Potential Class Action Lawsuit: Hail/Wind Damage

With the approval of the moderator of this site, I would like to post a legal firm that my be filing suit against farmers insurance, if you had hail or wind damage in 2009, and or 2008, and farmers did not cover your claim or denied it or partial approved, you may want to give them a call. if you read my early post, i am upset how many home owners are taken advantage of by guidelines set forth by farmers that change without notice or poorly trained adjusters. Or contactors that farmers approve, that must follow repairs that are not approved by M.F.G. or local code.
Attorney is
George Lang
312-220-0000

God Bless and Good Luck



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/18/2009 08:18AM by administrator.

That's very good news and desperately needed. I have documentation of some very blatant claims handling techniques which I could provide if needed. Example, ajuster allowed for drywall repairs on a ceiling. He allowed for replacing one sheet of drywall $54.00 (which includes material)!

Lets see, a good drywaller will make at least two, most likely three trips to the property to properly repair and match the existing ceiling. Do you think the homeowner can get this repaired for this amount?

Also, there's no allowance for moving contents, covering and protecting the floors, or masking and taping. Most will agree, these are all necessary functions prior to painting!

Farmers claim managers should be removed if they cannot train their adjusters any better than this. These are simple, basic, common-sense items that they don't consider. I'm sorry, there's no excuse for these deliberate money-saving practices.

I have a tile roof in Texas hit by almost baseball size hail. First adjuster finds multiple (hail broken) tiles, but pays to replace a tile here and a tile there. Then, the second adjuster comes out (after the estimate comes in at over $ 100K, and accidentally tells me "they sent me out to make sure they didn't have to pay such an expensive claim" only to retract his statement and say "you know, a claim that may not be something covered". Lots of good data, photos etc.. Farmers is in bad trouble on this one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tom Kaiser
817-994-5625 Cell
Southlake, TX
(very close to D/FW Airport)

My journey with Farmers started 4 years ago. I switched to them when they could over similar insurance for about $300 less a year. We gave them home, auto, 3 live insurance and an umbrella policy business.
All was good my first year premium was $748, next years was $855 okay fair enough. Then year 3 $1536!!!! Of course I called and was told that because we had a claim prior to joining Farmers, that they had overlooked , they could not honor original price. I was then told that it was a “state surcharge.” I went to tell my agent if we had known this in the first place, we would have stayed put. He then told me that this surcharge would drop off next year They did drop the premium down $ 1173, but that is still a hefty increase from $855. So I waited and my premium went up again. This time to $1483 I called and was told that because of the weather damage claims in my area, that they had no choice but increase the premiums. My response was “I need a new roof too”. I waited several months as we did not have the deductable, but all the while neighbors left, right and center were getting new roofs through insurance. We had a contractor look at the roof and he confirmed wind damage and some missing tiles. I called in the claim. When the first adjuster called he asked why we waited so long to call in the claim and I told him we did not have the deducible – what did it matter if you have 12 months to report the claim??
When the first adjuster came out he approved a "repair” of 4, yes F O U R tiles and left a check for $1100. . I called my agent and said “everyone around me has gotten a new roof because of weather damage and my premiums have gone up because of weather damage claims in my area. So it stands to reason that I too have weather damage. I do not have a magical dome over my house” he laughed this off and recommended I get a second opinion - Another Farmer's guy I didn’t stand a chance, but I had to follow due process. So I called and requested a second adjuster, who found my roof to steep and left without doing his job - he was scared of falling off. The third adjuster came out and sided with the first adjuster – there was a surprise NOT, and added that the first adjuster was too generous. I told the third adjuster that the hail season is coming and I am refusing the settlement. The next day another, one of several, neighbors got a roof through their insurance. God must have heard me and two weeks later, the hail came and two more neighbors got new roofs from their insurance. So I called again and unbelievably was assigned the same adjuster I got the first time! He asked how the damage was discovered, to which I replied, “um , there was a hail storm and I had a roofer look at it, and he confirmed hail damage.”
He then asked if I did the recommended repairs, to which I reply, “No as the hail storm happened shortly after.” I have a crappy feeling this guy is going to say something like because we did not replace those 4 oh so critical tiles that my claim will be denied – as everyone knows those 4 tiles would have prevented the hail damage. I think assigning this guy again may work in my favor. He is coming out on Monday and I will be there.

They approved the roof replacement!! I am going out to buy a lotto.

Our Farmers Insurance Homeowner policy states "We do not cover loss or damage by peril...unless the direct force of windstorm, tropical storm or hail damaged the structure causing an opening in a roof or wall and then...." After being a customer(homeowner and 5 cars) for twenty years and with no major claims and no late premium payments, we find that after the hail storms in Austin Texas,they refuse to fix the damage to our home. We have a metal roof which was sealed with a ceramic coating 4 1/2 years ago. Water comes into the back bathroom and has ruined the dry wall ceiling. Right now the roof is tarped (very attractive)while we fight to have the roof fixed along with the interior damages. I have file 2 complaints with Texas Department of Insurance and one with Consumer Affairs. My agent is worthless and the General Agent is condescending and pompous. Surely they have made enough money on our business to cover this claim

Last year we had the worst hail storm I've ever seen and I've lived in Colorado most of my life. Golf sized hail hit the area around midnight, it was so loud I thought it was going to go right through the roof or windows. All the trees were shredded the entire lawn was covered with about 2 inches of leaves. Well, I called the Farmers claim center and the women who responed seemed to be understanding and sent an out of town adjuster the following weekend. This adjuster spent a lot of time evaluating the house and roof, I wasn't worried it was quite obvious I had hail damage as did all the other houses in the neighborhood. Well, much to my surprise this ajent told me I didn't have enough hail damage to have my roof replaced, however he was willing to pay for a few window screens, and a vent on the roof that was damage the vent was estimated to be replaced for $47.00, ok great I don't have hail damage, I must have that majic invisible dome too! I ask him how can this be? His response was that perhaps my trees protected my house from the damage that all the other house in the neighborhood had. He also said I could have another ajusters opinion, ok I said I will. Well, the other adjuster came looked at the roof with a roofing contractor who had told me I had more damage on my roof than my neighbor across the street who was getting a new roof. So,I thought maybe I still have a chance. The second adjuster wasn't even as nice as the first one, he said I didn't have hail damage, period. Ok, great now what? During this time I had my son painting the house and he noticed that the seals around the windows had been damaged by the hail storm and condensation was building up between the panes of glass, he also looked at the roof and couldn't beleive anyone would say I didn't have hail damage, he looked at the measured out 10 ft. space and counted 9 hail hits, and determined that perhaps Farmers requires 10 hits in that amount of space. The adjuster probably had to find an area that was hit as hard to find the 9 hit vs. the 10. In the mean time my mother was in the Hospice dying and my priorities were not the roof. So, I put the roof issue on the back burner and thought I would persue the matter in the spring when roofs can be replaced and didn't feel it was nessasary to continue the battle for the roof in the winter. In May 2010 I contacted a roofing company and I was told they were experienced at getting insurance companies to pay. Well, she faxed the estimate to Farmers claims department as instructed to do by my insurance agent after I spoke to the assistant at my agents office when I received my homeowners policy and saw they had raised my rate, I asked if I was now responsible to help pay for all the new roofs other people have been getting, her response was oh no it's just a rate increase, oh well that explains it. Anyway, I report this to the Colorado Department of Insurance, thought that might help, but no Farmers covered themselves my sending the two adjusters and told DORA they had done everything right, and I don't have hail damage, just normal wear and tear and my policy doesn't cover wear and tear. Really!!!
I told Farmers and DORA that 98% of the houses in my neighborhood had hail damage from that storm and received new roofs from their insurance companies,Farmers responed to DORA that I stated "other" houses got new roofs, oh boo hooo where's mine...I want one too, cause I'm just a whiny women. They have taken advantage of me, treated me like a fool and raised my rates so I can help pay for the roofs of the lucky ones who they didn't think they would be able to take advantage of as easily. I know this won't get me any where either but Farmers Insurance seems to have a lot of problems with paying claims and recognizing damage and who or what is responsible. I have been with Farmers for over 25 years,I will be changing to a more reputable company in the future,when this roof issue is over. I'm not sure what to do next, but I want to set the record straight so when I go to sell my house and they tell me I need a new roof and have to deduct this from the price of the house, I'll just show the paper trail and quote Farmers "there is no hail damage" I guess if you say it enough time it becomes true.
If anyone out there has any suggestions please let me know.
Thank you

Roof Damage - Farmer’s Insurance

I live in Metro Chicago and there have been a couple of hail storms over the past year that has caused extensive damage. The one in April caused the most significant damage. Within a few blocks of my house there has been probably close to a hundred roofs replaced and that number is still growing. Within a mile of my house there have been no less than two to three hundred roofs replaced. Within 2-4 miles that number probably is close to the thousand figure.

To summarize, I had a couple roofers come out to assess the damage. I was told by more than one that there was significant hail damage to my roof. I contacted Farmers Insurance and asked for an inspection. An adjuster came out and met with the roofing company and basically said in his opinion that there was minor damage. The Farmers adjuster never went up on the west side of the roof which was the direction the storm came from. He ended up giving me a check for $118.16, which is total nonsense. I called the supervisor at Farmers and asked for another adjuster which was denied. I even had the roofing company send over pictures showing the damage, and got no consideration.

My neighbors across the street and behind me had the same type of damage and my house sits between them. The one house is less than 10 years old so we are not talking about old roofs here! I guess Farmers think that the storm just leapfrogged my house!

One of the roofing companies told me that most if not all of the people that he had come across that had Farmers Insurance were being denied claims. I have heard that even their agents are upset because they are losing all their renewal business.

The bottom line is that Farmers Insurance is a fraud. The have no problem taking peoples money for premiums that they have no intent of honoring in the event of any claims. Their insurance isn’t worth the paper it is written on!

The public and the people who have Farmers Insurance need to know the risk that they are in. People think that they have protection but they don’t. The money that they are paying Farmers is not insurance, it’s a one way trap!

There should be a class action lawsuit slapped on them as well as an investigation from the attorney general or whichever body of government monitors these crooks! Please let everyone know to be AWARE and run from Farmers!

I have had hail damage on my roof as a good percentage of my neighbors have had their roofs replaced and farmers has denied my claim. I was able to get two independent roofing contractors to inspect my roof and both have agreed that there is enough damage for a roof replacement... well i called in and asked for a reinspetion and the inspector did admit that there was hail damage and that there was also granual loss and she said "I'm gonna have to go with granual loss on this one"...i dont understand..I even went up on a two story roof to see for my self...even not knowing what to look for it was very evident that the roof had hail damage. The roofing contractor circled all the areas where hail damage was present. I dont see why the insurance commissioner for the state of texas allows farmers to stay in business after reading all these claim denials.

I called and left a message with attorney George Lang and they are working on a potential lawsuit. I had wind/rain damage to my roof and they allowed for the interior repair, of course it was well under my deductible so I paid out of pocket to repair. However, they did not allow any repair for the exterior where the dormers leaked due to wind driven rain. something came out of it though, my rates went up immediately! GOOD for FARMER's anyway!
The agents don't call back, nor do the adjusters!

I had farmers insurance on my house for 34 years and never filed a claim till 2008. I had hail damage on my roof according to two pro. roofers and celing damage on my sheetrock. The first adjuster said I did not have any damage to my roof and denied my claim. I did not agree with him so they sent another adjuster out to take a look. This goofball got on my roof and told me i did not have any hail damage but started riping my shingles glue strips up marking them with chalk and taking pics.and told me that i had wind damage. He then depricated my roof 19 years denied my claim for hail damage and water damage and wrote me a check for 600.00 dollars for a 5000.00 roof and told me they would not fix the water damage to my living room celing. To top this off two weeks later they wrote me a letter saying they had cancelled my policy and told me they could no longer insure my house after34 years paying faithfully.

Nearly all the homes in my neighborhood that have wood shake roofs have had full replacements within the last few months from a hail storm that occurred in September. The homes that didn't get a roof replacement (so far) are unfortunately my home and another neighbor that I know, and we both happen to have Farmers insurance. I've had two adjusters out (getting them to send a second adjuster was painstakingly difficult) and they both say that I don't have hail damage, but that my roof is just old and the damage is "wear and tear". BOGUS!! I've had multiple roofing contractors tell me that my roof suffered more damage than the other homes in the area who have already had full replacements by their insurance company. Two of the vents on my roof are smashed in, and the first adjuster even told me the brick on my chimney was damaged from the hail, but yet the hail didn't damage my wood shake roof? They tried to settle by paying me for only the vents, gutters, and window trim paint. What a joke...

In regards to hail damage on a wood shake roof, I've been told that Farmer's adjusters need to see at least 19 splits in a 10x10 ft area. All of the roofing contracters I've talked with said I wouldn't sustain this type of damage unless the storm produced baseball size hail. We had up to 1 3/4" and 2" hail, but that still wouldn't split wood shakes. I have a ton of hits (no splits), and a ton of butt rot damage (hail hitting the edges of the shakes), but of course this isn't considered damage according to Farmers. An unbiased (and unpaid) roofing consultant told me that this IS considered damage because of the decrease in lifespan it causes to the roof.

In reviewing my policy, I couldn't find anywhere where it specifically states what Farmers considers storm or hail damage on a roof. For them to tell me that my roof isn't damaged because there aren't any splits is completely absurd in my opinion, especially since their definition of "damage" isn't explained in the policy. Either I've been duped into buying a policy with them, or they're now trying to take me for a ride....one that I'm not ready to jump off yet without a fight.

FYI, State Farm recently changed their storm/hail damage policy on wood shake roofs. They now include butt rot as storm damage. I was told they made this change due to a string of complaints they had received about their coverage on wood shake roofs. I haven't heard too many good things about State Farm, but this willingness to change tells me they are at least willing to work with and help their policy holders. Now, lets see if Farmers is willing to make some changes....

We Had hail damage in Avon Lake, Ohio ...tornados ripping through western Ohio...everything was damaged...and their high literally dope smoking adjuster said we had no hail damage after 3 contractors..said we did...the idiot actually said we were in some kind of magic bubble..we had a leak in the bedroom and kitchen which my husband ended up paying for out of our own pockets....we have literally been shaken physically and mentally by this.....Brian Smith's assistant nearly caused my husband a heart attack...he did end up in the V.A. in Cleveland which is not much better than Farmer's Homeowner division...they almost killed him with sevistatin.......they will not pay for our roof and and new gutters or damage to the deck or sidewalks or anything else....my umbrellas were shredded....they called some schmuck engineer out here...and for $1.500.00 sold his soul to the devil......we already filed the class action suit but it is not enough for the personal pain and injury done to us......any good lawyers...call me at 440-933-5453

I sustained hail damage to my roof in April in the Chicago are. I paid a ridiculously high price for premiums because my real estate agent had told me 18 years ago they were good and she used them. Not once did we ever file a claim. Then the hailstorm of 2010 hit. They gave me a couple of checks (worth less than 500 dollars combined) to cover the "dings" on my roof fans, and told me my roof was too old for them to replace. ( It was year 15 of a 20yr roof!!!!) They still have not settled. And now the roof is disintegrating. Worst of all I cannot get a new insurance company to cover me until the roof is taken care of! I have an attorney working with me now. They have not returned calls and are threatening to drop me because I have not repaired the dents. So what do i do? I want to leave them but cannot get covered by a new insurance until I get my roof fixed. Well that would be no problem if they gave me the tens of thousands of dollars they made off of me. If they don't help me I would like to join the class action suit.

Wow, I am just so amazed. I have just discovered this site and also the mile long list of complaints on consumeraffairs.com. I am also a Farmers victim. I have just posted my story here on my roof damage from a storm a yr ago. I can't believe how many of us are describing the exact same problems. My house was also "leapfrogged". All the houses around me were damaged in a massive storm here last May and easily got their money from their insurance companies yet mine (with old shingles) was magically not damaged. Farmers story has changed so many times I can't keep track. I've fought them for the past year and had a letter sent a week ago by a lawyer offering to settle before I file a lawsuit. They have refused. These are the most stubborn people on earth. Here is a summary of the stories I've received: "the roof has hail/wind damage but we aren't going to cover it because the roof is old", "the roof has NO damage", again "the roof has damage but we're not going to cover it because it's old", "we are going to pay you for 'undisputed damages' while we investigate the rest" (after I threatened to report them to the dept of insurance), back to "there's no damage ...except on metal valleys" (after they already paid for the whole front half of the roof to be torn down and totally re shingled). My policy was also illegally dropped in retaliation. The real kicker is that I had just switched to Farmers 2 weeks prior to the storm. Had I never switched, I would have had my money for the roof immediately like everyone around me.

The year anniversary of the storm is in a few days and I am wondering if I have to file by then in order to sue them? They've played games for a year about it. I would love to get in a class action lawsuit, there seems to be plenty of us in the same boat.

For 20 years we have had Farmers covering our property and vehicles and life. We live in South Texas, 1950' above sea level and heavy winds are a norm.
During the 20 years I have had 3 claims. The first 20 years ago, I have to kick and punch to recover damages due to water.
The other 2 forget it.
The 3rd was this week roof and window damage due to high winds (30-40mph), rain and hail. I was allowed 14 shingle repair out of the
28 damaged amd of course, did not make the deductable. Also damaged were pella windows...and of course, no recovery at all. I was told this time the roof was installed wrong 20 years ago. I asked if it was installed wrong then why am I paying insurance to have it covered? No answer.
The reason, damage has to occur due to a storm created opening. This is the lastest excuse not to pay. Wind driven rain, does not enter
the equation for this claim damage. It appears this company changes their wording to suite themselves.

25 year customer of Farmers.

Obviously Farmers claim adjusters all read from the same script. 14 years agi we had a huge wind and hail storm blow through our neighbor hood. There were large trees knocked down directly across the street from my house. Every house on my side of the street had wind and hail damage and got new roofs. Every house across the street from me got a new roof. The wind tore the storm door off the front of my house but somehow completely missed the rest of my house. "No roof for you" that was the basic message from Farmers. We didn't even bother filing for the storm door.

About 3 years ago we got struck by lightning. There are 2 layers of shingles on my roof and in the spot where the lightning struck had both layers knocked off. All they would do was replace a couple shingles.

Earlier this year there was another large hail storm that hit my neighborhood. My house got pounded by the hail for several minutes. I had a contractor take a look at the roof and he saw enough hail damage to warrant a full replacement. I called Farmers and after a while they sent out an adjuster. This time I made sure that the contractor was there when the adjuster got there. The contractor pointed out the hail damage to the roof, the aluminum window frames, the air conditioner unit and some of the window screens. The adjuster saw nothing and said we had no damage. The contractor was shocked. He had seen houses with less damage receive a full roof replacement. He insisted that they send out another adjuster. Right after that it snowed again and we had to wait until the snow melted until they came back out. The new adjuster found no hail damage on the roof. "the tree in your front yard must have protected yoiur roof". Interestingly enough he found hail damage on the window frame directly below that same tree. So somehow the hail managed to dodge every branch and leaf, avoid the roof completely and leave a dozen or so large dents. That is some magic hail. I guess the invisiblle dome that many people have talked about in previous complaints is a service provided by Farmers because apparently it's covering my roof too!

That's not the best part. We recently got a notice from our mortgage company saying that out insurance company was cancelling out home owners insurance! No notice from Farmers. We called our agent and it tooj her 2 days to get back to us to say that our roof, the one that is impervious to every type of storm damage except a direct lightning strike was not insurable! Really? I told her that she should have all of her customers put on a roof exactly mine because it's so strong that she would never have to pay out on any claims! They should build airplanes out of the same type of shingles I have on my roof! Crash proof!
25 years of auto, motorcycle, life and home owners insurance with Farmers. Maybe 3 claims paid out in 25 years totalling less than $3,000. Now they're going to cancel our policy unless we replace our old uninsurable roof. The very roof that cannot be damaged by wind or dented by hail and can take a lightning strike and only receive $100 in damage! If I get a new roof they will allow me to continue to be their customer and if it were to hail on that brand new roof and it got a few hail dents these financial genius would probably replace it.

I had significant wind damage on my roof and several shingles from various parts of the roof were missing. I contacted Farmers insurance and they sent a field rep out named Phil Hopkins to inspect the roof. When he got to my house he never went up on the roof and told me that he would rely on the reports from a few different roofers for a report. They sent out two different companies and I had called one myself. Every one of them gave the same report stating that my entire roof needed replaced. After a month of waiting Phil finally called me to tell me that they would only pay 1,075.00 for repairs and the next day they sent me a check for 275.00 (1,075.00 less deductible of 750.00)
I immediately called my agent (who is the ONLY reason I have stayed with Farmers) and told her about this and she said she would contact them on Monday. I am so sick of these so called "adjusters" that don't even get on the roof themselves to look and assess the damage. I will take my business elsewhere and plan to file suit against Farmers.

Recognizing the catastrophic weather events too numerous to count, which have occurred throughout the U.S. this past year, it stands to reason the insurance industry is scrambling! However, the insurance company which agrees to cover your homes roof in case of hail/wind damage does have an obligation to do the right thing. My experience in dealing with insurance companies comes via my job....I am an independant consultant, not bound to any company. My mission is to help homeowners contact their insurance company to file a new claim for hail/wind damage to their property. Next, I am always present to "represent" the insured. This has resulted in a 100%....yes....100% success rate in obtaining a positive experience with the homeowners insurance company. Why? Because "its the right thing to do!". Experience in dealing with adjusters, the ability to identify and confirm hail/wind damage, and integrity....this is critical to having a successful claim paid by insurance company.
The fact is, most all the insurance companies would prefer not to have to pay any monies on any claim. But lets be realistic. These same companies know and understand that replacing a roof today is going to be less expensive than replacing one in six months to a year from now, as costs of building/roofing materials is skyrocketing by the day!
I represent the homeowner, as well as help them to find the best roofing company for their particular needs. I have had a very positive experience with all but two insurance company adjusters sent to inspect the roof of the insured, and both negative instances were.....guess who? Well, here is my email for anyone in the DFW, Texas area in need of help getting a roof inspection, free of charge, and filing a claim with their insurance company.
And in closing, I encourage all of us to practice "patience" in dealing with all aspects of life these days, as we are all in it together. GOD BLESS!
My email is: rasman7@hotmail.com

Farmer's is denying that I have hail damage on my main roof (only the porch roof which thoroughly got destroyed---it was vinyl). He also noted that some of my window screens and frames were damaged. Mind you, we had a severe downburst here in Norman, OK. back in June AND a confirmed tornado! Everyone on my block got a new roof, but somehow miraculously the Farmer's adjuster seems to think that my roof is like a tank (this, despite my house being the tallest house on my block i.e. two stories with no trees around it to block the hail). Idiots. I've asked for a second adjuster and am getting numerous contractors to look at my roof and other parts of my house.

Not being a trained meteorologist may disqualify me from making the statement that weather in Minnesota behaves pretty much similarly to every other location in the world, but I think it’s a fairly safe assumption to make nonetheless. It is therefore extremely difficult for me to fathom a circumstance where every home within eyesight of my own has been deemed damaged to some extent by hail and/or wind, yet my home today was evaluated and found to be totally unscathed. Literally every home surrounding mine has been approved for a minimum of 80% insurance coverage for a total roof replacement due this weather related damage, but not mine. Someone please explain to me how this weather phenomenon occurred directly over my home. After reading other post here, I can only surmise that I too live under one of those domes of invincibility that only Farmer's adjusters seem to be able to identify.

For the past 33 years I have been a faithful customer of Farmer’s having only made 2 claims for automobile damage in that time. I would estimate that I have paid into Farmer’s to the tune of about $80,000.00 for Auto, Home, Life and Health Insurance and have received less than $1,500.00 in claims reimbursement. I'm not a trained Mathematician either, but even a third grader can understand that that calculates to a $78,500 profit for the third most profitable Insurance Company in the U.S.

I find it very difficult to continue doing business with Farmer’s at this time and will actively pursue a company that values my business over their own industry standard profits. I guess Farmer’s has to maintain their obscenely low 36.5% loss ratio to pay out more than $20 million a year to put their name on a football stadium in Los Angeles for a team that doesn’t even exist. Not to mention the abundance of Lawyers fees they must be incurring to defend their egregious acts in court against a litany of class action law suits.

I will be in contact with my agent to submit a request for cancellation as soon as I find a carrier worthy of my business.

I got stung too. Same old story, some letters Word for Word what I was told regarding my hail/wind damage. It makes me sick that they can and DO, rip people off and apparantly get away with it!! WHERE are the insurance boards, etc? and what's in it for them? Because by the volume of complaints, I assume that at least one person has taken this to the mat! !

Same story, our house is the only one in the neighborhood that has not had a new roof put on and when people ask me about it, I TELL THEM! and I tell them to TELL someone else!


Here's another stalling tactic - they informed me that the contractors I had were notified. But they were not. I go to set up another appointment and am told "We are coming back on Friday, between 8am and 10am" - - two hour window. . . I tell her that I cannot expect two professionals to just sit here for what might amount for two hours!! She says thats the best she can do, that is their policy! How convenient for Farmers!! So I tell her, hey I got a better idea, I will make an appointment with my contracters and YOU can accomadate ME!" we cant do that" over and over again. This is an unreasonable request at best!!

So when they have FINALLY done a second inspection and they tell me tough noogies, here's what I told them "So what you are saying is that my roof isnt covered because it's too old? Well I sure would like to know WHO decides at which point is a part of my house no longer insured? What ELSE is too old to be covered, and why, if this is the case, did you not send me a letter after you deemed our roof too old to to insure? And for that matter, I have paid premiums for 22 years, so I should be due a refund on the portion of my premium that no longer covers my roof AND would like to sit down with somone and go over my policy, every word! And I want to record our conversation AND have a notary public with me! I feel like Im giving "hush money" to the mob! (no offense to the mob).

So heres Plan B; they say that it's the squeaky wheel that gets the grease - and OH BOY my wheel is going to be making ALOT of noise!! I come from a long line of rabblerousers who SPEAK OUT when an injustice is done! My dear Mom, had bought a brand new home that had alot of problems - and the builder was yanking her and a couple neighbors around. My Mom is a 5 foot tall couger!! She got the neighbors together and had giant LEMONS painted on sheets - we're talkin huge - and put them on their roofs, visible by traffic and airplanes!! That very day, before you know it, the news channels are there, the newspaper people are there, my Mom is on TV (way to go, Mom!)

Suddenly all the people who were "too busy" became "very unbusy" All the repairs were done.

What I'm trying to say here, there are ALOT of people who got screwed by Farmers - people from all over the country! They think we're just a bunch of pissants and will go away (and I'm sure alot of them did) but this is plain old FRAUD! The damn government doesn't care - so this little 5 foot tall lady is gonna raise some SERIOUS hell!!! In reading all of your letters, it only served to stoke the fire. I got LOTS and lots of ideas - and I hope you can conjure up some too. We need to be HEARD! The media is a good place to start. I welcome any ideas/feedback - not only won't they give me a new roof - thanks to them I cannot get insurance anywhere else because of being stupid enough to actually file a claim!! We gotta stick together, that's the one thing that these ripoff companies can't fight!! I am on a mission! Maybe you will see me on the news one night ;-)

Good luck

Kris

This is a very late response to all the problems you've experienced in storm related issues with your insurance carrier. First, I am a professional roofer. I read time and again what the typical homeowner goes thru when trying to have their homes adjusted. Call a professional roofer first that you trust and let your roofer assist you with your claim. I have seen too many adjusters who don't care, are in a hurry, will try and fight issues unrelated to your storm damaged roof. A roofer that goes on the roof with an adjuster has a much better chance of getting it approved than a homeowner sitting in their living rooms thinking it will turn out ok. If your roofer believes it has damage and is still declined, they will institute another opinion. And in some cases, will provide an on staff roofing engineer that will take it all the way to arbitration.
The biggest mistake I see here is not having a professional roofer in your corner to represent you on your claim. Farmers may have their reputation to defend with many of you and you certainly can change companies but please find a roofing contractor who will assist you the next time. That's the quickest way to stop the games being played by shoddy insurance claims adjusters.

I hope you had a roofer on your side. If not don't hesitate to call us at Coker Floor company. We can assist you with Farmers insurance.

On April 3rd, a national disaster --baseball sized hail--attacked south kansas city KS area, especially in my neighborhood. We were insured by farmers. When we tried to contact farmers representative for our claim. They never answered our phone calls. Email them evidencde of hail damage, they simply ingnor them. When the adjuster showed up, I required him to climb onto the roof area which is damaged by hail seriously. The insurance adjuster refused to do so. Instead, he stood on the ground and took pictures of the roof ! Several days later, he sent a report with his picuture he took using a small digital camera. The report sais there is no hail damage!

After consulting an attorney, I sent out my requirement via certified mail. This time the representative is very courtesy and call me every two or three days about the process of the case. I told him that you must put everything in writing! However, he refused to write me a letter in regarding to the final decision! Yes, they refuse to write done their decisions and the reasons of their decisions!

I am ready to bring them to the court at the cost that the lawyer took more than half of what will be paid by the Farmers to me!
I am living in KS. If you are the lawyer in KS who are interested in this case, please contact me.

paris3rd@live.com

So here we are, insured with Farmers since 1986. April 2011,we had a fierce hailstorm. Busted all the vinyl siding on the house, 3 sides, 17 windows needed new glass, all the trim around the roof was damaged and the soffit vents were blown out.

This was the kind of storm that every tom, dick and harry come knocking on your door offering estimates. As soon as I mentioned we had Farmers insurance, not a single one of them , actually bothered to write an estimate.

Famers comes, we get a pretty healthy check for the siding and windows to be replaced, but, not one dime on the roof.

Jan 2012 comes, premium due, but, there is a notice, that until we rip off the roof and replace to their, unwritten, specs. it will not be covered.

What the hell is going on here? My hubby was so pissed he did not pay the premium, the insurance has now lasped and I am scrambling to find homeowners insurance.

What probably happened is that the adjuster thought your roof was worn out from wear and tear. He reported it to underwriting, who decided that the roof needed to be replaced, but not from covered damages.

Or your roof could have been depreciated to nothing.

There are several different possibilities.

Farmers Insurance in Chicagoland has denied hail damage to roof.
Neighbors without Farmers have been approved for hail damage.

Hi my name is Joshua McCarthy and im with Peak to Peak Roofing and Exteriors. We have a specific skill set which is wind and hail damaged roofs. The reason were able to get Insurance Companies to pay for full replacements is because of our own perseverance, persistence and documentation. We will hold your Insurance company accountable. We will in fact get you a full replacement if you havent already. So if you would like to give me a call i would be more than willing to send out one of our senior consultants to help you. My personal number is 720-365-1225. Give me a call we deal with Farmers alot and i bet we can help if it hasnt already been done.

It troubles me reading these posts. A Public Adjuster would have likely made a huge difference in receiving a fair settlement for your loss.

Mike Mayer
Colorado Public Adjuster
(720) 840-0009