones and his cult didn’t use Kool-Aid. They drank Flavor-Aid (aka Flavr-aid & Flav-R-Aid).
GET IT RIGHT.
Your smart-alec comment for the day :P
Other then that, Good luck to you all in Florida, likely you’ll need all that you can get.
I am calling a spade a spade. Regardless of whether people agree, or even like it, quite a few companies created the subsidiaries in order to transfer their risk.
Personally I don’t have a dog in the hunt so whether or not SF stays or leaves is of no consequence to me. However, I don’t think it helps the overall market.
Also, I’ve worked with a lot of SF agents over the years and virtually all were upstanding people who cared about what they did. They believed in what they did and believed in their products and company. I don’t see the purpose in bashing them because of decisions the parent company made. I agree the parent company has behaved like a bully and they’ve just lost a huge battle, but I feel for the agents who are getting screwed over on this one.
The best response I’ve seen is simply wait and see. This will either work or it won’t.
Advisor, I didn’t say that a lot of companies didn’t open PUP companies. I also didn’t say State Farm Florida leaving was a good thing. All I said was it was to fudge numbers. Same reason the others set up PUP companies.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.
The people and politicians of Florida have sowed the wind and now they are going to reap the whilwind, literally.
I don’t understand why all of the SF agents are on here crying already. You know as well as I do, the bill will be weto’d. They need a 2/3 vote to overide and the bill passed at 80%. What Crist did was called POLITICS. Big bad SF will get the SF Bill passed, they will stay, rates will sky-rocket, the insurance market will be stable and then when Crist compaigns for the Senate he can tell the Floridians its not his fault their rates are so high, he veto’d the bill.
There is a lot of mis-information floating on here, so here are some corrections/clarifications…
SF Florida doesn’t place ALL of its reinsurance with its parent. It does place most of it there, and at below market rates.
SF Florida was created to insulate the remainder of the company from Florida’s under-funded hurricane risk. It has nothing to do with fudging numbers.
SF didn’t go broke after Andrew. (This has already been addressed.)
SF Mutual recapitalized SF Florida after 04-05 storms depleted the pup’s surplus. They didn’t take the opportunity to “cry broke” and close the company. (Though they probably regret that decision now.)
1171 didn’t allow unregulated rates for smaller companies due to a compromise with the OIR, which the OIR ignored once the bill was passed.
E&S and veto override are the only hopes now for Florida citizens, who are unfortunately ill-informed by the lazy media to understand that more choice is better than less, even if you don’t like the additional option.
Let me see if I can read between the lines ….
“SF Florida was created to insulate the remainder of the company from Florida’s under-funded hurricane risk. It has nothing to do with fudging numbers.”
Translation ….
SF Fire created SF Florida so that in the event of another Andrew they could declare bankruptcy without bringing down the rest of the Country.
Very good Readin….there is no reading between the lines necessary. That was the clear intent. As with any other business, they and every other insurance company is in business to make money, not bet the farm on one ill-advised state.
If you sold bagels and lost 2 cents on every 20 cent bagel you sold, how many bagels would you be selling?
The Federal Government does not regulate insurance since they have given this task to individual states. If we abondened this obligation, as this bill would have done, we are asking the Feds to step in. Also, obviously, this would have been very discriminator against smaller, domestic insurers that are trying to help with the “capacity” problem. Thank you Govenor and Commissioner for standing up for the “level playing field” the Federal Government” intended.
I guess I would do like every other business in the Country… find a way to lower my overhead, stop selling bagels or raise prices. Obviously they have tried #3 but since that didn’t work I would do #1.
“this would have been very discriminator against smaller, domestic insurers that are trying to help with the “capacity” problem.”
Why do you attribute benevolence to these companies? It looks to me like they’re only around to make as much money as they can before the wind blows.
Thank you for understanding! In insurance terms….”lowering my overhead” means cancelling policies….something the Florida OIR would not allow.
What about lowering the pay of top executives. You know, similar to what most Fortune 500 companies are having to do? Or not spending as much on advertising? Or not giving out bonuses to executives? Would this not work and be even better for the people SF cares so much about?
It appears by your signon name that you are an insurance agent so let me use you as an example …. I am assuming you make a certain percentage of the premium as commission. So if you are an insurance agent who is losing money on every insurance policy you sell (like SF), what can you do? You cannot force the company you represent to raise rates? You cannot cancel policies or stop writing, correct? Your only responsible choice is to lower some of your fixed overhead. This is true for most business since raising rates ususally would not make them competitive with their competitors. Why is this not the first course of action for SF?
Your logic is sound, and would work in a business where those reductions would make a difference.
In this situation, however, there is no way to cut enough corners to come up with the shorfall. Cutting corners and making the type of sacrifices you are suggesting would be the likes of putting a bandaid on a compound fracture.
I can see your point. I do think that is where a majority of the public gets frustrated with this. They see State Farm spending millions upon millions on silly advertising on top of ridiculous bonuses to the executives. I have yet to be out in public or at a party where this conversation comes up and anyone say “Poor SF, I sure wish they would get their bill passed that would allow them to charge whatever they want.” The publicity from this is going to help them cut down on their market share, which may have been part of the bluff all along.
I can’t wait until SF starts non-renewing their customers. As a matter of fact, I already started training three new full timers to take on the extra work load. Thank you State Farm! Like a good neighbor, you are surely there for me!
Sincerely,
Your indepedent agent.
Don’t you worry about a thing. All Tower Hill needs to do is purchase a Demotech rating and its all good.
Besides the ways already mentioned, a huge way companies can lower their overhead is by not paying claims… And (to my knowledge) they haven’t been getting cheap on paying claims (another reason people seem to love SF).
Call me crazy, but I’d rather spend more on Insurance and not have the company try to screw me later…
This came as a surprise. I expected that the Gov would allow for premium adequacy and market stabilization, but he screwed the pooch on this one. I cannot wait for SF to pull all policies then see the state get LEVELED by a FEW Cat 5 storms. This will be sooooo funny. Lets see how the Gov gets out of that situation ! The regulators and the Fla insureds are going to be soooo screwed then. The jackass’ will most likely try to blame Pres Bush ! Good Luck Florida, you folks are Finally going to get what you deserve. YEA !
Thx,
Rocketman
Congratulations Governor for standing up to
the greedy giant.
Be looking forward to seeing you in the White House.
Don,
I want to see your reaction when Florida gets ripped by a huge storm and does not have the general assets of a large, well reserved company like SF to pull your azz out of trouble. Where are you going to go?? Maybe Citizens ???? What other company selling in the marketplace has Billions (with a B and Plural) NOT, in your face – Looser. Go back to reading the sunday cartoon section, maybe thats more your speed !
Ha Ha Ha
I had NO IDEA that SF of Florida had BILLIONS!!!! Why were they recently downgraded by AM BEst with a negative outlook then?
Oh, I am so sorry, your memory has forgotten the BILLIONS that the Mother Ship at SF has paid for all of the Loosers in the Fla Marketplace. Yes, Billions.
I think that SF dropped 2 to 3 Bil on Andrew alone, not to mention the other storms that hit sense then. What’s wrong, can’t you count ? That is Billions with the letter “B”. Go back to grade school, but you might not pass with your math skills.
Rocketman, If you are going to suggest someone go back to school maybe you should check up on your spelling and or use of words.”not to mention the other storms that hit sense then. What’s wrong, can’t you count ? That is Billions with the letter “B”. Go back to grade school, but you might not pass with your math skills.” I believe the correct word you were trying to use was “since”.
Thanks for the update Einstein ! Now that we are talking about Insurance, can you produce two thoughts that actually make sense ?
again – playing off your personal emotions and personal dislike for a company. State Farm Florida was apparently paying out more in claims than they were taking in on premiums. they requested an increase to ensure solvency and future claims-paying capability. you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that government involement in free market capitalism is a bad thing. it’s really simple. if a company wants to charge a higher price for a product they sell, then let them do so. if the consumer doesn’t want to pay that price, they will shop elsewhere and the other company will get the business. it’s called capitalism. that basic premise is one of the aspects that has made this the best country in the world. make sense now?
Why is this so hard for people to understand? Let the market and consumer decide for themselves how much they want to pay for insurance.
Someone earlier gave a great example, when you are buying a car, you either pay less for a car that may not be as safe and last a long time or you fork over the extra money to ensure safety and longevity. Insurance is the same way! Go with a company you trust and know will be there for you, sure it may cost more, or you can go with an unknown and roll the dice.
Bottom line, the choice is yours and should not be dictated by the government. Stop relying on others to make your decisions for you and start taking personal responsibility.
I was an agent in Florida for 6 years and I am so happy that I left the state. The politicans are not looking out for you, they are looking out for themselves for re-election time. Good luck!!
Once again, free market only works when the playing field is even. Deregulation would br great for ALL companies not jsut a select few.
Also, I don’t think it really matters how much company a PARENT has. There is a reason why they made the separate company. So they did not have to keep giving it money. Look at Aaron Spelling … think it mattered to Tori that her PARENT had BILLIONS (with a B)??
FACT is SF of Florida is rated a B by MA Best with a negative outlook. There are SEVERAL domestic companies that are higher rated than that open in FL.
Once again, it was the OIR (government regulator) who created the distinction between large and small companies. Obviously the removal of government price controls for all companies would be best, but the legislators were led to believe that this compromise would get them the support of the OIR.
Well they were obviously wrong. From reading Charlie’s veto that was one of the mail reason (and I agree) it gives too much of an advantage to only a select few companies. I think someone used the example of cars. It would be like the government telling Mercedes they had to approve any pricing but letting BMW lower and raise prices as they see fit. Thats not capitalism.
Jim,
Read the article that was published last week relating to the rating downgrade. In a nutshell, the downgrade was generated by several points:
1) With the inability to adjust their rates so they had a better loss ratio then 1.21::1.00 the company is losing money at a rate that will see them bankrupt in 2 years (excluding any storms)
2) With the Non-Renewal notices they are sending out, they are losing market share and incoming premium dollars (accelerating the loss of money)
3) With the inability to write new business if they wanted, there’s no incoming premium dollars from lower risk areas that they might be willing to write in.
4) Increased reinsurance costs (they cannot purchase all of their coverage from the parent company)
As they still have the reserves to cover their responsibilities for the meantime, I don’t blame them for trying to get out now. I recall someone posting sometime back a prediction that if another massive storm hits, FL legistators will institute a freeze on all non-renewals and in effect trapping SF-FL in FL for the foreseeable future.
Even before all of that, weren’t they just a “B+”?
Carefull, your education is showing…
How many homes in Tennessee are hit by WINDSTORM???????
BOY, YOU SHOULD REALLY KEEP QUITE… YOUR KNOWLEDGE (OR LACK THEREOF) IS OBVIOUS…
Finally, a knowledgeable respondent… Allstate of Florida was formed to protect the assets of the PARENT company. State Farm has done the same thing. If they need to fold up, “No Problem”, leave the people of Florida in the dust… The domestic insurers are putting their TOTAL ASSETS on the line. PUT UP OR SHUT UP STATE FARE AND ALLSTATE!!!!
A non-insurance person would like to know:
Do we even know whether State Farm would have written any new business in Fla even if they had been allowed to charge what they wanted? Does it all boil down to price? Does it have to do with concentration of business as well?
Would the marketplace really even changed that much if HB1171 had been signed?
Does anyone know what the maximum rate per some $$ of house cost is being charged for coastal homes?
Are the estimates that rates would have gone up 40% to 50% if the rate freeze had simply been allowed to lapse accurate?
There will be no more hurricanes that will hit the State of FL. Ever.
Simple.
Straight.
Dead On.
Good Job !
Rocketman
As a State Senator I voted against this bill because it didn’t go far enough. Why deregulate the AIGs, Hartfords,(both TARP recipients), State Farms of the insurance world and keep the State thumb on top of the little guys. Let’s let the marketplace do it’s thing. If dereg. is a good thing, dereg. the whole market not just the big guys.
Senator Steve Oelrich
District 14
WHAT A BIG JOKE TRUTH AND INSURANCE COMPANY LIKE STATE FARM .”Why deregulate the AIGs”., Steve Oelrich
Comment: Let’s let the marketplace do it’s thing.Senator Steve Oelrich
District 14. DEAR STEVE THE GREED IS NOT WORKING. State Farm has history for not paying claim all of the U.S. WE say keep the State thumb up their butts. THATS THE WAY TO MAKE SURE THEY DO THE RIGHT. SEE HOW GREAT AIG HAS DONE.
I am also planning to switch all of my State Farm policies to other companies when I get new homeowners insurance. I understand that a lot of this mess was caused by the legislature and the governor, but that doesn’t excuse State Farm Mutual from hoarding it’s profits by using State Farm Florida as it’s “loss” company. I don’t understand how we can be paying all of these premiums in for years and years on end (my parents have been paying them for 40+ years now with no homeowners claims EVER) and yet they need to jack up our rates to cover “losses”. Meanwhile, State Farm Mutual is making huge profits in the rest of the country. I thought all of those profits were supposed to be used to cover claims, such as when a hurricane hits. I guess it’s to profit their share holders instead. So our premiums profit share holders, and then when we have a claim, they just charge us into eternity to pay for it. Screw them. I’ve got 6 policies with them, and they’ll be losing ALL of my business for this. I was glad to hear other co-workers who are planning to do the same thing. Go ahead State Farm, leave Florida and don’t let the door hit you on the way out.
Just got a letter from my agent that after 30 years he is retiring. He said the company is not the same as it was and in order to keep his dignity and not fire staff he retired.
His exisiting customers roll over to the next agent in town. He said many agents are trying to get out of cover their expenses.
What a shame this could happen.
Let me sum it up for all you morons. Why dosen’t the state tell Publix or any other store how much they can charge? How fare the govenor tell an industry what to charge. He should be in prison for fraud. What about the 18 billion dollar short fall in the hurricane reserves for Citizens insurance? He has purposefully kept rates low in order to get votes. Everyone will be paying more in taxes when the big one hits.
Bennett argued. He insisted he did not file the bill for State Farm, which he accused of playing a game of chicken with the state by declaring it would leave.
“I think State Farm was running a bluff when it did what it did; I think the insurance commissioner was running a bluff when he did what he did,” Bennett said. “I think they both lost. But I also think the Florida market is too large for them to walk away. … These are smart people; I don’t think they will leave the state of Florida entirely.”
Not Exactly!State Farm states their reason for wanting a 47% policy rate increase and why they are threatening to leave Florida is because “What’s most important to us is to meet our obligations to our current customers.” What a joke! What’s important to them is how much money they can fleece from consumers. Insurance has become nothing but legalized extortion!
R
They don’t need to panic at all, Florida would be better without these greedy insurance companies. Wanna teach the greedy a lesson in the USA? Use the Gandhi method. Everyone drop all car and home owners insurance..If the mortgage comapnanies tax on insurance pay only the house payment and not the insurance part.We need to teach our enemies through love…that includes, politicians, political appointees, investors, corporate thieves, CEOs and financial institutions.They won’t be happy until they’ve taken you for everything…What was yours will soon be somebody elses and they will play the same con game on them. Stop the madness with a Gandhi revolution
AS for State Farm leaving, I absolutely believe if they want to pull homeowners policies in Florida, the entire State Farm Group should be shown the door. No more auto, life, annuity, property casualty, business, or any other lines/products/services they offer everywhere else. And, that goes for any other insurer whose umbrella of services is not offered in its entirety here in Florida. Cherry picking should be a crime when it comes to insurance (a service EVERYONE has to have). It would be like petroleum companies delivering only Super Unleaded gasoline to stations in Florida. People wouldn’t stand for it. Almost 1 million homeowner policies in Florida, no major storms or catastrophes in years, and SF claims they can’t make ends meet without a 47% hike? Absolute Bull….
when the big one hits. THE BIG ONE DID HIT!!!!
I was glad to hear other co-workers who are planning to do the same thing NO MORE STATE FARM WERE SICK OF THE CEO FARM BOYS.
Your comments are just plain stupid. ‘Revolution’ first of all, the forced place insurance placed on by banks and mortgage companies is the highest priced of all insurance policies. Second, if you don’t pay the insurance portion of your loan the lender can repo your home and/or car. Refusing to pay for your insurance is like kids holding their breath to make their parents do what they want. I’ve sold several of my cars to friends and yes, I required they carry full coverage until they were paid off. Just plain common sense!
To ‘Cherrypicker’! Most insurance companies don’t sell both auto and home – much less the other type policies. If you required carriers to sell all lines of insurance you would eliminate 90% of them. If State Farm wants to quit selling home insurance then, that is their right to do so. Let them raise their prices and lets see their customers take their business to other carriers. I’ll bet most of their customers move more than just the home policies.
What is wrong with the situation is that State Farm doesn’t want its agents to contract with other carriers that will write the home policies that State Farm will drop.
Well, I guess it’s not ok for people to retire now ?
After 30 years of agency, this fella was in his 60’s or 70’s and it’s not ok for him to retire ?
Ok, he has hard feelings about SF, they have changed ? How does a company survive the business climate over so many years and NOT Change ?
Something does not sound ok in your post….
Oh, this is too much. Thanks for T’ing this ball up sooooo good !
SF has a proven track record of paying claims ! Just look at the Independent JD Powers Survey….. Did all of the survey respondents lie ? NOT !
NEXT PLEASE
Well, I am sorry the the whole DOI mess as well.
Let’s set somethings straight:
SF Mutual is the Auto company (STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE CO, exact)
It does not insure homes, period.
Any monies made by Auto co (SF Mutual) are not to be confused with the Monies lost in the Fire company.
The State Govt of Florida (now called the PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF FLORIDA) has screwed the pooch on the whole market, not just SF. Any blame for the resulting mess should be direct at the GOV & Crist, not SF
One Last Thing, ONLY LOOSERS feel entitled to something that is not theirs or produced by others. Premiums paid across the country should NOT be paid to Florida Residents for their claims.
If FLA residents should have their claims paid from FLORIDA premiums. This is part of the problem. Floridians expect the rest of the country to fund their insurance losses. This is why anyone who disagrees with the bill are flat out LOOSERS, SCUM & LEACHES
NEXT PLEASE
Consumer Class Actions will not wake this guys up its not there money it belongs to the policy holders.SF has a proven track record of paying maybe 30 cents on the dollar try to recover on that you fat cats.
I am shocked at the comments from those of you that feel State Farm should take profits made in other states to lower the cost of insurance in Florida. The policyholders in those states where the profits were made deserve to keep those profits there to help lower their rates.
This is why State Farm’s can only LOAN their Florida subsidiary money.
Let me help you understand some important issues you are missing.
1) State Farm is a mutual company, not a stock company. When they have a profitable year, they send the customers dividends check, the last time was in 1999.
2) Being paying for 40 years and never had a claim. Let’s do the math, your average premium for 40 years has been $500 a year right, so you paid in $20,000. Now between cost of doing business and return on that premium it is about a wash. So, a hurricane hits and you have a $35,000 claim, you won, the insurance lost. Now, do that over and over again, and add in a fascist government, you have a perfect storm brewing.
3) The Florida CO was set up to protect the larger company. State Farm Fire went under after Andrew as no one saw a storm like that coming. So in order to make sure the company has money to pay claims in the other 49 states the FL co was set up. It make sense, if I am farmer in Idaho, why should I pay for a person living on a sand bar in So Florida.
Please understand the issues, they are very complex.
Proven track record? Please give examples?
Mr. Oelrich,
If that is they way you feel, why didn’t you write an addmendment to the bill while it was still in the chamber?
I agree with you 100%, but why not do the right thing and represent the people? You had the power.
STATE FARM PAY TO SEAL UP COURT RECORDS I SAY LET TO A FULL AND formal investigation . NOT IN JUST ONE STATE BUT IN ALL STATE THIS REALLY BRING,S THE TRUTH TO LIGHT. LET PUT AD,S IN PAPERS LET ASK THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN TO HELL AND BACK DID YOU THINK YOU COULD GET AWAY WITH THIS FOREVER?SF O WANT YES BECAUSE YOU HAVE BEEN OF YRS. WELL KNOW MORE WE WILL STAND UP AND THE TRUTH WILL DESTORY YOU.
Maria,
If the hurricanes start hitting again I don’t care what company you write for, you will be bye bye as well. Good luck on your short term greed.
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954-753-3755
Dade, Broward & Palm Beach
I think I understand the problem in Florida. The Governor is only looking out for his next move, you only care about money and greed and here I sit as the policyholder being kicked around from State Farm to Citizens to another no name company I worry will be here this year if a hurricane hits. In the end it is all about your greed and not about the consumer. It is sad to think you are someones agent.
I can’t wait for the first big storm to hit Florida after State Farm leaves. I guess the truth will be evident then. I am sick and tired of paying for all the folks who CONTINUE, time after time, to incur losses because they live in a high risk area. I say pay you one time for damages, or buy you out if you are willing to relocate out of the state. If not, you are on your own from then on. Move to Cleveland, Ohio… nothing ever happens there. You should pay higher premiums because you live in a high risk area, as should folks who live in the flood plain or perch their houses on the side of a cliff in California.
“I do not agree with you that just because they stop selling homeowners insurance in Florida that they should take their other business with them.” YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND. WE ARE SAYING THAT IF YOU MESS WITH PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY THAT HAVE BEEN THROUGH HELL AND BACK, THEN GET OUT. IN THIS COUNTRY YOU DO NOT SCREW WITH VICTIMS, PERIOD! WE HAVE THE FOURTH OF JULY COMING UP. IF THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY THINKS FOR ONE MINUTE THAT SCREWING YOUR NEIGHBOR MAKES YOU GOOD THEN I AM SAD FOR THIS COUNTRY. GOD BLESS AMERICA.
just waiting to trick some poor claim rep into making a mistake for them to make their income for the next few years. I MADE IN 2 MONTHS WHAT STATE FARM GIVE ME FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE. I DO WONDER WHAT BONUS WAS GIVE TO THE CLAIM REP.
So is this where all the SF agents are coming to cry now? Not that I blame because I would cry too!
Ahhh, the freedoms of being independent. Love it. You should try it!
This Douchebag actually thinks that Class Actions actually mean something ?????
Wake up and get a brain
TO THE UNTOUCHABLES. Edward B. Rust, Jr., will be happy to tell you that he is the Chief Executive Officer of State Farm Mutual Insurance Company. He has deep family ties to State Farm, as his father and grand father have both served in that capacity. He will also tell you that he is an educated man who has been to law school and is a past practicing attorney. In addition, he was the chairman of the Coalition for Excellence in Education and a member of George W. Bush’s transition advisory team on education. So with all of that education why will he not deal with his company’s inbred greed. Does he not know that we are in the 21st century where anyone can look on the internet and see the billions of dollars that are being spent to protect their empire from the consumer? In Utah, the company was fine $25 million in punitive damages, in part for the “systematic destruction of documents and systematic manipulation of individual claim files to conceal claim mishandling”. An Idaho appeals court fined the company $9.5 million in punitive damages for making use of “a completely bogus” outside bill review company that helped lower the cost of medical bills. In October of 1999, an Illinois jury rendered a $456 million judgment against State Farm and an additional $730 million in punitive damages for the insurer’s breach of contract with auto policy holders by relying on generic replacement parts. Rust was adamant in his insistence that fraud had not been committed. A class action law suit in the name of State Farm policy holders was filed in 2003 for breach of contract and statutory consumer fraud in which $1.1 billion was awarded to plaintiffs. When a company is misleading the public, should that not be considered fraud? A consumer would go to prison for that type of behavior. State Farm will let you know that, in several states, fraud and abuse is pushing up the cost of auto insurance. A court in late 2001 reached an unfriendly consumer decision that could have the effect of reaching deep into the pockets of the consumer. Sharply higher jury awards in vehicular liability cases are putting additional upward pressure on auto insurance rates. The average jury award in auto liability cases rose from $187,000 to $269,000 in 2000, an increase of 44%. I question if any of the lawsuits would be necessary if the company would just fairly pay their claims. The company represents on their web-site that consumer protection is one of their most important goals, but do they really think that courts would be awarding multiple millions of dollars in bad faith claims if that were their emphasis? State Farm’s ratings are based on their financial strength. State Farm states that their high ratings are also based on strong claims paying ability. With this ability, why is it necessary for their policy holders to allege that the claims department was directed, in evaluating their cases, to take them to trial instead of settling within the limits of the policy? This practice exposed policyholders to judgments above the limits of their policies, when the company was attempting to make an effort to win smaller decisions. Two former in-house attorneys for State Farm contend that they were often called upon by the insurer to represent its’ policy holders and were forced to commit “unlawful and unethical activities, including requiring the two to stay silent about the rights of the policyholders”. State Farm seems to have reckless indifference for the truth for the purpose of corporate and personal economic gain. State Farm should know that continued scrutiny of their claims paying practices will continue especially with the advent of new claims that are surfacing from lawsuits revolving around Hurricane Katrina. A message to Mr. Rust, and any employee of the company that is acting in bad faith for its policy holders. Its time to stop no more.
When a company is misleading the public, should that not be considered fraud? A consumer would go to prison for that type of behavior. State Farm will let you know that, in several states, fraud and abuse is pushing up the cost of auto insurance. A court in late 2001 reached an unfriendly consumer decision that could have the effect of reaching deep into the pockets of the consumer. Sharply higher jury awards in vehicular liability cases are putting additional upward pressure on auto insurance rates. The average jury award in auto liability cases rose from $187,000 to $269,000 in 2000, an increase of 44%.
I question if any of the lawsuits would be necessary if the company would just fairly pay their claims. The company represents on their web-site that consumer protection is one of their most important goals, but do they really think that courts would be awarding multiple millions of dollars in bad faith claims if that were their emphasis?
awarding multiple millions of dollars in bad faith claims if that were their emphasis?
I am sure you would love for us all to simply take your allegations at face value and conclude that SF is the corporate greedy giant you say it is. What the public will never see, nor is interested in retaining in their mind is the numerous greedy fraudulent claims made by the “legal professionals” whose livelihoods hinge on State Farm making a mistake for them to pounce in a “bad faith” claim.
As a past claim adjuster I can tell you that it literally made me sick to see the manipulation of the claim and legal process I saw from attorneys. Yes there have been punitive awards, but the majority of those claims and payments have been made as a result of the greed and manipulations of those in the legal field, just waiting to trick some poor claim rep into making a mistake for them to make their income for the next few years.
If you really agree with yourself you better get the government going. Many of the new companies that are writing in Florida are only writing the center of the State and are currently cherry picking. I don’t hear many people talking about that. I’m sure you are only talk and won’t really push the government to stop the cherry picking so why blog about it.
I do not agree with you that just because they stop selling homeowners insurance in Florida that they should take their other business with them. That would be like a store that stops selling a product I like and I want them to leave. Should Publix shut down because they don’t sell a product I like. What if you still like the store and only buy other products they sell and never bought the one they stopped selling. Should you suffer, should they be foreced to leave the state because I don’t like what they did. That is what you are saying, what you want is more government control over our lives. You could move to North Korea if you want to live like. I will stay in America where we have freedom at least a little while longer.
•Companies consistently put profits over policyholders. The report concludes that many insurance companies may “talk the talk”, but don’t “walk the walk.” They may advertise that your “in good hands”, are “like a good neighbor” or “provide the strength to be there”, but fall short when it comes to actually serving their customers.
•Companies continually deny, delay and defend. Insurance companies make more money when they pay out fewer claims. Obvious? Yes. Ethical? No. The industry as a whole routinely denies, delays and defends claims – all in the name of the “bottom line.”
•Profits and salaries are skyrocketing. The property/casualty and life insurance industries average $30B in profits every year. In fact, the U.S. insurance industry as a whole receives premiums of over $1 trillion (with a “T”) every year and has assets of $3.8 trillion.
The Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of the ten insurers in the report averaged an annual salary of nearly $9 million in 2007.
Who made the list?
These ten companies were named the worst insurers in America for denying claims, raising premiums, refusing insurance to those who need it most and many other reasons:
1.Allstate
2.Unum
3.AIG
4.State Farm
5.Conseco
6.WellPoint
7.Farmers
8.United Health
9.Torchmark
10.Liberty Mutual
all in the name of the “bottom line.”
;Profits and salaries are skyrocketing. The property/casualty and life insurance industries average $30B in profits every year. In fact, the U.S. insurance industry as a whole receives premiums of over $1 trillion (with a “T”) every year and has assets of $3.8 trillion.
The Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of the ten insurers in the report averaged an annual salary of nearly $9 million in 2007.
I highly recommend the video at the link below. This is the reality of all insurance. I guess all you can do is laugh as you pay those premiums each month.
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Insurance+Company+Rules+ON+YOU+TUBE&docid=1032406106222&mid=BE62459A6B543D10D719BE62459A6B543D10D719&FORM=VIVR4
Rocketman
Bit harsh on your comments. Sounds like you are a sf agent look for revenge on this site. Stop slinging mud on the site and go watch Cnn.
like a good neighbor -Ethical?
: The Chief Executive Officers (
all in the name of the “bottom line.”
;Profits and salaries are skyrocketing. The property/casualty and life insurance industries average $30B in profits every year. In fact, the U.S. insurance industry as a whole receives premiums of over $1 trillion (with a “T”) every year and has assets of $3.8 trillion.
The Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of the ten insurers in the report averaged an annual salary of nearly $9 million in 2007.
Based on the article I read today maybe the Governor and Insurance commissioner have not been telling us all the truth. They have been dishonest about the number of and assets of the new companies that are coming to Florida. They have told us 4.3 billion in new Capital has come he but really only 300 million for homeowners.
Why is our Government providing false information is it so they can run companies out of the State. Is someone is getting money put in their pockets to make this happen? Time will tell.
against your fellow American.
Excuse Me…but State Farm Has to Pay for Wind Damage ESPECIALLY when there is proof. So please don’t act like they are so generous in doing us a favor.
It’s like PEEING ON YOUR LEG AND TELLING YOU IT’S ONLY WATER.
FACT: Katrina Winds were 100-200 MPH AND HIT LAND 1 TO 4 HRS BEFORE THE WATER…
Hell it blew the roof off the Superdome in New Orleans and whiped out major cities from LA to MS. True to Form, they waited for their Best Friend to arrive, Mr. Water and they blamed all of the damage on the water. Refusing to pay for wind by blaming the water. Shame on all involved with his crime against your fellow American. No wonder other countries don’t trust us. Look what’s done to one another. It’s wrong.
FEMA SHOULD SELL HURRICANE INS.
WIND AND WATER DAMAGES ALL IN ONE POLICY.
The answer to your question is a big fat $0000.00. Claim reps do not make any bonuses! Can you imagin if they did…oh, the claim rep did not want to pay my cliam because it would affect his bonus. You are a real genious if you could not see this one coming.
Penny wise, Pound foolish…
YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND. WE ARE SAYING THAT IF YOU MESS WITH PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY THAT HAVE BEEN THROUGH HELL AND BACK, THEN GET OUT. IN THIS COUNTRY YOU DO NOT SCREW WITH VICTIMS, PERIOD! WE HAVE THE FOURTH OF JULY COMING UP. IF THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY THINKS FOR ONE MINUTE THAT SCREWING YOUR NEIGHBOR MAKES YOU GOOD THEN I AM SAD FOR THIS COUNTRY. GOD BLESS AMERICA
ySpace
State Farm is not my idea of an ideal work place. My overall experience was negative. I left for two reasons: training was poor and I dislike being forced to sell regardless of need. The rest wasn’t that great either:
Pay: My pay was what I asked for. I don’t know if others were paid more than I was, but I do know that I was paid more than some others. I did receive periodic raises, which was confusing as I generally had the impression that I did my job poorly.
Respect: Absoluely none, but it ran both ways. My agent consistently threw the team members under the bus when it helped him save face with an angry customer. I had no problem doing the same thing right back! He would also either give the team members a silly name or make fun of where they were from.
Benefits: None. No health insurance or life insurance, which is ironic as the company sells it! We didn’t even have a retirement plan, again ironic as we sold those too. I worked for two different agents and this applied to both. I cannot say whether this is standard or just among newer agents.
Job security: Both the people I worked with and I generally felt like we were always on the razor’s edge of losing our jobs. Employment at an agent’s office is at the will of the agent only. Some of these guys have some serious turnover! I think that if the training was better the job security would improve. Many staff members are not properly trained and then fired for not knowing how to do their job.
Work/Life Balance: In my experience, the job is stressfully consuming. You’re always worrying about performance and whether you will get fired soon. I was so stressed out that I had an impossible time leaving work at work. But depending on the agent, taking time off for illness, dental appointments and your child’s school play can be extremely easy. Other agents will make you feel guilty when you leave work early because your kid was sent home from school/daycare because of vomiting and fever. As I’ve had both of these types of agents, I’m fairly neutral on this aspect.
Career Potential/Growth: State Farm’s agency structure does not lend itself to upward mobility. You’re either the agent or the team member. There are agency field offices that support the agents, but the employees there tend to be failed agents.
Location: State Farm offices are as ubiquitous as Starbucks stores. Their operations centers are rarer, but we’re talking about the agencies. If you give it some time you should be able to find a location close to home.
Co-worker Competence: I’m grading this on my most recent experience, but I will say that there are some highly competent people working at State Farm. Each one should take their knowledge and experience elsewhere as they will have money and gratitude heaped upon them. But back to the not so good ones. My agent had no knowledge of a basic auto policy, and so neither did my co-workers. I heard everyone repeatedly give incorrect advice and explanations to customers. My co-workers were not licensed to sell insurance, but did anyway AND received commission. The agent’s philosophy was to simply get new policies and it didn’t matter what had to be done to get them. It didn’t matter to him that nobody knew what they were doing as long as they sold.
Work Environment: I worked at two very different offices. The first one was uncomfortable. The agent sucked all pleasantness out of the air when he was around. He was mainly belittling and controlling, and when/if he was nice it was confusing. The second one fancied himself The Cool Boss. He seems to have a pathological need to have everyone like him so he was over the top with the chumminess sometimes. One good thing was that he was very liberal with the praise. He would then heap on the criticism, negating any nice thing he said. He was also very numbers focused. As team members were paid commission for every policy, there was a lot of sniping. There was no incentive for being fair in this office. Sell, sell, sell and do whatever you have to!
I didn’t like State Farm the first time around. I didn’t like it from the day I started and I was happy when I left. I didn’t like being micro-managed. I didn’t like being stagnant and learning nothing new. I didn’t like that I would never be promoted no matter what I did because there was nowhere to go! I came back thinking maybe things would be different since I would be working for a different agent. I was wrong, unfortunately. My State Farm days are over and I couldn’t be happier
Murfreesboro TN Bad place to work-no rewards for long hours and dedication. Who you know means more than your work ethic. Discrimination in the office on daily basis; employees are told lies from management about the hiring process & promotion process. I worked 4 years for the company and I left for a better position. I feel normal again. When I started to work for State Farm, I was very excited and shortly thereafter realized the place was very stressful and created constant anxiety for its employees. There are alot of employees on meds due to the stress; wish I had some numbers as they would be very high. There’s not a sense that a person can be themselves; the push is always there by management and 20-30 daily e-mails that want to know if you are at your desk. God forbid you need a restroom break or just a chance to refresh your mind from the constant phone volume. Call State Farm a call center because this is what IT IS. They don’t tell you this when you walk in the door SO BEWARE!
Go to work somewhere else if you have a family; they portray a 4 day work week but I know of NOONE who has accomplished this yet. Insurance education is pushed down your throat but most are too stressed from working & don’t have time to pursue the very thing they try to get you to do for promotions. Most people I talked to in this company HATE their jobs-they will openly tell their peers but not management. I know that this copany will eventually be sued by it’s employees due to the discrimination and illegal tactics. It is just a matter of time before we hear about it in the news. Find another job or lose your identity. This place will suck the living life out of you and you will lose confidence in yourself. I do feel normal again after leaving and I am grateful that I got out when I did. I prayed for over a year that God would help me find something better and he did. I’m a good person, extremely hard worker-missed 2 days in 3 years, and have worked jobs long term…so I just want you to know that my reasons for leaving were justified in that this place is not a good place to work for honest folk.
Houston, Texas I don’t know where to start. I am a long term employee and wish I would have walked away years ago. Things have changed drastically in the last several years and it seems like everyone hates their job at State Farm. When you get on the elevator in the morning the talk is how much you hate your job and how you cannot wait for the end of the day to get here.
When you first begin your career with State Farm the pay sounds really good but the more years you are there the worst it gets. They expect you to write your own performance review and then give you reasons why your percentage is not as high as you would have hoped. They explain it as a piece of a pie and make you feel you are lucky to get the small slice that you did receive even though there are others on your team who do absolutely nothing at all except volunteer for everything they can to keep them out of work, and those are the people who get the really big slice while the rest of us are working our butts off for nothing. There is always some reason why you are not worthy of more. But, for all the hard work we do, I hear management gets a substantial bonus every year plus they still get their performance cash. Doesn’t seem fair since we are the little guys who do all the work. We are treated with no respect whatsoever. Someone is always looking over your shoulder and anything you do is never enough. I feel like I am in kindergarten all over again. People will stab you in the back any chance they get including management. Speaking of management. That’s a joke. Where is your management, working from home of course. And when we submit a proposal to work a four day work week, management always has an excuse why they need you in the office everyday. I will say your job is pretty secure with State Farm and they are so afraid of being sued that they hardly ever fire anyone for performance issues. Therefore if you do just enough to get you by then you can pretty much feel safe that your job will always be there. If you dont’ have a college degree then you can pretty much kiss any type of advancement goodbye. They post for positions but is is the opinion of everyone in the company that they already know who they will promote before the posting ever comes out. I don’t know why they haven’t been sued before for some of the reasons given why you were not picked for a particular position. Don’t get me wrong, there are still a few State Farm Employees that love their jobs. But if you were a fly on the wall and could hear the gossip around the office you would quickly learn that the majority is fed up. There are so many of us who are so close to retirement and just cannot walk away.
Louisiana I once worked at State Farm in Louisiana for 18 months. I had a college degree with a high gpa. I was hired on as a claim expiditer (one position below a rep). The company hired me on making $23k a year, but promised to give me the first claim rep position that came available. Three rep positions came open within a year. I was allowed to try out for two of them. I got neither position. My coworkers were mostly great and knowledgeable, but they had been there for years. From what I could tell by talking to other coworkers, the company would have strung me along forever. So, I quit and took a job somewhere else making double the money. So far as “job security” goes. SF will be happy to work you to death, and makes a big deal out of “never having a massive period of layoffs” or something to that effect. However, they will give you options like “you can move to a different state and take a huge pay cut or quit”. Those are the types of choices they give you. In other words, they strive to never lay anyone off, but they will give you options that let you stay with the company…but many times those options really suck and make employees prefer to quit, so SF avoids laying off (and therefore giving unemployment benefits). However, they are telling the “truth” when they claim to rarely lay anyone off. Also, promotions do seem completely related to who you know. SF will also do whatever they can to avoid giving you a raise. One manager actually pulled my phone records for the last six months to see if I can called my home phone from work. I hadn’t, which stunned him. This was a total “suprise” during the review period, but would have been an excuse to not give me a raise otherwise. Mananagement was friendly, but in typical dilbert style, they always sat together and whispered among each other at lunch, rarely bothering to speak with regular employees or reps outside of the office. …the office was well kept, and they company did try to give us perks in whatever fashion they could. (car wash service while you’re at work, oil changes while you’re at work, etc, but you had to pay for all those services). Overall, I’d say SF met my expectations for a bloated corporation who will eventually be eaten alive by smaller competition. Management would hand down a new way of doing things every few months, which might work well in some states, but would make work more difficult in other states (due to varying state laws on traffic and insurance regulations).
If you can get in good with the company (esp in management), making decent money, then it might not be so bad. If you’re single and work on the CATastrophe team, there is some serious money to be made. If you’re married and your spouse works on the CAT team with you, even better. However, most non-CAT team personel weren’t overly happy with their jobs or chances for promotion.
I don’t hate SF, but I would avoid trying to work for them again.
Oh, you all are giving SF too much credit. Look at the people complaining.
What about this: The people who are railing at SF just couldn’t handle the demands of working at SF, period.
State Farm does ask their employees, agents and agents staff for to produce, and I mean really put out the good stuff.
How else do they remain at the top of their industry for so long. Not everyone can hack or handle this.
Some people are just not cut out to be the “BEST”, this is why we have jobs for them at McDonalds, Cosco or the Thrift Stores……
It’s ok, just think when our country is totally transformed into a Socialist State as Obama (Looser) is currently doing, you people on the lower end of the gene pool will have the same benefits as all of us who are the BEST at what we do.
Regards,
Rocketman
Thanks for bringing a little reality into the picture Rocketman.
I am an agent and I bring my staff in making mid 30’s. I provide a retirment plan that I match up to 3% of salary. I offer either health insurance for the employee, or $500 cash extra a month so they can buy it elsewhere if they choose.
I do not micromanage. I manage for results. I have no intention of chasing employees to see what they are doing…as long as sales are being made, and I am not getting complaint calls from clients.
Each agent is different….but I run my office based on suggestions from the majority of my peers.
Independence Day,
If you claim to be an American then feedom should mean something to you. Your not for freedom your views are of government control. You have the right to purchase a product or not but to tell companies to stop selling all products because one if not profitable is wrong. Where will it end?
Freedom is choice not government or controls. If we go your way soon governemt will tell us we can buy bread on Tuesday but will pay more than the man buying it on Thursday because you get it earlier in the week. That will be when we go to Hell and Back. This issue is nothing but a current political football that will change with the next Governor or Hurricane which ever gets here first.
You don’t want to start responding to our resident multiple name SF hater. I tried and found that this individual has no intention of discussing any issues, just posting hate notes about them for their own reasons. I still think they are paid for their posts since they seem to post huge reponses over and over and over. It doesn’t matter the topic, this individual just hates SF so much they are willing to post anything they can to slander the largest insurer in the U.S. With the huge number of policies they write you can always find bad situations or simply unhappy claimants. What is their actual ratio of complaints to the state? Does our resident SF hater know or even care? Of course not. Get treatment.
State Farm agents average annual income of $700,000. The average customer income in the state of florida $17,900.
I do not feel sorry for the agents or company.
Can someone please get a gun and kill Bill Payer. Given the degree of cognitive degeneration and delusion, I think it would be the most human thing to do.
Now lets help Bill understand:
BILL PLEASE READ THIS VERY SLOWLY, I DO NOT WANT YOU TO MISUNDERSTAND THE FOLLOWING:
SF AGENTS ARE PAID A COMMISSION THAT IS MUCH LOWER THAN MOST INDEPENDENT AGENTS…..DID YOU GET THAT !
AND FROM THAT COMMISSION, MANY BILLS ARE PAID.
FROM THAT COMMISSION, THEY PAY FOR THOUSANDS OF STAFF PEOPLE, ADDING TO THE LOCAL ECONOMY.
FROM THAT COMMISSION, THEY HAVE TO PURCHASE/RENT THEIR FACILITIES.
FROM THAT COMMISSION, THEY HAVE TO PAY LOCAL, SCHOOL, STATE AND FEDERAL TAXES
FROM THAT COMMISSION, THEY HAVE TO PAY UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION INSURANCE, WORKERS COMPENSATION INSURANCE, LIABILITY INSURANCE, ERRORS AND OMISSIONS INSURANCE, EMPLOYEES BONDING, HEALTH INSURANCE, LIFE INSURANCE, DISABILITY INSURANCE, AUTO INSURANCE, BUSINESS INSURANCE & WFU INSURANCE HAS TO BE PAID.
FROM THAT COMMISSION THEY HAVE TO PAY FOR ADVERTISING & MARKETING, PUBLIC RELATIONS AND BUY EVERY GIRL SCOUT COOKIE IN THE COUNTY
FROM THAT COMMISSION THEY HAVE TO PAY FOR ELECTRIC, GAS, WATER & SEWER
FROM THAT COMMISSION THEY HAVE TO PAY LAWYERS TO PROTECT THEM FROM AZZHOLES WHO TRY TO TAKE THEIR HARD EARNED MONEY
FROM THAT COMMISSION THEY HAVE TO PAY ACCOUNTANTS TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY HAVE PAID ALL OF THEIR BILLS AND TAXES
AND LASTLY, AFTER EVERY INTEREST HAS BEEN PAID, THE AGENT HAS TO HOPE THAT THEY HAVE ENOUGH TO PAY FOR THEIR FAMILIES NEEDS AND HOPES.
BILL, DOES THAT CLEAR IT UP FOR YOU ?
NOW GO BACK TO BEING A JEALOUS BLOOD SUCKING LOOSER TRYING TO SH!T ON ALL OF THE GOOD STATE FARM AGENTS WHO ACTUALLY HAVE MADE SOMETHING GOOD OF THEIR LIVES.
NOW, BACK AWAY FROM THE COMPUTER AND GO BACK THE REGISTER AT WALMART WHERE BELONG.
REGARDS,
ROCKETMAN
Reality check!!!!!
The two parties suck. We need a third party.
And yes, I am talking about policits, you dirty mind you!
an increase of 44%.
Comment:
When a company is misleading the public, should that not be considered fraud? A consumer would go to prison for that type of behavior. State Farm will let you know that, in several states, fraud and abuse is pushing up the cost of auto insurance. A court in late 2001 reached an unfriendly consumer decision that could have the effect of reaching deep into the pockets of the consumer. Sharply higher jury awards in vehicular liability cases are putting additional upward pressure on auto insurance rates. The average jury award in auto liability cases rose from $187,000 to $269,000 in 2000, an increase of 44%.
The biggest Ponzi Scheme
Fye wrote in a Florida case
“I have been witnessing document destruction, concealment, and obstruction of discovery by State Farm for many years in connection with my review of internal claim practices documents of the insurer. I have accumulated certain Exhibits which show the company’s goals and objectives for document handling by its employees. The documents show close to 28 years of intentional destruction, concealment and distortion of claim practices records.”
44%. wow maybe something is wrong.44%. 44%.44%.44%. OPEN YOU MIND TO THE NUMMBERS!!!
:
PLEASE EVERYONE OUT THERE DO NOT AND I REPEAT DO NOT GET STATE FARM AS AN INSURANCE COMPANY, ON DECEMBER 30 2008 MY 2007 TOYOTA CAMRY WAS STOLEN OUT OF MY DRIVE WAY, I REPORTED THE CLAIM TO STATE FARM, I ALSO COMPLIED WITH THERE INVESTIGATION FULLY, THEY JERK ME AROUND FOR 4 MONTHS AND THEN THE DENIED MY CLAIM, AND WAS STILL TALKING MY MONEY OUT EVERY MONTH – THEY FAILED TO INFORM ME ABOUT ANY INFORMATION, IF I WANTED INFORMATION I HAD TO KEEP CALLING THEM, STATE FARM DOES NOT CARE ABOUT YOU AT ALL, WHEN YOU HAVE A CLAIM THEY LOOK AT YOU LIKE YOUR A CRIMINAL AND THEN THE WILL DINED YOU, I OVER HEARD THE SUPERVISOR AT STATE FARM SAYING THAT QUOTE ( HE’S BLACK HE DON’T HAVE ANY MONEY TO SUE US. UNQUOTE} PLEASE I WILL SAY OVER AND OVER AGAIN DO NOT GET STATE FARM AND IF YOU ALREADY HAVE STATE FARM CANCEL ASAP THEY JUST WANT YOUR MONEY, THEY WILL NOT HELP YOU WHEN YOU HAVE A CLAIM. IF THERES ANYONE OUT THERE THAT CAN HELP ME PLEASE DO SO. THANK YOU
WHEN YOU HAVE A CLAIM THEY LOOK AT YOU LIKE YOUR A CRIMINAL AND THEN THE WILL DINED YOU, and to think we all pay of this creap.
Call a public adjuster. They can help you with getting money from State Farm
MY POLICY WAS TO HELP IN CASE. BUT I DO GET IT IT,S JUST A NUMMBER GAME
numbers game. 25,851 18 PEOPLE Denial of Claim SORRY GUYS ITS JUST A NUMMBER GAME. THE LESS NUMMERS WE PAY THE MORE WE PLAY PUTTING THE MONEY IN THE WRONG POCKETS. WAKE UP !!!!
This site is being taken over by multiple posting loons. Fraud would be the slanders that this one poster puts out under new names each time. What do you do for a living multiple name poster? Does your business ever receive complaints? Does your business have politicians telling you what you can sell and at what price? Do you have to ask for approval of the format of every product you sell? I doubt it. No business is more regulated by the government than insurance. I hope they pay you well to spend 10 hours a day posting garbage on this and probably other sites.
Criminal investigation of State Farm is what is needed. IN ALL 50 STATES
you head most be thick. ”I hope they pay you well” O by the way I do not make one red dime from this.
nobody important WHAT TO THEY PAY YOU FOR YOUR POST?
Thick, as in your head when it comes to this one company. Your posts are laughable. Do you really think you have changed one opinion based on barraging us with nonsense constantly? I have said before, you can’t do anything to change anything here. This is an opinion site. If you have evidence of the great satan, SF, performing criminal acts, nothing you post here is going to make a difference. Run for FL Insurance Commisioner. Even a loon like you can’t do a worse job than the current politicians in that state. Otherwise, get a life.
INSURANCE COMPANY RULES ON YOU TUBE -BING VIDEO- …
nobody important WHAT TO THEY PAY YOU FOR YOUR POST?
I HOPE NOT A LOT .
No multiname moron. It’s just a hobby responding to you. It amuses me to see you waste your time. I get paid to work in one of the best and most important industries in the country, insurance. I work with excellent, hard working and honest people. Your experience seems to be less than satisfactory. You probably bought insurance because it was cheap rather than because it was a good claim paying company. Your problem. That doesn’t make the insurance industry bad, just you stupid. Have fun this weekend. I hope you don’t burn anything down with your fireworks because you probably no longer have insurance, liability or otherwise. Now get back to your job of posting cut and paste move on type nonsense.
” I get paid to work in one of the best and most important industries in the country, insurance” WHO WOULD THAT BE nobody important TELL ALL OF US WHO YOU WORK FOR.
Paula,
If you are sensing that my attitude is a little jaded, it is. I am not a mean person, it is just that the crowd here is as one person mentioned “Thick”. Other’s would say that they are brain dead or mentally deficient. I am not sure myself.
The short of it is that the Fla market has been heading to the toilet for a long time.
State Farm has the HIGHEST reputation of any large carrier.
When people support the State in this case, they are just wrong.
When people try to run down State Farm they are, again, just wrong.
I don’t have much patience for those people, I don’t know if it shows a little ? What do you think ?
Regards,
Rocketman
Who I work for is none of your business. I have repeatedly asked why you bear such hate for SF. My question is far more pertinent to and discussion. You have done nothing in response except post hate message, one after another. Your type of messages do not belong on any discussion site and approach the level of abuse that should have you banned from the site. I would ask any moderator, if one exists on this site, to think hard about banning this person. They don’t discuss, they just post hate mail. Cut and paste idiots like this have no actual opinion to add to the discussion. Your stupid comments just became less amusing. You are unfunny enough to be a Senator from Minnesota.
THANK YOU
POINT WELL MADE
REGARDS,
ROCKETMAN
What an interesting contradiction in ideals! On the day that we celebrate the country’s independence, one that was fought and died for to develop a Bill of Rights, you recommend silencing someone because their opinions don’t line up with yours. “Me thinks thou protesteth too much!” I am not just “spewing hate”, but reflecting the results of years of investigation of the industry that you are so proud of. An industry that uses hundreds of attornies to draft policies in “plain language” in which they do not hesitate to make up their own definitions to. Webster would roll over in his grave to see how his dictionary has changed. And if the original draft isn’t enough, every few weeks you get an amendment to your policy that you must accept or cancel, which coincidentally makes it that much harder to get a policy from another company. I could paper the walls of your office with the amendments that I have received from your “beloved” companies. The sum and substance of my findings over the last four years is that when the buying public that has been paying your premiums for the majority of their lives really needed you, you bailed and tried to pin the liability on the federal government. Have I had a bad experience with State Farm? Obviously you haven’t been really paying attention to my posts. I made more money in my business in 2 months than they were willing to pay for permanent injury to my neck. Do you really think that I am spending my time just to irritate you? I am trying to get you insurance “professionals” to pay attention to your industry and deliver on the promises that you make to customers that buy that promise when they need it the most. Is that “thick” or can we, the public, actually depend on you to do what you say you will do? What do you think, guys, can YOU step up to the plate?
I think that it is time for my voice to be heard. I have been a licensed insurance agent since 1986 and a national award winning district sales manager for 13 years, so don’t think that I don’t know the industry. I am sickened when I read stories from the poster that has been sparing with “mr. nobody” for the past few years, but not for the reason that you may think. I am embarrassed when my industry lets our clients down to the degree that they apparently have this individual. Is anyone really listening to what is being said here? I have fought with underwriters for years to get coverage put in place for people that really need it when they want to cherry pick the best and brightest insureds to limit their liability, only to then fight with the claims department to keep them from jumping through loop holes in the policies to deny payable claims. I feel the posters pain and can only hope that my fellow agents on this post will redouble their efforts to honestly represent their clients, forget about the corporate bottom line (believe me, all of the companies that I represent are doing just fine with their profit pictures) put their commission concerns on a back burner and get back to serving the public and sharing the risk rather than focusing on pushing the pendulum in the direction of the insurer. The American College and NALU teach us the basis of insurance and set the standards for us to follow and one of them is to listen to our insureds, not limit the input that we receive because the message is distasteful. How about agreeing to conduct our business better rather than striking out at someone who has obviously been harmed beyond belief by someone in our chosen profession.
Well excuse me concerned agent. I have asked how this individual has been harmed any number of times with no response. How is posting rambling hate cut and paste posts about SF helping them resolve whatever problem they have. Our industry has an excellent record of helping people. I attack this messenger because they appear to be a paid poster. There are such things. If you have such sympathy for this individual, you try and have a discussion and give them big hugs. You will find that they don’t care what you have to say. To call this individual anything but a insurance industry hating poster is naive.
July 2, 2009, 8:38 am CDT
Posted By: nobody important
Comment:
Thick, as in your head when it comes to this one company. Your posts are laughable. Do you really think you have changed one opinion based on barraging us with nonsense constantly? I have said before, you can’t do anything to change anything here. This is an opinion site. If you have evidence of the great satan, SF, performing criminal acts, nothing you post here is going to make a difference. Run for FL Insurance Commisioner. Even a loon like you can’t do a worse job than the current politicians in that state. Otherwise, get a life.
July 3, 2009, 8:12 pm CDT
Posted By: nobody important
Comment:
No multiname moron. It’s just a hobby responding to you. It amuses me to see you waste your time. I get paid to work in one of the best and most important industries in the country, insurance. I work with excellent, hard working and honest people. Your experience seems to be less than satisfactory. You probably bought insurance because it was cheap rather than because it was a good claim paying company. Your problem. That doesn’t make the insurance industry bad, just you stupid. Have fun this weekend. I hope you don’t burn anything down with your fireworks because you probably no longer have insurance, liability or otherwise. Now get back to your job of posting cut and paste move on type nonsense. July 6, 2009, 7:30 am CDT
Posted By: nobody important
Comment:
Well excuse me concerned agent. I have asked how this individual has been harmed any number of times with no response. How is posting rambling hate cut and paste posts about SF helping them resolve whatever problem they have. Our industry has an excellent record of helping people. I attack this messenger because they appear to be a paid poster. There are such things. If you have such sympathy for this individual, you try and have a discussion and give them big hugs. You will find that they don’t care what you have to say. To call this individual anything but a insurance industry hating poster is naive.
July 4, 2009, 6:44 pm CDT
Posted By: nobody important
Comment:
Who I work for is none of your business. I have repeatedly asked why you bear such hate for SF. My question is far more pertinent to and discussion. You have done nothing in response except post hate message, one after another. Your type of messages do not belong on any discussion site and approach the level of abuse that should have you banned from the site. I would ask any moderator, if one exists on this site, to think hard about banning this person. They don’t discuss, they just post hate mail. Cut and paste idiots like this have no actual opinion to add to the discussion. Your stupid comments just became less amusing. You are unfunny enough to be a Senator from Minnesota.
IT,S NOT NICE TO CALL PEOPLE NAMES!!
July 5, 2009, 12:53 pm CDT
Posted By: Girl Scout
Comment:
What an interesting contradiction in ideals! On the day that we celebrate the country’s independence, one that was fought and died for to develop a Bill of Rights, you recommend silencing someone because their opinions don’t line up with yours. “Me thinks thou protesteth too much!” I am not just “spewing hate”, but reflecting the results of years of investigation of the industry that you are so proud of. An industry that uses hundreds of attornies to draft policies in “plain language” in which they do not hesitate to make up their own definitions to. Webster would roll over in his grave to see how his dictionary has changed. And if the original draft isn’t enough, every few weeks you get an amendment to your policy that you must accept or cancel, which coincidentally makes it that much harder to get a policy from another company. I could paper the walls of your office with the amendments that I have received from your “beloved” companies. The sum and substance of my findings over the last four years is that when the buying public that has been paying your premiums for the majority of their lives really needed you, you bailed and tried to pin the liability on the federal government. Have I had a bad experience with State Farm? Obviously you haven’t been really paying attention to my posts. I made more money in my business in 2 months than they were willing to pay for permanent injury to my neck. Do you really think that I am spending my time just to irritate you? I am trying to get you insurance “professionals” to pay attention to your industry and deliver on the promises that you make to customers that buy that promise when they need it the most. Is that “thick” or can we, the public, actually depend on you to do what you say you will do? What do you think, guys, can YOU step up to the plate?
years of investigation of the industry
”I have said before, you can’t do anything to change anything here. This is an opinion site ”. A increase of 44%. I question if any of the lawsuits would be necessary if the company would just fairly pay their claims. The company represents on their web-site that consumer protection is one of their most important goals, but do they really think that courts would be awarding multiple millions of dollars in bad faith claims if that were their emphasis? State Farm’s ratings are based on their financial strength. State Farm states that their high ratings are also based on strong claims paying ability. With this ability, why is it necessary for their policy holders to allege that the claims department was directed, in evaluating their cases, to take them to trial instead of settling within the limits of the policy?
Your numbers are highly suspect as are your general posts. I tried to advise you early on to file complaints with the insurance departments if you have specific issues. You choose to ignore any actual advice. You earn any name calling since you aren’t actually interesting in resolving real issues, just calling my industry and the people within it criminals. I have no respect for you or your methods. Make up any numbers you want or post numbers you find at insurance hating websites and you still are not dealing with actual issues. I am calling you and your so called facts totally nonfactual. Laughable, in fact. You don’t have a clue.
two independent adjusters provided evidence to Mississippi officials that they said supported claims of impropriety against State Farm. The two adjusters contended that State Farm destroyed large numbers of documents related to their payments for Hurricane Katrina . ”Your type of messages do not belong on any discussion site” . No this site is perfect for this type of messages .
An industry that uses hundreds of attornies to draft policies in “plain language” in which they do not hesitate to make up their own definitions to. Webster would roll over in his grave to see how his dictionary has changed. And if the original draft isn’t enough, every few weeks you get an amendment to your policy that you must accept or cancel, which coincidentally makes it that much harder to get a policy from another company. I could paper the walls of your office with the amendments that I have received from your “beloved” companies
the court system a matter of public record.
I agree,concerned agent, that my comments do not serve any purpose in responding to the SF hater posts and will not look to respond to them again. I get a bit upset with people who hate the industry that I have served for over 30 years. We do a huge amount of good and slander of their type doesn’t serve any real purpose. It is typical of public discourse on all levels these days. Attack over and over. I am properly chastised and will avoid the easily spotted posts from this individal. My apologies.
July 5, 2009, 1:28 pm CDT
Posted By: concerned agent
Comment:
I think that it is time for my voice to be heard. I have been a licensed insurance agent since 1986 and a national award winning district sales manager for 13 years, so don’t think that I don’t know the industry. I am sickened when I read stories from the poster that has been sparing with “mr. nobody” for the past few years, but not for the reason that you may think. I am embarrassed when my industry lets our clients down to the degree that they apparently have this individual. Is anyone really listening to what is being said here? I have fought with underwriters for years to get coverage put in place for people that really need it when they want to cherry pick the best and brightest insureds to limit their liability, only to then fight with the claims department to keep them from jumping through loop holes in the policies to deny payable claims. I feel the posters pain and can only hope that my fellow agents on this post will redouble their efforts to honestly represent their clients, forget about the corporate bottom line (believe me, all of the companies that I represent are doing just fine with their profit pictures) put their commission concerns on a back burner and get back to serving the public and sharing the risk rather than focusing on pushing the pendulum in the direction of the insurer. The American College and NALU teach us the basis of insurance and set the standards for us to follow and one of them is to listen to our insureds, not limit the input that we receive because the message is distasteful. How about agreeing to conduct our business better rather than striking out at someone who has obviously been harmed beyond belief by someone in our chosen profession.
Subject
The report State Farm ordered included a sticky note on the first page that said, “Put in Wind file — DO NOT Pay Bill, DO NOT discuss.” is this ethics journalists maybe you should ask Patricia Harned at the ethics resource she is the President ask her about the code of ethics.202-872-4771
nobody important is this ethics.