Other Horror Stories

THESE BAD CLAIM STORIES ARE TRULY "HORROR STORIES" TO POLICYHOLDERS WHO SUFFERED A LOSS, THEN WERE DENIED BY FARM BUREAU

More bad faith claim stories are coming in to this website from Farm Bureau policyholders. I will post their stories here as I get more information on them. I don't want anyone to get into trouble with Farm Bureau. I do know Farm Bureau could sue anyone who divulges their secret settlement negotiations. Some of these horror stories are long and complex, but if you are facing a claim delay or denial from Farm Bureau you can learn from their experience what is in store for you and hopefully save yourself from the same kind of treatment they and I received from Farm Bureau.

4/9/09 (Here are a few more recent horror stories Farm Bureau members have sent me.)

From: xxxxxxxxx
Phone: xxxxxxxxx
E-mail: xxxxxxxx
Message:
Georgia Farm Bureau screwed us out of $8,000 on a burglary. At first they tried to say we hadn't taken out a policy for theft, only vandalism. It was later revealed the home office in Macon GA made an error and didn't follow the agent's instructions. It took 4 months to finally get them to agree to pay the claim but then depreciated everything 50%! Plus deducted a large sum for the difference in what the policy premiums would have been! Needless to say we're through with Farm Bureau. Everyone but the agent are a bunch of morons, or either criminally dishonest.

My Answer:
Sir, Sorry to hear of your ordeal with Farm Bureau. It's a shame they have to be such a rotten company. So many people are cheated by them. If enough people find out how they cheat it will affect their bottom line, "money" and maybe they will someday change. I get so many e-mails like yours from people being cheated by Farm Bureau. Thanks for viewing my website. Lucky

From: XXXXXX
Message:
I recently had damage to my outbuilding from the recent ice storm. Two trees fell on my building, punching eight holes in the roof and all contents got soaked for several days. Farm Bureau is trying to low ball me and are trying to place some unreasonable responsibilities on me, the policyholder. They are asking me to take all my merchandise that was inside the building including appliances and electronics to repair shops all over town to have this stuff checked out to see if it still works. They claim they will take care of all the repair bills. I told them I do not care if it works or not its water damaged and I do not want all this stuff. It could short out or fail at a later date from corrosion. My building is a total loss too. It broke roof trusses and damaged the outside and now the flooring is rotting out. They are asking me to give a sworn statement and I am going to tell them not without my attorney present. I am hiring an attroney this week. Any suggestions?
K J
PS I have found your website very helpful.

From: T J
E-mail: xxxxxxx
Message:
Would like some additional information....I had a fire 1/19/2009 and was just informed by letter yesterday that Farm Bureau has rescinded my homeowners and auto policy back to 2004 due to misrepresentation of my criminal conviction. They have issued 2 checks for the amounts for premiums paid totaling 9,000. I have a copy of the initial homeowners application. I don’t question it is my signature but the check marks and writing on the policy is not mine or my wife’s. The fire investigators asked me if the issuing agent asked me the check mark questions including the "have you ever been convicted of a criminal offense" and I responded I was not asked the questions and that I definitely did not fill out the form and that there are additional mistakes on the form and it was done very quickly. The investigator said he is reporting the fire as an accident and the felony wouldn’t likely be a disqualifable related offense. He said he would tell the adjuster to proceed with the claim. The adjuster said proceed with getting a contractor or several and proceed with inventory. I turned in an estimate to her and she said she would complete her scope of work. She also issued an expense check for 2,000 and said to bring in receipts that I had for living expenses. I turned in receipts to the secretary but the adjuster wasn’t available. Two days later I get the cancellation letters and checks. What resources do I have? It's not ethical but is what they did legal? The policy limits are for 90,000 property 50,000 contents ACV. The estimates range from 70,000 to 90,000 Thank you for any help/suggestions and your prompt reply..

From: A M
E-mail: XXXXXX
Message:
Hi! My name is xxxxxx. My parents have recently had a house fire and Farm Bureau is the insurance company. I have always thought that they were the best in the area until now. My parents have had to fight for anything and everything that they have got so far, but still no settlement. My parents lived in a mobile home that had been changed over to be classified as a house. We just had a huge run in with another adjuster yesterday this only made the 3rd one that has been on this case, since Dec. 08. We have a recording that I would like to put on the internet somehow and show people what FB is like in our area. My parents have been hollared at, screamed at, and even were told yesterday and I quote " We (FB) will not pay for any damages that have happend since the fire due to your ignorance and stubborness". I was completely blowed away. Then at one point my dad was so upset about the contents that they have said were cleaned and all the adjuster kept saying well on paper they say it was cleaned, you can actually smell the smoke, my dad got really upset and the adjuster grabbed my dad by the shoulder and told him he needed to calm down and you can actually hear my dad say" Get you hands off me" and the adjuster said he was sorry. I would love to be able to get some information out in our state and county about FB, but I am not really sure where to start. I know that our insurance commissioner is playing a huge part in this and has had some people written up because of thier behavior. If you get this message and have time to give me a few pointers I would love to hear back from you. Thanks so much for putting this website together, it has been wonderful to go through.
Thanks,
A M

From: XXXXXX
E-mail: XXXXXXX
Hey there, I was driving down the side of I-70 yesterday in missouri and saw one of your billboards. I was wondering if you had anymore of the farmbureaulies.com stickers to give out. I would love to have one to put on my car to show support for everyone who has been wronged by this treacherous company. Thanks for your time.
A H

10/26/2008 (I received this horror story about Farm Bureaus unfair claims practices today.)

Date: Oct 27, 2008
From: ContactUsForm@officelive.com
To: LUCKY@farmbureauLIES.com
Subject: A message from XXXXXXX

Message:
I'm so glad that I've found your site...The XXXX family (homeowners) became victims of Farm Bureau Insurance in Michigan...Nearly four years after their home was destroyed by fire, they are still battling Farm Bureau for the rest of what is due them under the policy...Even though they were able to recover the cash value of the dwelling, they were cheated out of compensation for contents, loss of use, and the replacement value coverage for damages in excess of the cash value of the dwelling...they have lost more that $100,000.00 to date.

Worst of all, the stress of being without her home drove the families daughter to suicide in June of 2007...Since then I have vowed to expose the corruption at Farm Bureau.

Farm Bureau used all of the same bad faith tactics that you have descibed to wrongfully deny this claim three times...Farm Bureau and an incompetent attorney attempted to force them to sign a settlement agreement that would have waived their right to sue Farm Bureau for the rest of what was owed them under the policy...They ended up firing the attorney and took on farm Bureau themselves and won the cash value settlement without signing a settlement agreement leaving Farm Bureau open for futher litigation.

Several of us demonstrated (on a public sidewalk) in front of Farm Bureau several times and Farm Bureau repeatedly tried to violate our 1st ammendment rights and have us arrested...They contemplated a suit against me for defamatiom because of a yard sign that read "Boycott Farm Bureau" even though I didn't make or put the sign up...They took several pictures of the sign and came onto my property and stole the sign...they later interogated me about it. I would like to figure out how to obtain information about Farm Bureau's other victims in my state. I have searched at our local university and law library, but I can't find published cases of lawsuits from other victims, though, I'm certain that they have many.
I want to connect with other victims in my sate and organize a boycott against Farm Bureau. I want to expose Farm Bureau for the corrupt company that it is, warn potential future victims, have them investigated, and get them shut down!
They are very powerful in Michigan...They call themselves, "Michigan's Insurance Company". They sponsor the local news on both ABC and NBC, so it is very difficult to get the story out. They do a ton off business here, but very few people are aware that they are corrupt.
How do I find and obtain copies of suits against Farm Bureau in Michigan? Do you know how to get a list of Farm Bureau's customers?
Thanks.

My answer
From: maurice gash <lucky@farmbureaulies.com>
Subject: RE: A message from Lucky
To: "XXXXX"
Date: Wednesday, October 27, 2008
XXXXXX, type the address below into your google search space and you will get the Michigan Courts Homepage, then click on court of appeals and you will get a long list of Farm Bureau appeal cases. Maybe you can figure a way to go from there to the original circuit court cases filed by the policyholder or Farm Bureau. Keep me informed. It sounds like Farm Bureau in Michigan is just like in Missouri, and other states from the e-mails I get. When I got to close to them at their home office in Jefferson City, Mo. they did have me arrested, but the prosecution was dropped, and I just sued them last week for false arrest in federal court. They are a terrible company. Thanks for viewing my website. Lucky

10/18/08 (Another example of Farm Bureau unfair claims practices)
Farm Bureau General Insurance Company Of Michigan insurance bad faith causes family to lose home and lender to lose $129.000, his business, and his health.
Farm Bureau General Insurance Company Of Michigan
7373 West Saginaw Highway
Lansing, Michigan, 48909
A fire caused a large, low income family to loose their home at 6188 E. Michigan Avenue, Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Farm Bureau insurured the homeowners and the lender for losses in amounts sufficient to: replace the home, replace lost possessions, and compensate for additional living expenses (loss of use) during the rebuild period.
More than 16 months after the fire, Farm Bureau has:
Failed to honor the homeowners policy
Failed to act in Good Faith
Failed to promtly and fairly settle the claims
Failed to repair or rebuild the home
Failed to compensate the homeowners or the lender for loss of use (since spring of 2005)
Failed to compensate the homeowners for lost possessions
Failed to secure the home from vandals
Failed to deny the claims
Failed to offer any eplainations why they refuse to act in good faith
Failed to cooperate with local media outlets to explain why they have been acting in Bad Faith
As a result of Farm Bureau's Bad Faith antics, the homeowner's and lender have been experiencing the following harships:
The homeowners have lost their home and possessions, and have been forced to live in sub-standard housing since the fire.
The homeowners family members were split up and lived at several different temporary addresses while waiting for Farm Bureau to honor the policy.
Minor homeowners family members were forced to leave classmates and friends behind and attend different schools.
The homeowners have been unable to make payments to the lender since the fire.
The lender has been unable to collect payments from the homeowners.
The lender was unable to complete a business startup and has been without business income since the fire.
The local goverment has begun to take action against the homeowners and the lender to demolish the home.
The lender, who was in excellent health at the time of the fire, has since been suffering from debilitating physical and mental health problems.
The lender, once an upstanding and highly productive member of the community, has become unproductive and forced to rely on public assistance in order to survive and has contemplated suicide.
Sheri, Galesburg, Michigan

FARM BUREAU LIES

Missouri Farm Bureau has denied far too many claims, and sued hundreds of it's members in the last 5 yrs. If you insure with them you may be their next victim.