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Location: Chehalis, Washington | Amazingly enough, just when I thought that I would never have anything good to say about an insurance company...
Farmer's, after we nearly took them to court to get payment on our break-in claims last year, finally came through. We had gotten the initial "cash value" payment a couple months ago, but have to go through and actually replace each item, send receipts, and wait for reimbursement payment on the difference between the "cash" value and the "replacement" value. (Those of you who've done this before will understand)
Long story short, the cash value they gave me on my Custom Legend was $284.00, with the replacement value about a third of the actual cost to replace that new from Ovation. After getting quotes on letterhead from the factory and a dealer, Farmer's finally came through and actually paid not only a more "fair" amount of value, but the entire actual replacement cost of that guitar!
I guess I can't say ALL bad things about them now...bummer. ;) |
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Location: ranson,wva | sounds like you got luck on that one andrew..im glad to hear it..jason |
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Location: Upper Left USA | So how many guitars ...
...oh, never mind. Congratulations brother! |
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Location: closely held secret | Originally posted by edensharvest:
I guess I can't say ALL bad things about them now...bummer. ;) Sure you can, Andrew. It totally sucks that you pay premiums for a home policy and a huge company like Farmers screws around with you like that.
Some good friends of mine had a house fire a few years ago. That's bad enough, but they also had Farmers. The agent was there, on the scene before the fire was out, consoling and reassuring. That was sweet.
Then she started taking days to return calls. Flatly denying things, demanding multiple bids on everything, questioning the need for evey repair or restoration, telling them they'd have to settle for what they get... not only did this family have to watch thier home be ruined, first by fire, then by water and smoke - plus all 6 of them lived in a trailer for nearly a year while they fought with the insurance company - they had to put up with this crap.
I would tell Farmers thank you very much, write them a long letter explaining what you've been through, and find a new insurance company. |
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Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | I'm with the Wabbit. The Insurance Industry is repleat with corrupt and unfair practices. They often add to the trauma of an event they are being paid to remedy. They claim to be victims of continual fraud, yet turn a blind eye to their own. The bigger shame is that we as a society, have fostered such a dependence on them. |
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Location: CT | Insurance and healthcare should be dropped in the toilet so we can start over. Anyway, you have a check, right? What new guitar are you going to buy? |
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Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | I was at a seminar recently where one of the statistics quoted was that almost 1/2 of an insurance companies profits are spent in the efforts associated with "DENYING A CLAIM". |
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Location: 6 String Ranch | I'm sure you'll have another chance. Perhaps it will be someone's else misfortune next time which will be good for you but still hold true that insurance companies are right down there with car salesmen, politicians and banjo pickers. |
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Location: Chehalis, Washington | Already done, Waskel. I dropped my Farmers policy right away after they started dinking me around and went with another company.
On top of it all, we actually switched all our insurance to Geico, and literally are paying half of what we were before for better coverage.
The question of what guitar is an interesting one...I kind of already went past my budget ordering my CL12, since I'm still sitting on this 1869 that I need to sell. I am watching out for a Folklore now, and working on building a solid-body 12-string...
And, when Greg gets in his custom cedar-topped Elites, I just may have to pick one up. Or, I may custom order an Adamas wideneck, or...
Or, I may be good and put money in the bank for our nest egg towards buying a house. Who knows? |
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Location: 6 String Ranch | OK, just kidding about the banjo, it is true of accordian though. |
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Location: Chehalis, Washington | Originally posted by cwk2:
I'm sure you'll have another chance. Perhaps it will be someone's else misfortune next time which will be good for you but still hold true that insurance companies are right down there with car salesmen, politicians and banjo pickers. What's that - you mean they all overestimate their own value, provide services that are unneeded and unappreciated, and in reality do nothing but cause headaches? ;) |
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Location: closely held secret | Well, stated that way, perhaps banjos do fit in. |
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Location: Yucaipa, California | "Well, stated that way, perhaps banjos do fit in."
uh, EXCUSE ME?????? |
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Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | .....uh, EXCUSE ME??????.....
Anyone else imagine Tim's voice as a banjo version of Charlie Brown's teacher |
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Location: NJ | Ms. Othmahr?? |
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Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | Cliffy, your geek is showing. |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | Bill,
You forgot lawyers. I'll offer a different perspective. You pay more for replacement cost coverage for exactly the reason you experienced. If and when you replace the item, you get the difference. Most policies have a time period in which you must replace the item or you just get the cash value. I have defended many claims where people burned their property, beat the arson charge, and then claimed replacement cost for items that weren't there.
I think the figure Jeff used was actually half of your premium dollars are spent on claim processing and litigation costs. What they don't tell you is that the premium dollars aren't where they make the profit, it's on the investment of those dollars. The companies owe all the rest of us an obligation to investigate claims and make sure they are legitimate. They don't like to drag out claims because it costs them money. They overpay more often than they underpay. People rip off insurance companies every day and we all pay for it.
Andrew is the victim of the thief who stole his property and all the other dishonest people in this country that have made fraudulent claims. I'm sorry you had to go through this, but you should be thankful you had replacement cost insurance and that you got paid.
Disclaimer: I do not and have not represented Farmers' and I've defended claims brought by Farmers where I know Farmers paid too much money. |
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Location: closely held secret | I thought I heard a little bit of vintage Steve Martin , though...
Just for you, Tim. |
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Location: Yucaipa, California | Blessings on you, you Waskelly Wabbit! |
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Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | same song with some pretty heavy hitters... Can you name them?
Foggy Mountain Breakdown |
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Location: NJ | ". . Cliffy, your geek is showing . . ."
damn zipper! . . . |
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| ...what's the world coming to when we have to have 'disclaimers' at the OFC?... :) (by the way, Farmers cancelled my auto insurance in a heart beat because of ONE ticket...) |
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Location: Yucaipa, California | ...Insurance Agents, Lawyers, Banjoists, Cliff's Geek.... pretty well covers it all .... and who said we weren't well rounded(ahem)... |
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Location: closely held secret | Earl Scruggs, Steve Martin, Paul Shaffer, Glen Duncan, Randy Scruggs, Gary Scruggs, Marty Stuart, Albert Lee, Jerry Douglas, Vince Gill and Harry Stinson.
;) |
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Location: SoCal | Here's another Foggy Mountain Breakdown on youtube....Earl Scruggs, Randy Scruggs, Vince Gill, Marty Stuart, Jerry Douglas, Albert Lee, Steve Martin, and two people that I didn't recognize... just outstanding. |
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Location: Capital District, NY, USA Minor Outlying Islands | I forget, did you find out who stole the guitar? Did anything happen to him or her?
How'd he get caught? |
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Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | Congratulations, Waskel... You win an all expense paid vaction; three days-two nights, to the First Annual Beginners Only, Banjo Workshop & Recital in beautiful Smiley Hollow, Tennesse. |
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Location: closely held secret |  |
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Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 |  |
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Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | No need to thank me. The look in your eyes says it all. |
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Location: Chehalis, Washington | Originally posted by an4340:
I forget, did you find out who stole the guitar? Did anything happen to him or her?
How'd he get caught? Interestingly enough, they did finally catch the guys...only to NOT be able to prosecute him on my case because they cannot find the witness (former girlfriend of one the guys). They're in jail pending a trial for ANOTHER duplicate crime (also depending on testimony from a female witness).
Overall, a couple pieces of human trash that figured out how to skirt the edges of the system and get away with it. Hopefully, they actually can put them away for a long time.
And no, they didn't end up recovering any more of our stuff...which sucks but was expected. |
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Posts: 3619
Location: GATLINBURG TENNESSEE :) | OK ... I can't help but get up on the soap box here ...
Farmers juiced me a few years back on my homeowners insurance. I too had paid for replacement cost coverage and also paid for extra coverage on water and ice damage. I had ice buildup and water damage across the whole back of my house, which later resulted in me having to jack up the floor and replace the sill plate and all the studs, the exterior stone work, the header and sliding doors. I racked up over $15,000 in repair charges after doing the work myself, with the help of a friend. Farmers sent a "forinsic architechtural engineer" to the house, who took pictures and found some small nail holes in some transitional z-channel trim. They later refused to pay me a dime and said the damage was a result of "latent defect" in the construction of the home. The only satisfaction I got was in cancelling THEM. I probably could have hired a good lawyer and challenged them, but I had become exausted with the whole process and was unwilling to wait for the time it would take to get some kind of reimbursement. I really hate insurance companies! There's no doubt in my mind that it is just organized crime gone legal. They even still call it "protection". |
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Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | Crap like that might inspire me to defraud them, them cancel after they pay. |
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Location: Capital District, NY, USA Minor Outlying Islands | I'm really curious though, do you have any idea why they picked you? Did some workman tell his girlfriend who told her sister who told her boyfriend that there's this target of opportunity, and then they rented a truck a went to your house? I'd like to kill these bastards.
I just found out that someone was using my amex card to buy plane tickets to italy and perfume. For the life of me, I have no idea how they got my amex number. Amex called me and told me that these purchases did not fit my spending pattern. Damn right. I'm told they'll not charge me, and that'll they'll probably never find the guys. Since I'm not out any money, it doesn't bother, but sometimes I wish .... |
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Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | You you ever use it to make a puchase at a store, hotel or resturant? Do you shred your bills before placing in trash? Those are the two most common ways.
The third most common way happens via phone where you "think" you are talking to the credit card company (afterall , they called you) but you are not.
Finally, if you've been convinced to use a credit card online for something other than intended. Actual online theft, like from hacking, is minimal in the scheme of things, but as example, mis-type the URL for your credit card company, and you may find yourself at a site that looks exactly like your credit card company, and when you log in, you get a "system busy" message, but they have your login info to use on the correct site.
As for insurance companies, what I find amazing is that with most things you can find a variety of prices for a "similar" service. But when insuring my bikes, I found I could pay in a range spanning over $3000.00 for the SAME coverage, just depending on who I called. I faxed and emailed the same info on the same bikes and riders to several companies, including brokers, and the lowest was below $1000 the highest a little over $4000. Simply amazing. Same exact coverage. |
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Location: Chehalis, Washington | Rick, to answer your question - it was easy. These guys were living next door (without paying rent, and getting evicted). No truck, they just waited until we left for a few hours and helped themselves. Same routine; shack up with some single woman, rob the neighbors, dump and run.
Stupidly brilliant. |
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Posts: 425
Location: SE Michigan | In the Detroit area we are well known for rampant auto theft. The closer to the city you live the higher your auto insurance rates. But what really grinds me is that it is a well known fact that the insurance companies dont really try prosecute or prevent auto theft and insurance fraud, because it's cheaper to just jack up the rates to the honest people.
On a related topic, most experts agree that the reason that the number of car-jackings has sky-rocketed is because of the high security systems on newer cars. Sometimes it just easier to stick a gun in someones face than to screw around trying to steal the car the old-fashioned way. |
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Location: Midland, MI | ...I just found out that someone was using my amex card to buy plane tickets to italy and perfume. For the life of me, I have no idea how they got my amex number. Amex called me and told me that these purchases did not fit my spending pattern... Hey, guys! I was feeling bad about the horrible year Al's had, so I've decided we should buy him some of that new Polo Black cologne and send him to Milan!
If you want to help cover the cost, that'd be great, just send PayPal funds. Except an4340, he's already done plenty!
:D |
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Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | It sounds like it's very fair and accurate to say that Banjoests, car salesmen and lawyers are on the next to the bottom rung. Insurance companies got the bottom covered.
Here's a true story for you.
In 2000 at the air-gas station the insurance portion for hanger keepers insurance(the part that covered airplanes when they were in our hangars or on the ramp getting fueled) was $62,000. The next year it went to $150,000. In 2002 it went to $325,000. I raised holy hell with the insurance company. "We've had no claims and you double it? WTF!!???" They said, yes, that's right. If you'd had a claim it would be 4x. Fortunately Signature came along and bought the business. Frankly the insurance industry is the sleeping cancer in America. Everyone can bitch about Bush or the war or Korea or Al but it's the insurance companies that are shafting us all. It really needs to be fixed, but who's going to do it? Maybe the Politicians and Lawyers and banjoests? They are a rung higher on the ladder. |
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Location: Upper Left USA | We need the Lawyers and Politicians to enforce limits.
Medical malpractice should only be invoked on idiots that carve their initials into your abdomen and not for anything that goes wrong.
Ok, sorry.
I like pigs. Dogs look up to us and cats look down on us. Pigs treat us like equals! |
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Posts: 1900
| Whoever writes coverage and litigation law for insurance companies are the culprits. They pick the peoples pocket from the beginning. Then the thieves steal your stuff, then the insurance companies pick your pocket again...I think they are called 'lobbyists' or something sinister....oops, I meant 'something similar'.. ;) |
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OT - Well, what do you know?