Fire Insurance Exchange Consumer Complaints

Farmers Insurance Group allegedly continues to offer coverage choices to help its customers manage risk and satisfy their insurance requirements. They allege that the most permissible value and experience are provided to every customer they have the honor of serving. Farmers value consumer patronage and look forward to earning consumers' trust for many years.

Farmers Insurance Group includes Fire Insurance Exchange as an insurer. Fire Insurance Exchange, Farmers Insurance Exchange, and Truck Insurance Exchange, as well as its subsidiaries and affiliates, offer auto, home, personal umbrella, and business owners insurance. To obtain additional details, please visit farmers.com.

Recent Developments

Our overall customer satisfaction score is mediocre, reflecting moderate satisfaction in customer experience.

Farmers claim that it has with award-winning Catastrophe team to serve its clients and aid in-need communities in a year marked by increased weather and fire disasters.

Better Together

Farmers claim that it began transitioning to a new mode of operation based on employee feedback after demonstrating that it is more than capable of running Farmers and serving our customers, with the majority of our staff working remotely.

Farmers have obtained a flawless score of 100 on the 2022 Corporate Equality Index, demonstrating our dedication to a diverse workforce (CEI). This may be a score that Farmers either pay for or is outcome determinative.

Frequently Asked Questions

Fire Insurance Exchange claims they want consumers to grasp the fundamentals of Exchange operation since, as consumers will see, they are a shareholder in the Exchange, when consumers more likely aren't considered a shareholder.

What is a Transaction?

An Exchange is an insurance organization that works similarly to other insurance companies with a few major exceptions. Fire Insurance Swap was established following a provision of the California Insurance Code that permits insureds to "exchange" policies with other insureds. Because it is impractical for insureds to issue policies, collect premiums, pay commissions to agents, etc., they engage a third party, known as an "attorney-in-fact" (AIF), to carry out these tasks on their behalf for a fee. This appointment is formalized by a document known as a "Subscription Agreement." When a consumer applied for insurance with Fire Insurance Exchange, they were required to sign a Subscription Agreement; this is how they became a member (aka subscriber).

Who is the Exchange's owner?

Subscribers of the Exchange are owners until the Exchange's insurance no longer covers them. A Board of Governors is elected by subscribers to oversee the financial operations of the Exchange and the performance of the AIF following the conditions of the Subscription Agreement.

Why does AIF pay Fire Underwriters Association (FUA) a fee?

Following the Subscription Agreement described above, members designate FUA to conduct certain insurance-related responsibilities, including policy issuance and premium collection. The Subscription Agreement stipulates a 25 percent AIF charge. However, FUA has collected less than that amount.

What exactly is FUA?

FUA is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Farmers Group, Inc. (FGI), a Swiss corporation Zurich Insurance Group, Ltd (ZIG) subsidiary. Fire Insurance Exchange, held by its subscribers, is not owned by any FUA, FGI, or ZIG (insureds).

How has Fire Insurance Exchange used the premium dollar?

Your premium dollar supports Exchange expenses, such as losses suffered, purchase costs, taxes, license fees, the AIF charge, and any surplus contributions. The AIF charge for 2021 was 12.5% of the premium dollar, which included the AIF's profit of 6.6% of the premium dollar for that year.

Consumers Complain about Fire Insurance Exchange

Consumer Complaint:

For the past 15 years, I've had Farmer's homeowner's insurance for both of my residences. When I had my air conditioner replaced recently, they left a gap in a pipe that leaked for three months before I noticed it. Farmer's has refused to compensate for any losses. They discovered and exploited a flaw in my coverage. After paying hundreds of dollars for over 15 years, there was no coverage. The tone of the woman's voice told me right away that they weren't going to help me. DON'T EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER Yes, they're less expensive, but there's a reason behind it. They have terms and ambiguous wording in their coverage that allow them to avoid doing anything for you. They aren't in the business of safeguarding or assisting homeowners.

Consumer Complaint:

THE WORST INSURANCE COMPANY IN HISTORY. Save time and money by going to a more recognized company. This firm is quick to steal your money, but they will not - under any circumstances - pay up when you file a claim. We filed two claims with them, each of which cost us over $25,000. They refused to pay anything. Farmers, in reality, did their "investigation" by calling the flood business, asking ONE question, and then HANGING UP ON THEM! They were unprofessional and acted in bad faith when they declined our request. They DO NOT PAY ANY CREDIT CLAIM - EVER. My neighbors had the same issues with them and were told they did not pay for their claims either. I can't believe how much trouble we had with them for months.

Consumer Complaint:

I'd want to share my unpleasant experiences with Luis **, his agency, and Farmers Insurance, and would not advocate doing business with them.

1. There has been a lot of agent turnover at the agency. They've had 3-to 4 different agents since I first called the agency a couple of years ago.

2. Despite my request for assistance, none of the agents ever bothered to discuss or examine my homeowner's policy when I first purchased it. All the agents could do was send emails or have brief phone discussions. It was entirely up to me to ask all of the pertinent questions and lead myself through the procedure. They provided no assistance or advice.

3. None of the agents tried to talk about or point out important policy flaws or difficulties that should have been brought to my attention. IN ADDITION, THE APPLICATION MADE NO REFERENCE TO IMPORTANT LIMITATIONS.

Let's the go-ahead to my interactions with Mr. **: Last year, as my homeowner's policy was about to expire, I emailed the agent for help renewing it but received no response. ** eventually responded after many days, stating that he was the new agent and the other had retired. ** did not attempt to inform me that he was the new agent, that the policy was due to expire, or to offer to review or negotiate the policy renewal, instead of passing me off to his assistant to handle the details. And this was only after I had waited for him to start working on the renewal for almost a week. Due to his tardy response, I wasted time hunting for another agent to take over the policy during that period. Even though the house was over 50 years old, he showed little interest in assisting me with the policy or understanding my needs.

I subsequently went to his business to get a new motor insurance coverage. Without going into specifics, his assistant botched the procedure, failed to contact me and keep me up to date, and so on. It was entirely up to me to contact them for updates, and binding coverage took weeks. Then I had a plumbing problem, which resulted in a suggestion to rebuild my sewage line, which will cost at least $15,000 to replace. I later discovered that Farmers has a $2000 cap on this coverage and that most other carriers completely cover this type of damage. Farmer's homeowner's policies do not cover many of the common losses covered by most other carriers, and their representatives do not disclose any of this information to policyholders!!

When I called ** to talk about it, he was certain. "The previous agent should have volunteered to evaluate your needs and the policy with you at the outset and informed you of this limit. That is Farmers policy, and I always follow it. I'll investigate and get back to you." ** then phones me the next day, completely flipping the script and telling me, "We have no record of you asking for assistance. It is the policyholder's responsibility to seek assistance, not the agent's." In other words, rather than offering assistance and accepting responsibility or confirming what he had told me the day before, he decided to blame me. This behavior should tell you everything you need to know about Luis **'s business practices and his lack of regard for his policyholders. I would not recommend doing business with farmers or Luis ** based on my own experiences, which are entirely real. I will comment again if ** tries to refute any of these facts.

Consumer Complaint:

Farmers Homeowners Insurance may be less expensive than others. Still, when I had to call my agent four times in three weeks to explain a simple change they made in my renewal, each time being promised to fix it, until the last time, as the deadline approached, he told me he had no idea why the change was made and that I should call Farmers and ask!!!! When I called him, I mistook him for Farmers. I don't want to use the word "dishonest" to describe how bad the customer service was!!

Consumer Complaint:

Filed a claim after our washer hose in our condo burst. Despite our best efforts, some water got into the condo below, causing some damage. Our condo, on the other hand, was completely unharmed. Our liability agent demanded documents related to our condo ownership, including rules and regulations, agendas, etc. What does this have to do with a bursting washer hose? However, we contacted our Hoa, who forwarded the information to us. There's also contact information for the condo owner downstairs and the plumber/company that fixed and replaced the washer hoses.

After some time had passed, my next-door neighbor contacted me...laughing! Farmers allegedly contacted him and informed him that the claim would not be recognized since he was not negligent??!! And the only way they'd pay is if I'd been careless... Omg. He declared it to be the ridiculous explanation he'd ever heard! What would I do if the washer hose burst!! So, discover everything you can concerning liability claims, including what is covered and how it is covered. We are planning to sell soon and will not be using Farmers —-

We've been in our new house for about three years. We had a roof leak owing to our severe damming throughout the winter, which flooded one of our bedrooms and leaked through the floor. We immediately contacted our Farmers Insurance representative, who dispatched a woman to inspect our roof. She made a comprehensive assessment and advised us that all of the damage caused by the roof leaking should be fully covered. She stated that it was extremely bad and that she would file a report. The report appeared out of nowhere, stating that we had lichen on our roof and that nothing would be covered. That was entirely wrong, and the lady never said anything about it. We had to fight them again, and they brought out another woman who breezed through the inspection and NEVER CHECKED THE ROOF! She assured us that our home was fine, even though we had a leak and were also dealing with mold due to the leak.

She was essentially sent here to soothe us, and she had no intention of checking anything. Our roof is still in good shape, according to the study. WHAT A FRAUD! I'm not sure why we have home insurance at all. They lied to us because they didn't want to pay for the repairs to our roof. We now need to get an attorney to pursue them for insurance fraud. This has been going on for months and has yet to be handled, and now we have black mold due to their refusal to replace our roof! Please preserve your money and your house by switching to a reliable insurance provider that will not take your money every month for no apparent reason! P.S. Our insurance plan (SUPPOSEDLY) includes roof coverage.

Consumer Complaint:

Our upstairs bathroom had flooded, resulting in water damage to the living room ceiling below. Within days, the living room ceiling collapsed completely, shattering our 3-inch thick hardwood coffee table in half. My 80-year-old mother-in-law narrowly avoided being crushed after only 30 seconds.

Within hours following the disaster, we contacted Farmers. It was the kind of unforeseeable disaster that no homeowner could have predicted but that any good house insurance company would cover. We were taken aback when Farmers did not react to us after four attempts to contact them through phone, internet, and text as required in the policy.

When we eventually got a hold of a representative four days later, we were taken aback when he informed us that Farmers does not cover homeowners whose ceilings collapse. It was the classic moment that every homeowner hopes they will never have to confront since they believe that by paying their $1400 monthly home insurance premium on time, they are safe in the knowledge that their home insurance provider will not abandon them in the case of a severe disaster.

Before he gave us this type of contractual response, we asked him to come to examine the damage. When the agent arrived at our home, he glanced up at a ten by 3-foot hole in our ceiling and a shattered hardwood coffee table and told us the damage was not covered because, he said, it only involved the ceiling movement not water damage from the upstairs bathroom. I'm unsure how a homeowner might anticipate or avoid a situation like this. Farmers should be ashamed for abandoning homeowners because of a huge home calamity.

Consumer Complaint:

On Christmas Day 2018, we had a house fire. It is now May 7, 2019, and they have just decided to extend the temporary home contract until July 31, 2019. This is after I repeatedly told them that the building had not begun since the repairs had been undervalued. The claims adjuster was in and out of my home in less than two hours. I remained at the scene, speaking with the fire investigator. This claims adjuster overlooked the second fire's floor joists reducing from 1.5 inches to 1 inch due to scorching. The claims adjuster stated that the floor joists could be cleaned and sealed in the scope of the damage.

I engaged an architect, who informed me they were unstable and needed to be replaced. Furthermore, because of Farmers' inaction, we suffered substantial water damage and mold due to a water leak. On December 27, 2018, the water was cut off. I downloaded and printed all of the materials Farmers had on their portal. According to a thorough examination, they have several discrepancies in their records. At this time, I'm contacting attorneys to obtain the proper settlement to properly repair our property.

Consumer Complaint:

On or around July 2, 2016, I called my agent Terry ** in Saint Paul to tell him I had some shingles on the ground, and a roofer had told me I had hail/wind damage. A Farmer's representative came to my house and told me there was no damage. Thus I didn't have a claim. Farmers eventually admitted there was wind damage to the roof after multiple phone calls on or around May 17, 2017. When another replaced one adjuster, the action was taken, and settlements were given in two separate instances. Due to the impossibility of matching the roof shingles, the roof was replaced, and the job was completed in late 2017, with the final payment to be made on December 26, 2017.

I kept my Farmers Household policy until about February of this year, when Terry **, the local Farmers agent, notified me that my policy would be increased from about $2,200 per year to $4,200 or thereabouts. I was taken aback by the policy's doubling and demanded an explanation but received none. That was the cost! Even though I was still seeking to negotiate a more acceptable quote, the policy was canceled because I declined. Within a week of receiving that notice, I received a letter from my bank informing me that because I no longer had insurance, my home equity loan, which required insurance, was invalidated and that if I did not provide them with a new declaration of insurance, they would procure insurance on their own. This time at a far greater price, considerably over $4500.00.

As I had no luck with Farmers for a more cost-effective coverage, I began calling other providers for comparisons. I was quoted anywhere between $2000.00 and $3,100 depending on my deductible, which I thought was reasonable ($1000.00 deductible vs. $5000.00 deductible). When I told them (Statefarm) that I wanted to go ahead with a policy, the local agent told me that when their underwriters checked my status, the policy could not be executed because Farmers reported that I had three claims on my record in the previous two years and that NO company would insure me unless I was willing to pay an excessive amount to a special type of company.

I stated to the Statefarm agent that the three cases Farmers was reporting were ONE claim that had been dragged out for over two years before being resolved. He (Jake) told me that Statefarm could not give insurance until Farmers fixed their mistake. I called Farmers immediately, both the agent (copy of Terry **'s letter attached) and the home office. In the end, after many phone conversations, I was/am left with no household insurance since Farmers refused to adjust the claim into the ONE that it was. With no household insurance, I write this letter to let you know where you stand.

Furthermore, to make matters worse, I applied for a new home equity loan to lower my interest rate. The application was approved, and I was given a new rate of 4% instead of the 5% I was paying previously. I started this application in February of 2019, but I haven't been able to finish it because one of my bank's requirements is that I present a copy of my house insurance declaration. I am unable to offer this because I do not have insurance and will not be able to receive any until Farmers correct their error. Since the end of February, this has cost me over $500.00 a month in extra interest costs, totaling over $1500.00, and it will continue to do so until the matter is resolved.

I've filed a protest with both Lexis-Nexus and "A-Plus," but both businesses say they can't do anything until Farmers alters their records. I hope your inquiry is helpful and Farmers Insurance Co. and their agent can correct their error, which is costing me thousands of dollars, leave alone if an incident or a liability claim damages my home.

Consumer Complaint:

Due to a backup in the main line, my house flooded. Farmers Insurance is the HOA's insurance provider. We had to go via HOA insurance because it was a common line issue. First and foremost, they undervalued the amount, which is to be expected. Given the local economy, they failed to account for increased pricing. They brought their contractor, which appears to be a dodgy practice. Then they tried to compel my HOA to use their contractor, who has a one-star rating. It all appears very illegal (I'm not a lawyer, but they seem to be stretching the boundaries of ethics).'

On top of that, the adjuster himself speaks down to me, threatens my HOA contractor, treats me with contempt, and refuses to compromise because he wants his contractor to complete the work and refuses to pay for another. Farmers should be avoided. Instead, use Homesite (my insurance).

Consumer Complaint:

We had to file a claim on our home after 29 years of paying Farmers Insurance. In South Dakota, we had a hail storm that destroyed the siding on our house and exposed it to the elements. Farmers took six months to summon an engineer and deny the claim because the siding had become weathered. The claim was declined because the siding has weathered due to the hail damage. According to the adjuster, the adjuster refused to pay the claim because the siding was weathered and "that's just the way the siding wears," according to the adjuster. Let's look at "weather," also known as "hailstorm." Blasts a substrate finish, exposing it to "the weather," although the weather has nothing to do with it? Hail is the weather, according to the last time I checked!

The J trim that ran around all of the brick moldings was also worn out. This is done before the siding is put, making a J channel. Farmers will pay for a hack and caulk operation to keep moisture from rotting the siding for nearly a year. Farmers' denial of the claim leads us to take out a loan to cover the hail damage caused by a meteorological incident. Farmers are hilarious! Do not be fooled by ads! They're not going to pay for it!