My Car Destroyed By Farmers Insured Driver

Hi Everyone,

Yesterday morning while on my way to work I was involved in an accident that in my opinion totaled my vehicle and that of the other driver, although a “professional evaluation” still needs to be done by the insurance companies of both parties.

To recap:

I am heading south at approx. 40-45 mph in somewhat light traffic conditions, sunny morning with clear skies, and am heading through an intersection. I am driving my 2000 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP as I pass through the intersection a car blatantly runs a red light at probably the same speed as I’m going (both the north-south and east-west road have the same speed limits I believe) and I t-bone the other car.. I had absolutely no time to react and even now I can’t believe it actually happened.. (I am 25 and this is my first accident) Anyway, the crash was pretty bad but nobody is dead or in critical condition thank God. Officers were on scene within minutes… I passed by a speed trap about 2 blocks before the accident and I’m sure the officer saw it and immediately radioed for help and they were there very quickly.

Long story short, another driver came back to the scene and told the police that the guy that ran the red light almost hit him and saw him run the red light. The police told me they issued the guy a ticket (I’m assuming for running the red light and causing the accident) and that I am not at fault.
Anyway, I was relieved at first that no one was seriously injured or killed, and since I was insured through State Farm and the guy at fault was insured through Farmers I figured I would be fairly compensated for my loss by Farmers.

Then I found this website.

I can honestly say I’m extremely concerned about what’s going to happen in the next week-month-year after reading the horror stories about Farmers both here and elsewhere. I have a family, mortgage, 3 year old daughter, and loads of other things to take care of. I live paycheck to paycheck and I really don’t want this to be a battle.

To be fair, all insurance companies both large and small will always have disgruntled customers that are not satisfied with their settlement. This is true in any industry.. It’s simply impossible to “please everyone” no matter how hard you try, and the more customers you have the more complaints you will have…

I will give regular updates on how this story unfolds both with State Farm (my insurance) and Farmers (his insurance) I really hope it turns out alright.. After reading several pages of this website I’m actually in shock thinking that an accident caused by some guy running a red light could set me back financially thousands of dollars even though I have no fault..

I hope this has a happy ending, sooner rather than later.

Good Luck on your claim. I was rearended by a Farmers Insurance policyholder two weeks ago which caused almost $11,000 in damage to my car. I met with the Farmers Claims Rep one week after my accident (I saw the doctor one time and was about to begin physical therapy) and the Rep tried to settle my claim for a Full and Final settlement of $400. I asked the rep how they came up with that number and was advised my injury wasn't that bad and they didn't think I was going to seek medical treatment.

I just want a fair settlement but in light of the above, it's not looking like it's going to be a smooth settlement process.

It does no good to assume they will be fair. We need to write our Congressmen. Insurance Companies have too much power and it's not fair to require us to have insurance if they don't pay.
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My Husband's truck was parked in front of our home. On a Sunday afternoon a female driver insured with Farmers hit the rear end (flipped her car right in front of our house), shoving the truck into his Saturn parked in front of it. There is no question that it was totally her fault. They totalled the truck and gave $500 for the bumper of the Saturn. They only offered $850 for the totalled pick-up truck. They used comps that were from the Dallas area that weren't comparable. They were smaller, with fewer features, also not available. The only way to replace the pick-up truck would have been to get $4,000 to $4,500 plus the money for the Saturn. We wrote letters, hired a lawyer, and they refuse to respond. They are just waiting for the 2-year statute of limitations to run out October 21, 2009.

How did your suit come out? We want to sue the driver and the insurance company, but we can't find the driver to serve her. We already $500 to hire the lawyer but he didn't even file a suit yet and just wants more money. The point here is that we don't have money to waste on a lawsuit that will never pay off. Please respond to let me know how you came out.

I used to work in the total loss department at farmers. Don't pay the lawyer any more money. They can do almost nothing in these cases. Unfortunately no insurance company will pay replacement cost they will only pay what you vehicle is valued at. Farmers will take deductions for prior damage as well. They will just wait you out and send you a letter that says that they will close your claim. They will wait till you accept the amount and then pay you. The best advice I can give you is to ask for their supervisor. Supervisors can generally deviate on the value of a vehicle. Who is your claims adjuster, I might remember his/her supervisors name. It is probably the most evil department at farmers. It is hard to get the upper hand.

Its seriously disparaging to see the depth Farmers will stoop to, In August, my camaro SS was struck by a Farmers Insured, He stopped at the Stop sign then proceeded to gun his SUV into the side of my car, the police were called, and a report number was issued. I go to a reputable repairer in WA state (Strouds) to have an estimate done, the provisional estimate being 6.5k, a senior adjuster rolls out and looks at the vehicle, and promptly informs me that he cant see where my repair shop got the figures they are quoting, and states the repair should only cost 2.7k, oh we're using recycled parts, says he ( This car has 27k miles in total, 2002 and a limit run of 3000 during that model year) So off he wanders, with my estimate, and a week later a check arrives for 2.7k, Im tired of being ripped off for an accident that wasnt my fault, by a company that has the ethics of a polecat. So Ive sent them the first letter regarding their assumption, saying that they need to act in good faith and negioate with Strouds, I can see my only option from comments so far will be for me to sue their insured to regain the value of the vehicle damaged by their policyholder.

Any suggestions? on what my options are with these jokers in WA state?

You can't win. They have a legal team that deals with all this. I used to be a total loss adjuster and I will tell you right now that you are wasting your time and money. I dealt with 100's of lawyers and no one ever won their case. I hate to tell you this but you are SOL. I would recommend asking for your adjusters supervisor and argue till they will pay you a couple hundred dollars more. Sorry.

Get a Lawyer.. Farmers will not deal with you fairly with out one.
I learned this the hard way. I will never deal with Farmers again with hiring the cutthroat lawyer.
Go Luck.. I hope you come out on the winning end of your dealings with #%@& Farmers.

Do not get a lawyer. I am telling you it is a waste of money. If farmers can find a car with similar option, mileage and options near the value they are offering they have evidence that what they are paying is fair. You can not win, you are screwed. Just ask for their supervisor and see if you can get a couple hundred bucks more. Ask for Ryan Bradley, he is one on the total loss managers. He is a piece of shit, call him on it and post about it.

Ok I have the insurance commissioner in WA state gunning for them now... Whoop!
They have sent a letter to Farmers asking them to resolve this claim ASAP, R67 is a handy dandy little tool especially with a company such as Farmers. Where it actually leads I dont know yet, but its nice to know that this upheld complaint is also being added to the list that is circulated around the Insurance Commissioners.
Ok Farmers time to play fair...

A policy holder with Farmer while talking on her cell phone ran into my vehicle and tore my Jeep up not to mention the pain to myself and 13 year old son. She decides to turn into a shopping center from the left lane while we were on the side of her in the right lane. I contacted my insurance co and they contacted Farmers and were given a name of a representative in Oklahoma City, OK and we live in Sugar Land, TX, He informs us we had to call someone local which I did immediately. It took me 8 times of leaving him messages before he finally calls me at 5 minutes to 5 only to tell me he didn't have time to talk to me because he had to hurry off to see his kids play some sport. I asked him what about the pain my son and I had been suffering from the past three days and he said well you can go to a Doctor and then we will decide if it was caused from the accident. We didn't have any pains before so pretty obvious it was from the accident. He said oh well I'll call you tomorrow so I told him well while you are enjoying watching your children playing whatever sport I will enjoy watching my son in pain. These people are worthless excuses for human beings if you ask me. I always use to make fun of and laugh at the commercials on TV with the attornies that sue people like Farmers now I may have to reconsider that laughter.

Well here it is over 2 months since my accident and have received NO MONEY for our medical expenses, or what I had to pay upfront for the rental car. I did receive a letter stating that they were offering for my sons medical expenses over $5,500.00 short of what the bills total to. Then they say they are going to give us $400.00 for our inconvenience. They considered my car total so I basically receive no money for it. I have a 1993 Jeep Cherokee that WAS in mint condition, very low mileage and I hve owned it since it was new with only 7 miles on it. So I will be out quite a bit of money to get it back to that condition again. They idiot that they have me working with has to be one of the most ignorant people I have ever come across. Now I need to come up with money to pay for an attorney even just to get the money I had to pay up front for a rental car. I send them email after email and all I get even though I reply directly from their emails. This is just how ignorant and stupid they really are. My insurance company paid me PIP long ago but I just sit waiting for these morons to send me my money. I have tried to call these stupid people but I have better things to do then sit on a phone on hold for hours.

My van was hit by a teenager who ran a stop sign and was insured by Farmers. It is repairable but Farmers won't repair it. Greg, the adjuster told me he did not put it on the lift to inspect the damage because it was cheaper for Farmers to just total it. Then he told me Wyoming law says they don't have to fix it, he laughed and made a joke about a bicycle. My van had only 63,000 miles on it and no body or interior damage, before the accident. Farmers has valued it at $2437. They will only pay $25/day for loss of use, cost to rent a minivan in Cody, WY is $119/day. I have filed a complaint with the Montana and Wyoming insurance commissions. I do not understand why they allow Farmers to operate in this state.

This is awsome, my vehicle has been totaled out for over a month and Farmers hasn't provided me with anything. I am ready to contact a Lawyer and try to get a settlement from them....

Just and update on the SS, the plot still thickens, a local repairer (yes I'm leaving out the guilty parties name here) has supposedly repaired the vehicle (after 3 attempts to get the obvious things done) I take my car to a Post Accident Inspection, he suspects the frame is bent, because of the way they have adjusted the hood which now rests against the cowl when opened, and also tried to adjust the front panel. The repair lists used parts for the repair, non OEM parts for the new stuff applied, the plot just gets worse. Anyways... Farmers are now going to get called to come and re-examine the vehicle for additional work found, lets see where this take us.

Its taken a year, so we are heading towards I suspect the legal system to repair this item, or at least gain the value of the car, as Farmers has penny pinched the repairs.

Ok, sent in a DV report to Farmers, they have told me that I have to sue the driver for the loss, So as of today Im in possession of a Small Claims Summons to be sent to the driver. Lets see them get out of this one, as a Lawyer is not allowed to represent defendant in Small Claims in WA. Im taking nearly a 1200 hit but at least I should recover something in the process..

Ok for those who are looking or caring, I today took regrettably a 86 old man to small claims court for the diminished value of the vehicle, loss of use, unpaid repairs. Today was the mediation stage, the poor guy didnt even realize how much had gone on, let alone that Farmers had thrown him under the bus. The mediator asked if I would chat with the two farmers reps and they had the gall to offer me for the loss of use at $25.00 per day, and refused to discuss the matter of diminished value, both were told it was unacceptable, and we are now working on the court papers along with arranging for my diminished value expert to attend the court hearing at the end of August.

I will let you know the outcome of the small claims

However, I will recommend Mike Harber at Strouds Auto Rebuild in Tacoma WA as an excellent assessor in Diminished Value claims, he does not mince words, and will spot any unhand or bodged work, he is not an approved repairer with any of the insurance companies, but is a great consumer advocate.

OK, I won in small claims court, and whilst it has cost me about 1700 to do so, it has made a point. If you are looking at a figure of less than 5000 or slightly over it may be worth the effort. Farmers had a single representative a senior claims adjuster who never did answer my question, and thanks to my expert witness (Mike Harber of Strouds Auto Rebuild/ CrashTalk) I won convincingly and the judges summing up put it nicely that he could see more than what I was claiming but was tied by state statute.
My soul regret is that because of Farmer I had to sue an old man whom to be honest didn't deserve to be put into the situation that he found himself in.
My advice is go for it, if you have a valid claim for Diminished Value, document everything, get a good expert witness, and sue their insured. You can and will win with help and small claims is very informal within WA.
If I can help email me, I can put you in the general direction of the information you need and if not Mike an equally good expert witness.

Don't Let Famers Bully or Stonewall you about D.V.

On 08-18-11, my son was driving to work in the Sacramento area. He was in rush hour traffic. He was traveling at 5 mph. A vehicle behind him was not traveling at 5 mph. It was going 50 mph. It hit the rear portion of my son's car, which then hit the vehicle in front of him. My son's car was totaled. My son received some minor/moderate injuries. The vehicle who hit my son was being driven by the registered owners girlfriend. The registered owner had Farmer's Insurance. We have Allstate.

Farmer's has acknowledged responsiblity for the collision, but since it was a "2nd hand driver", Farmer's does not believe they have to pay more than $5000. That is total...damage to my son's vehicle, the other driver's vehicle, and the storage. That is so rude. They now say the claim is on a Manager's desk and could there be "for weeks". It doesn't make sense to me, that they would not make payments to my son, the other driver, and pay the storage fees. Actually, if they paid my son now, it would be close to $5000, as my son's vehicle was a 99 Prizm and the "minor" damage to the third vehicle is approximately $1000.

If you think about it, knowing that the "2nd hand driver" would only have to pay if sued, a Farmer's driver/client would be smart to "switch" places with a passenger in their vehicle. I cannot believe Farmer's has taken this long for a simple claim...payments should have been made to my son and the other driver. Rude!

Who was your adjuster, Paul?

I live in Fresno Ca. I was at a complete stop at a light. When a big truck ran into my rear end. Me and my 8yr old son was transported by ambulance. We both are hurt and my car is damaged. Front back and inside. I did a claim with farmers the same night. A farmer rep calls today talking rude, I had to let him no his insurer slammed into me, and me and my child now suffering. He goes on telling me what they will not pay for.. Farmers needs to be put out of business. Im going to see what they going to do, but I sill be taking the insurer to small claims for our pain and suffering. By the way she admitted to the police I was at a stand still when she slammed into me..

Just to let you know, you cant take the insurer to court, you will have to file against the person who hit you, then Farmers steps in. I agree with your statement, wait and see what they will offer you. IF you dont like thier settlement offer, then, you can go to an attorney and tell them you were able to get this much from them, and they can have thier % of anything else they can get for you. In the meantime, be sure to turn in a PIP or MED claim with your carrier so your bills will be paid for you. It's called collateral source of recovery.

Expect the worst from Farmers. Then you won't be disappointed.

I was in Accident back in April and my sister car was totalled out the adjuster that took our claim gave her what she wanted, and paid her car right off, NO im not taking up for those FREAKIN IDIOTS @ all please KNOW THAT!!!! What im saying is it depdends on the Adjuster that handles your claim Litteraly!!!! And from what im reading on this blog More then half of you all our going into this Naked which means with no Fighting Power get a damn GOOD Lawyer they get paid when you get paid!!!!!!! Of course you will not win with no Insurance company without FIRE POWER u Gotta have a DAMN GOOOD LAWYER PPL!!!!! And NEVER SETTLED for the 1 offer yea it may take sum time, so what and if u have a DAYUM GOOD LAWYER he or she knows what to do and if u dont think ur getting what u deserve LET UR LAWYER no they work for u Literaly Educate yourselfs PPL dont be a damn fool!!

Here's a little story with farmers. On Oct 31,2010 I was t-boned by a 82 year old man driving a SUV jeep Grand Cherokee 2006. At the time I was driving a 1990 Honda civic 4dr. I was making a left onto his street and he was making a left onto the street I was on. He had a stop sign and I didn't. I swore he didn't make a stop and ran the stop sign. Well he t-boned me right in the middle of the 2 doors on my side. The impact spun my car 180 degrees. When he hit me, the old man pushed in my big door handle half way into my drivers seat and hit my hip very hard. I was in pain atm. I couldn't get out of side of the car so I had to get out on the passenger side. As I got out of the car, he didn't even ask if I was okay. All he asked was, why didn't I stop. I told him sir, I didn't have a stop sign. As he phoned, the highway patrol I was still in pain on my left hip. The cop asked if I needed a ambulance. Told him no but I was still in pain. So that day I scheduled a doctors appointment with orthopedic doctor. Checked me out and said I had a bone bruse. They scheduled me for physical therapy from November 2010-March 2011. Seemed like it was getting better but the pain came back in July. It seemed to never heal fully. During that time I never took time off work cause I couldn't afford it with 3 kids and rent it's hard. So in June of 2011 I finally just said screw it and took the time off work to get it to heal right. My job that I used to have was doing a lot of manual labor. So from June 2011-June 2012 I did physical therapy and numerous injections to my hip to make it heal. The injections would feel good for about month or 2 then just wear off and back to normal hip pain. So, in June of 2012 the doctor finally did a mri on my hip and revealed scar tissue and a torn labrum in my hip. And also the bone was pinching one of the muscles in the hip. And this was seen by a hip specialist. He recommended me to have arthroscopic hip surgery in September of 2012. So I did and I am still recovering from the surgery. Specialist told me it will take a year to heal. In that whole time I did hire a lawyer to fight farmers. Also in March of 2012 I found out myself that the person who hit me passed away. My lawyer is going after his wife. In all this time Farmers has yet to tell us what his policy limits are. Right now, we are in litigation and the lawyer told me soon the court will order farmers to give us his policy limits. Also the time I was out of work I had to quit my job because after a year I was out of leave I lose my position at work and get demoted back to where I started 9 years ago. I have yet to see a penny from Farmers since they paid me out for my car and rental car. And there being dicks about reveling his policy limits. Probably cause he has a high policy limit. After reading all these horror stories about farmers I hope get them good with this case.

I will keep everyone updated on what's going on. We have until October of this year to settle or it will go to court which my lawyer doesn't think it will happen. If it does it will be just more money for them and also his wife to dish out. Keep faith people.

I hit a Farmers insured lady. she was about 90 years old. I was comming up to an intersection and she was waiting to turn left on the opposite nd of the intersection. She decided she was going to turn left right when i entered the intersection doing 45 miles per hour. My car was completely totalled out and I had minor injurys. Her car had a dent in the front right end and she was able to pull away and drive to a safer spot to park her car and sit in it with her heater blasting as i sat on a curb freezing sitting on a sheet of ice that my car slid on and hit her. no one asked me what happened. no police officers asked for a statement. just wrote me a ticket and found me at fault for careless driving because the old lady claimed that i was going too fast.........farmers insurance company is sending me letters saying that I owe them 14,000 dollars. her vehicle was NOT damaged and neither was she. I have not done anythng or contacted them and they are threatening to file a lawsuit. I have a lawyer who is ready to help but i am not sure if it is worth it. I am SO ANGRY i just want to go to there company location and drop kick all of their ignorant dishonest greedy pigs they call employees in the face. MY CAR WAS TOTALLED NOT HERS. HOW CAN THEY FIND ME AT FAULT WITH JUST HER STATEMENT AND NOT MINE. SHE WAS THE IDIOT WHO PULLED OUT IN FRONT OF ME

PLEASE CAN SOMEONE HELP. I NEED TO KNOW IF ITS WORTH IT TO TAKE IT TO COURT. I CAN NOT PAY 14,000 DOLLARS. I AM A 25 YEAR OLD COLLEGE STUDENT WORKING AS A RECEPTIONIST TRYING TO MAKE SOMETHING OF MY LIFE AND THIS IS GOING TO RUIN MY DREAMS AND LIFE.

Back on august 2010 on my way home from work I got hit on the back of my car by a lady when the traffic slow down at the freeway, my first reaction was to check if they were ok since I saw that they were about 50 some and 60 some years age, fortunately they were fine I had some pain on my neck for the impact but I was still able to move fine, when I was looking at the damage the driver approach me and said "lets fix this between us how about I give you cash for the damage and we can go home lets not call the police or insurance" at first I couldn't believe what I was hearing because she look like a very descent lady so I told her that I just dint want to have any problems on the future and that it was better to do it the right way.
So here I am almost two years later after a huge amount of phone calls with Farmers, chiropractor visits and even use my own medical insurance because I didn't want to get a load of bills from the chiropractor and then pay them my self, I got $900 for my car from them since they declared it a total lost, haven't got nothing for the rent expenses since it was my only car and I had to take my wife to work, my kid to school and my self to work I didn't have a choice but to rent and find the way to repair the car my self and pay the fees at the DMV since Farmers declared the car a total lost I had to pay for a new inspection and registration. I paid a little bit of money to the chiropractor my self and now I found this site which makes me reaffirm what I already knew " been involve with farmers on any way sucks"

The irony of this is that I just made it out of college and while I am looking for work I get a bunch of emails from farmers offering an interview from this "district managers" saying that I seem to be the right candidate for one of their openings. I planning on filing a small claim this week.
I will keep you posted.

Write down or print everything.
Assume that they are lying about 97ercent of the time and Google everything expect b.s. stuff b
ecause they have their people online so you have to decern.
Watch out for no VIN #"s
Rounded off mileage.
Ch ecks sen t to you because if you sign one cancels out the other:s and youv'e setteled. ey play!othgames lie Monday Friday Holidayweekends and th:e claims adjuster you were working with is?? off for a few fays for medical, dental, vacation , or matu?

A friend was driving my 2002 chevy venture van back from rock island il from seeing her daughter.when my van started acting up so about 15 min.outside of genseo il.she pulled over I side of road put on flashers.then a guy that has farmers insurance hit her at 75mph .so the state cops showed up and the farmers driver said the wind blew him over there. Well my van was totaled and actually i dont know how my friend walked away.but it took almost a week to get a rental car.that I have to take back next monday .and mind u this happen march 12,2020.and all farmers wants to give me is 1038 for my can .than tells me as for carseats and other stuff I have buy the stuff and they will reimburse me .well like I told the agent my daughter that has down syndrome her glasses was in the bnb pouch behind passenger seat .they are 400dollars then carseats and tablet that helps my daughter talk is about acouple hundred. But they want the rental back I do believe march 21,2020 and I cant even buy a vechile for 1000.so wat do I do .the adjuster name was raymond.