Farmers Insurance Good or Bad?

Posted: Mon Apr 26, 2010 12:12 pm Post Subject:

Agree 100% with the last statement. I've known many successful agents who sold for companies that others considered "uncompetitive" One common denominator was that they offered great value, service and were hard workers. Farmers are "outstanding in their field" Hah ! Had to throw that in there:)

Posted: Sat Jun 12, 2010 06:13 am Post Subject: farmers

Yes we are beautiful people bahut bahut shukriya ;) I disagree with all of you. People are the ones that are cheap when purchasing the policy, better coverages are offered but they decide they want CHEAP about it when making the decision, and than when its time to cover claims YOU are upset insurance is only paying out 5000 for the damaged property but you selected that coverage remember higher coverage was too much? Even if its like a $25-$75 difference in total premium. Or you call when you are at the side of the road and ask if you have roadside, if none than you get upset but remember when it was offered in the office and you declined it because it raised monthly installment $5? So u DECIDED not to PURCHASE. And that lady that said farmers didn't cover her rental car they provided for her when her vehicle was wrecked by an insured with farmers hmmm well duh lady YOUR liabilty/comprehensive/collision is supposed to transfer over! Oh yes, and hmmm maybe your insurance premium goes up every 6mnths because you keept getting more points on your driving record or you made changes to your policy! Same when someone hits with no insurance and you claim bodily injury, maybe you should have thought about adding uninsured motorists bodily injury UM property damage/waiver. I know this because I am an agent myslef and I see it happen ALL of the time! I LOVE Farmers they are a great insurance company. Always covers my claims asap•

Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 10:09 pm Post Subject:

For consumer issues this place rated Farmers poorly along with many other major insurance companies we're familiar with here in the USA.

http://www.justice.org/docs/TenWorstInsuranceCompanies.pdf

I was in their reserve agent training program and this is what I found: As a business model Farmers district agencies are making money for every head that comes through the training program so there is not enough incentive to foster a team success mentality or even have knowledgeable persons available to insure new agent sales quotas. Their district managers will get paid whether you succeed or fail. If you have some exceptional persons in your district office who want to get to know you and foster your newbie skills then you're off to a better start. All the better aspects kick in after you've sold 44 policies. You may be bilingual but the bonus won't kick in until after those 44, even if you've spent a lot of time translating their materials for them. They have meager Spanish materials I noticed.

Their customer service is delivered through 800 numbers, which is pretty typical and its a problem when a new agent doesn't make the quotas and is dropped. They'll just refer that client to the 800 number so the client isn't necessarily referred to another local agent. In fact your district office may not have people knowledgeable enough to handle a simple company re-write if it involves Life policies. Don't assume that the office can handle your Life policies correctly. Ask who is on board and if they have experience with the ins and outs of every situation involving a Life policy.

Each district office has the freedom to hire sales managers who are unlicensed with no insurance sales background so if you're new and unlucky enough to have a sales manager who is studying for his license or is ...from let's say the pharmaceutical industry sales, you have no in office help for complex questions so you can go to the 800 number and they will keep connecting you with whomever might have the best answer for your question....and they do a really great job but for a new agent this is really time consuming. The rest of your training could be a weekly sales meeting because you're expected to put in 10 hours a week on the online training, which should be followed up on by your sales manager if all goes well.

The leads in my district were over worked and we got many complaints that 10 or more agents had already phoned. Their company policy is to encourage your "natural market" and "centers of influence". So if you come in with a long history of social interactions with many different associations or have a lot of relatives and friends in the area who can become your clients it works well. It's tricky if you're a good Life sales person because in the beginning they only ask you to sell 4 life policies with stipulations but you need 40 new PC policies in 3 months (4 mos in in some districts) I could have easily sold many Life policies but that's not what they want in the beginning.

Reality is: If you have 3-500.00 a month for marketing during the first 3-4 months and can work commission only, you'll make it to 44 policies to obtain their subsidy payments...which obligate you as well and are actually no interest loans.

If you're an experienced Life or Health agent coming in with an existing book of business who can cross sell Farmers PC products to those clients that works well too. If you're planning to cold call watch out....Farmers is conservative and asks you not to sell on price so many times you can't compete. CAVEAT: Senior drivers get good deals with Farmers.

When the housing market was booming Farmers ruled because the newer, the bigger the more metropolitan the location of the house-- the better the premiums...I mean nobody could beat Farmers in those situations. So if you're in a rural area with older homes.....not the greatest Farmers prospects.

Farmers likes the small fast food type restaurant with high turnover of daily customers because they rate on a square foot advantage so the Business Owners Policies are another good way to go but your district may not have a trainer or experienced business agent around so ask first.

I left the program voluntarily....I didn't like selling P&C and their underwriting process for auto and our District Office had no specialists to train us in Business or who knew enough about Life Insurance and a sales manager with no insurance experience at all.

:shock:

Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 03:45 am Post Subject:

And that lady that said farmers didn't cover her rental car they provided for her when her vehicle was wrecked by an insured with farmers hmmm well duh lady...

. I know this because I am an agent myslef and I see it happen ALL of the time! I LOVE Farmers they are a great insurance company.

For consumer issues this place rated Farmers poorly along with many other major insurance companies we're familiar with here in the USA.

Posted: Fri Jul 16, 2010 04:52 pm Post Subject:

I've you can not only go broke but wind up owing money by taking there advances. There are stiff quotas that need to be met for life policies and then there is the fact that you are a captive agent that can't offer as amny lines as an independent.

Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2011 05:24 pm Post Subject: How do I get the cross-sold life?

"I could have easily sold many Life policies but that's not what they want in the beginning."

I am also in the reserve training program and I have sold my 40 P/C but can't get the four life that I need. My Natural Market was written in my last insurance job and I have a Do Not Compete clause in that contract. I have subscribed to exclusive life leads but I am lucky if I get 1/ day and I rarely get them on the phone let alone agree to an appointment. I have one of my 3 cross-sold life with 2 weeks left. They won't accept an application from a family member, under 21 yrs old and only 1 per household. In addition, 2 of the remaining 3 need to be level term and will either need oral fluid or a full physical.

Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 05:57 pm Post Subject:

Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2012 04:24 pm Post Subject: approached by email from Farmers

THANK YOU HANAHSOLO!! You have actually gave me the information i needed to make my decision. I must say, one of the directors emailed me after looking at my resume and thought i be a good candidate for the job. Of course, I only know what is on the comercial so looked online for some advice about what the company is like. I've made my decision to not work for Farmers unless im getting ready to die and cry from brokeness, which i haven't gotten to yet lol.

And as for the lady who claims everyone is cheap, bite yourself hard because we are in an economy of recession meaning everyone wants to be safe but don't have the big bucks to get the most out of insurance policies. Believe me, I've seen my parents go a little frustrated, and my boyfriend over these insurance companies. Unless you know what it feels like to be on the scene asking your insurance company to help you out and bring out the bull and say no, don't come here with the b.s. of saying how bad the customer is, people have budgets you know.

Thanks everyone for the advice, REAL advice. Bless you all.

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2012 02:58 am Post Subject:

we are in an economy of recession

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2012 08:02 am Post Subject: A Good aproach for farmers

Farmer insurance is a Good aproach for farmers and for their crops, it acts as a guard to their farms and crops