Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Farmers Insurance - Identity Fraud Coverage

Example: You go to refinance your home and discover that someone has stolen your social, opened a credit card, and defaulted on it. Your credit is now ruined. What do you do?

Example: You get a letter in the mail indicating a warrant has been issued for your arrest due to traffic citations in New York. You have never been to New York. What do you do?

Example: You have a family member put you down as a cosigner on a loan without your knowledge. They default on that loan and now you are getting letters about the balance due. What do you do?

These are just SOME examples of situations that can occur that are due to Identity Fraud. Did you know Farmers' Home Insurance INCLUDES Identity Fraud Coverage. Farmers would be able to help in each of the above situations and more and it would not cost the policy holder anything!

There is NO deductible with filing a claim for Identity Fraud coverage.

Filing a claim for Identity Fraud coverage does NOT cause your rates to go up.

Identity Fraud coverage is NOT included in the majority of home insurance products available with other carriers.

We have people come to our Agency, Farmers Insurance - The Wertzberger Agency, because they have had to go through rebuilding their identity before and know it can be a time consuming, and expensive process.

If you would like to review a home insurance product that would include Identity Fraud coverage, please give us a call at 913-383-3276 or email us HERE.

More about Identity Fraud coverage can be found here:


Monday, June 29, 2015

Farmers Mobile App

We are excited for the release of the new Farmers Insurance Mobile App.  The Farmers app is a quick and simple way to access your insurance policy informaiton on the go.  Our new app will give you access to the most frequently used self-service featrures right from your mobile device.  We are making it easier and more convenient to view your insurance anytime, anywhere.
“The new Farmers Insurance mobile app gives customers phone or tablet access to our most frequently used self-service features, making it more convenient to manage their insurance needs anytime, anywhere,” said Chief Marketing Officer Mike Linton. “It’s another way we are making it easier for customers to connect with us.”
The mobile app joins Pet Insurance, the Farmers Car Shopping Service offered by TRUECar and the new Farmers Rewards Visa card as part of our suite of Smart Solutions.
With the new Farmers Insurance app you can easily view your policies, instantly view auto id cards, quickly connect with us, your agent, and pay your bill.

Saturday, June 27, 2015

State Farm Non Renewing Home Insurance

Over the recent weeks, we have taken more than a handful of calls from soon-to-be former State Farm clients. The story that we are hearing is that State Farm is choosing to no longer have the calling individual as a client of theirs. Understandably, the calling individual is quite upset about it...and wouldn't you be?? One would think, "okay, well, I can see the insurance carrier's stance to some extent. That client must just be a terrible client who files lots of claims." I'll share a review of two of the most recent call we've taken.

We'll call the first client "Joe".

Joe called our office, Farmers Insurance - The Wertzberger Agency, last week. Joe let us know that State Farm is choosing to non renew his home insurance. Our first response was of course, "sorry to hear that!". Joe then went on to explain his history with them as a carrier.

Joe's parents were insured with State Farm, as a lot of ours are/were. When Joe bought his first house, he just followed suit of his parents and also became a State Farm customer. Fast forward 10+ years and Joe has been a loyal client for many years.

While Joe was continuing his business with State Farm, he was also having success in his professional career, which soon led him to purchasing a new home. Joe's new home was a $600,000 property for him and his growing family.

Prior to moving into his new home, there was a small water loss which he filed a claim for. In Joe's opinion, not a big deal. He paid a deductible and State Farm paid a few thousand to help with the clean up. Then, Joe moved to his new home and, as luck would have it, three years later had another small water loss. This put Joe as having 2 water losses over a 4 year period at two different location.

Prior to Joe's next home insurance renewal of his $600,000 home, he received a letter indicating that State Farm saw him as too much of a risk to insure and is giving him two options. Option one, carry an extremely high deductible or, option two, find a new carrier. Joe called his Agent but the Agent indicated his hands were tied. After being a client for many, many years and paying State Farm thousands and thousands of insurance premiums, they no longer want his business because of TWO claims at TWO properties no less!

Joe googled for a new insurance provider and found Farmers Insurance - The Wertzberger Agency. At Farmers Insurance, we only look back 3 years for any home insurance claim history. We did have to account for one of his water losses but were able to provide insurance for Joe and his entire household for less than he was paying with State Farm!

We'll call the second client "Mary".

Mary called Farmers Insurance - The Wertzberger Agency within the last few days. Mary had been with State Farm for 20+ years. Mary had purchased a home to retire in in 2009. Over the next 5 years, the area that Mary lived in was hit by two large storms. The first storm caused lots of shingles to be blown off Mary's roof. Mary filed a claim, paid her deductible, and State Farm helped repair her roof. Three years later, a second storm came through, bringing lots of hail with it. Everyone in Mary's neighborhood, including Mary, needed a new roof due to this storm. Mary filed a claim, paid her deductible, and State Farm replaced her roof. Both claims, as Mary would put it, were "unavoidable".

Prior to her next home insurance renewal, Mary learned that State Farm no longer wanted to insure her as she had filed too many claims over the past 4 years. Mary had been a loyal client for 20+ years and filed TWO weather related claims in the past 4 years and she is now forced to find another provider.

Mary was understandably upset and vented to anyone who would listen. Fortunately, one of those listeners told her to call Farmers Insurance - The Wertzberger Agency. We met Mary and were able to be of immense help. Farmers only looks back three years so we only accounted for one of the two hail claims. Also, Farmers Insurance offers a New Roof discount. Not only could we provide insurance, but we lowered her deductible and saved her $1000+ on her home insurance premiums.

If you, or someone you know, is going through a similar situation with State Farm or your carrier, we encourage you to give Farmers Insurance - The Wertzberger Agency a call at 913-383-3276 or email us HERE.