If you or someone you know/love are insured by Farmer's Insurance or, if you have or have had a claim against Farmer's Insurance for bodily injury or property damage resulting from an auto accident or, IF YOU HOLD STOCK OR OTHER PROPRIETARY INTEREST IN FARMER'S INSURANCE then this is something YOU will want to read and think about.
Think about this before you pay your next premium. Think about this before you invest in farmer's insurance in any way, shape or form. And ask yourself: do i want to do business with a company like this???
I was an innocent accident victim on May 2, whereby two separate vehicles that were, coincidentally, each driven by men separately insured by Farmer's Insurance, rear-ended my car as I sat at a red light.
Following you will see all the details of how Farmer's Insurance treated us in the handling of this claim a claim I feel is still OPEN. You will see how Farmer's Insurance feels that a document SIGNED UNDER DURESS is binding and final. Maybe I will have to ask some of the newsgroups and forums, chats, etc., if any judges are online and think this is binding. Following are the actual emails regarding this matter.
Anyway, don't let farmer's do this to you, too:
(Susan Bithell is who I was told was in charge of all the handling of Farmer's Insurance auto claims in the entire state of Nevada. Therefore, I recently, after having gone to great lengths to find her, threw myself on her mercy asking for review of this claim.)
Aprilbarhorst@4email
To: [email protected]
Subject: REQUEST FOR REVIEW OF CLAIM
07/23/01 06:39 PM
Dear Susan:
I am drafting the details of a claim which occurred in early May,
whereby 2 separate vehicles which both were coincidentally insured by you, hit me from the rear and totaled my vehicle. I feel the claim could have been handled a bit differently and that we were taken advantage of to some extent by Farmer's claims representatives elsewhere in Nevada.
Will you just let me know that this email is good, that you can read
this, and that I can send you these details so that you may submit them for review? I would truly appreciate it.
Thank you,
April
Following is Susan Bithell's reply to the above. (As you can see, Susan gave me her permission to forward this matter to her for executive review):
On Tue, 24 Jul 08:10: 52 -0700
[email protected]
wrote:
April,
I received your email, and I can be reached at this address. To
help me understand the situation, please include your policy number, the claims number if possible, the claims office involved, and your agent as well as the details of what transpired.in addition, if you would include your telephone number so I can contact you to discuss.
Thank you,
Susan Bithell
Farmers Insurance
State Executive Director
3770 Howard Hughes Pkwy. #240
Las Vegas, NV 89109
702) 733-1380
Here is a copy of the full details I sent Susan, asking her for review:
July 23
This being emailed to: [email protected]
Susan Bithell, NV State Executive Director
Farmer's Insurance Company
3770 Howard Hughes Parkway, Suite 240
Las Vegas, NV 89101
Subject: Request review of claim settlement
RE: Claim #: 45-158-724
Dear Ms. Bithell:
I ask that you take the time to review the manner in which the above
Referenced claim was handled as soon as possible. I feel we were taken unfair advantage of by the Reno claims office. Also note that the release I signed was done so under duress. Please acknowledge receipt of this email today, so that I will know you are at least considering reopening this claim.
Following are the details. I have all documentation to this effect, but do not know how to upload it into an email for your viewing. If you want hard copies, just tell me and I will snail mail them to you; or I can make an appointment with your representative to meet here in Reno. However, be advised I feel I have done all that I can with the local personnel in this office.
The accident:
On May 2, my spouse and I, (Daddy Ouch, I retain my maiden name),
Were in our Audi, fully stopped at a red traffic signal, first in line, behind the appropriate markings. My foot was on the brake, right turn signal on, waiting to proceed east, (right), onto 4th Street from Wells Ave., in Reno, NV.
Behind us was stopped a truck insured by Farmers, policy #14031-13-80,
Driven by Donald Coe. Coming up behind Mr. Coe was a Jeep driven by Marshall Vaughan, also insured by Farmers, policy #12674-76-01. I was given no warning of horns, etc. There were no skid marks that I saw. Mr. Coe stated he saw Mr. Vaughan coming, knew he was going to be hit, and "tried to get out of his way". (How considerate to me that Mr. Coe was only thinking of covering his own rear end!)
Mr. Coe did not warn me at all, but rather than keep his place, or keep
His foot firmly on his brakes, which would have considerably lessened the trauma to my Audi, he deliberately attempted to remove himself from between me and Mr. Vaughan.in this process he began to drive his vehicle around me, in an attempt to let me take the full rear end force of this accident. Mr. Coe couldn't get all the way out of the way, and thus in his attempt to do so, Mr. Coe smashed into the rear drivers side of my car at an impact great enough to shove our bumper up through my trunk and into my rear door area. Mr. Coe was no longer stopped at the signal at the time of impact, but rather was driving his truck just prior to the impact of Mr. Vaughan upon Mr. Coe's truck. Therefore, Mr.
Coe rear-ended my car independent of Mr. Vaughan's impact.
The only warning sound I had (too late) was two distinct sounds of collision, which actually sounded like two shotgun blasts, (POW! POW!).in fact, I first thought there was a drive by shooting going on, and the sound haunts me to this day. I was trembling when I got out of my car. Mr. Vaughan did hit Mr. Coe; however, Mr. Coe was the one who hit me, while in a deliberate effort to let me take the entire force of Mr. Vaughan's impact.
Mr. Vaughan got out of his truck and had his cell phone in hand. I can Only suspect he was distracted by talking on this phone, which caused him to impact Mr. Coe. Mr. Vaughan stated he "thought the traffic was still moving". Mr. Vaughan was cited by police for (excessive speed?) at the time. Mr. Vaughan's Jeep was disabled with the front end/radiator broken open, etc. My Audi was disabled with the bumper and trunk shoved up into my rear tire and back driver's door. However, slick Mr. Coe drove away with minimal damages and a smile on his face. I feel Mr. Coe's actions were quite deliberate, and that he could have prevented much of my damages had he stayed where he was and kept his foot on the brake. He could have at least blown his horn to warn me so that I, too, could have gotten easily out of the way by pulling out onto 4th Street. Mr. COE AT LEAST EQUALLY CAUSED MY DAMAGES, AS FAR AS I AM CONCERNED, AND DID SO WILLINGLY.
Documentation:
Reno, NV, police officer Hawkins, badge #608, (and other officers) Quickly responded to the accident, and I was provided with the "blue card" which records the parties involved, etc. The blue card shows case #113229-01. You can get a copy of the full police report by calling 775-334-2155.
Adjustments:
Farmer's property claims representative Sean Stewart handled the damages to the Audi. Personal injury representative Jennifer Stuart handled the bodily injury claims, separately.
That same day, May 2, Jennifer Stuart arranged for me to have a Rental car from Alamo, contract #51533302. This accident, at which I was never at fault, directly caused me the total and immediate loss of the only transportation I had, my Audi. I was not a willing participant in this hardship! However, there were uncovered costs for this rental of $9.99 a day, which we had to pay up front, personally. Farmers did not pay this $9.99 a day. (Eventually this came to a total of $89.91, which was $9.99 less than it could have been. This break,
only because we did not take possession of the rental replacement until 8:00 P.M.)
At the time Jennifer provided the rental car, she said she had verified liability on Farmer's insured's part. Jennifer told me to go to the hospital for any necessary medical needs related to this accident, and that Farmer's would pay us for our medical bills. The following day, Sean Stewart came to view the Audi, which we had AAA tow (at the expense of a reduction in credits left on our AAA card for this year) to the Motel 6, near the scene of the accident. Sean took pictures and I provided him detailed original receipts for maintenance, new tires, etc., for the past year on the Audi. Sean said he would get back to me the next day, (48 hours after the accident) with his results.
The property damages situation:
Sean discussed with me on May 4, the total loss to the Audi. I had repeatedly told him that I was not at fault here, did not ask these TWO Farmer's clients to wreck my car, and sincerely wanted Farmer's to restore the Audi to the condition it was in just 48 hours prior, given the maintenance records, etc.
Sean said that was not possible, due to the extensive damages. I said I really didn't care about the details. It was not my fault. I wanted restoration because the amount he wanted to compensate me was not enough to equally replace the dependable transportation that I had lost.
We had gotten lucky finding this Audi. It was a 1984, one owner, with only 90,000 original miles, and apparently never driven or housed in a harsh climate. Sean said this did not factor in, and that the best we were going to get from Farmer's for our Audi was $2,011.71. Sean urged me to settle that day, saying it wasn't going to get any better. I told him I didn't think this was fair compensation, and I had to think about it a bit.
All we had by this time was the Alamo rental Farmer's had provided. We didn't even have time to look around for a replacement. The Audi was sitting disabled at a repair shop lot. We had a good deal of personal items from the Audi, with no other way to transport them. At that time I believe the rental car was good until about Monday.
I called Sean and told him I thought the settlement for the Audi really was insufficient. Again, Sean said it wouldn't get any better, and we may as well get it over with. I reluctantly told Sean OK, but that we could not do without the rental car before we could replace the Audi with equally dependable transportation. He said he would extend the rental to the following Friday, but that then Jennifer Stuart would need to extend the rental further because the bodily injury was being handled by Jennifer and that part of the claim was still open, unaffected by accepting any funds for the Audi.
On Friday, May 4, 48 hours after the accident, I reluctantly took Farmer's check #1142155095 in the amount of $2,011.71 with your notation that Mr. Vaughan was the insured showing "total loss settlement" for property damages only. I did this informing Sean that my husband and I still had medical appointments and follow-ups pending, and that the rental car was the ONLY feasible means of us keeping these doctor appointments, or of seeking a replacement car.
Related medical expenses and bodily injury claims still pending...:
My husband and I NEEDED and used the rental car to go first to Northern Nevada Medical Center within 24 hours of the accident. Daddy incurred medical bills for a total of $537.19 from this one visit. This included $289.00 from Northern Nevada Medical Center, another $194.50 from Northern Nevada Medical Center, $45.00 from Sparks Radiology Associates and $8.69 for a pain prescription for Vicaden at Savon Drugs. He sustained a knee injury from the rear end impact jolting him up into the dashboard, despite having been wearing our seat belts. (He has long legs.)
I incurred medical bills for $194.50 from Northern Nevada Medical
Center, and another $526.50 from Northern Nevada Medical Center. Also there was a prescription at Savon Drugs for the pain meds Vicaden in the amount of $8.69. Sparks Radiology Associates bill is for $86.00. Northern Nevada Medical Center listed my symptoms as "motor vehicle accident with bilateral back muscle strain and lumbar strain". My back, hip and leg still hurt me, especially at night.
I had called Jennifer Stuart several times, leaving messages on her voice mail, etc., and also speaking to her personally, on her phone. I told her this was all too stressful and was getting to me. I told her I had nightmares about it, especially the sound of the accident, like there was a shooting going on. I told her I needed to seek other medical services and that we needed her to extend the rental car for this purpose, as Sean had indicated she could do, until we could replace the Audi on the slim budget Farmer's had given us.
Jennifer refused to extend the rental car past what Sean had given us, which amounted only to a total of 9 days from the date of the accident. Jennifer claimed the rental car was not part of her end of the claim, even though Jennifer was the one who had originally given the rental car authorization! Jennifer said the rental car courtesy ended when we took the settlement for the Audi. I said I was not under that impression. (I certainly would not have taken the miserly $2,011.71 had I known Farmer's was going to pull the rental car right out from under us, despite our not having replacement transportation and still having open bodily injury claims and doctors appointments to keep!) This decision compounded the stress I was already suffering from the accident. It was very insensitive and indifferent. Cold hearted is the term I am looking for, as well as bad public relations! I didn't ask two of your insured's to destroy my transportation and injure us! I begged Jennifer to reconsider. She would not. I even threw myself on the mercy, or lack thereof, of supervisor Kevin Oxborrow, in the claims office at 480 E. Moana in Reno, NV. He was equally cold hearted about the rental car, saying if we did not turn it back in on that Friday, we would have to pay the full amount of the rental thereafter. Of course, we could not afford to do this. I pleaded with him that we still had this bodily injury open case, and we truly needed the rental car to make the doctor's appointments, etc. Also, I told him we could not readily find, if at all, comparable transportation to our Audi on such short notice. Kevin didn't care.
On May 5, three days after the accident, one day after accepting the loss check for the Audi, and having informed Jennifer that I was really stressed out over this whole situation and how it was being handled, I was admitted to the emergency room at St. Mary's Regional Medical Center in Reno, NV. The records reflect "acute anxiety and non-specific chest pains". St. Mary's gave me referrals to Dr. Jos. E. Johnson and psychiatrist Dr. Mujahid Rasul, both of Reno. I was quite upset in the emergency room. St. Mary's was informed of the accident, the nightmares of the sounds like shotgun blasts, the leg, hip and back pain, etc. St. Mary's provided prescriptions for Vioxx for the pain, and Xanax for the anxiety. These were to be out of pocket expenses, also. When I saw the prices at the pharmacy, it was determined I could not presently afford to support this, and reluctantly passed on the meds.
I called to make appointments with these two doctor's referrals. Their offices informed me I had to pay up front and collect from Farmers, or they could not see me on a billing basis, as it was a car accident claim. Also, I had made an appointment with chiropractors in both outlying Reno and Truckee, CA, for independent opinions. They would have billed me under the circumstances. However, without the use of the rental car, I could not hope to keep these appointments.
St. Mary's bill is for $416.36, with Sierra Emergency Physicians billing of $207.00.in all, and not counting the physician's referrals and chiropractor's appointments that I could not keep, my own medical bills to date total $1,608.05 - not including the "pain and suffering" Jennifer described I was entitled to collect. My back, leg and hip still hurt me; and I still can hear the two shotgun-like blast sounds of the impact of the accident.
Insufficient bodily injury compensations taken under duress:
Our pleas for an extension on the rental car having fallen on deaf ears, and negotiations having ground to a basic halt, on May 11, two Farmer's checks were issued in the woefully insufficient amount of $1,000.00 each. Check #1142155335 was to myself. It listed Mr. Vaughan as the insured. Another check was issued to Daddy Ouch for the same. Our medical situations were not resolved, and appointments had to be left unkept due to lack of transportation and front money to pay such doctors.
In this process, and fully knowing these unsatisfactory and unresolved conditions existed, Farmer's required us to sign certain release forms.
Knowing Farmer's was pulling the rental car right out from under us, we were backed into a corner and saw no other present way to continue. Daddy Ouch meekly signed his "release in full of all claims and rights" discharging ONLY Mr. Vaughan from damages. I, too, was presented a similar claim release form.
However, upon examining it, you will plainly notice, as is evident on my carbon copy, that I signed my release as "April Barhorst (duress)" - UNDER DURESS! Farmer's had possession of this CONDITIONAL RELEASE from me when they handed me the checks, and allowed clearance of the checks through your bank. If they neglected to read it, that is their fault.
Summary:
Given the facts of our non-contribution to the accident in any way, and
knowing that there were not one but two of Farmer's insured's involved; and being advised of the uncaring manner in which the Reno claims office denied our pleas for the barest of considerations (to extend the rental car so we could just even maintain doctor's appointments, etc., knowing we had no other form of transportation); and pointing out the notation of duress on my so called release listing only Mr. Vaughan; it is requested that you reopen this claim and review all the points made herein.
Having had a fair amount of time to do so, (recall, Farmer's wrapped this Audi claim up in less than 48 hours, and the bodily injury in only 9 days total), I request that Farmers negotiate with me, April Barhorst, a more fair amount of compensation for the bodily injury claim - taking into account medical appointments still desired but not able to afford, and pain and suffering, which obviously has continued.
I spend a lot of time in the Reno area, although I want to give you this updated California mailing address. I am not averse to going into the Reno claims office with an appointment for the purpose, but would like to see some fresh and more compassionate faces, hopefully from your office, Susan. I know all Farmer's offices can't
Be as cold hearted as this one was. They simply took advantage of our desperation to obtain adequate replacement transportation with mounting medical bills. Recall, I pleaded with Sean not to total my Audi, but to restore it. It was not my decision to junk the Audi. It sadly was taken to the salvage yard in May. I could have gotten an indeterminate amount of additional, satisfactory miles from the Audi, had it not been for Mr. Coe and Mr. Vaughan.
I am open-minded to the amount of REAL settlement, which could be
considered fair by us both in this matter. I am not an unreasonable person. I don't really want to have to turn this over to an attorney, or better yet, post this as a complaint against Farmers claim office in Reno all over the Internet. You can email me at:
[email protected]
You can call me at: 415-201-2670, which rings all the way from San
Francisco to Reno and beyond, 24 hours a day. You can mail documents to me at the following new address. Until I hear from you, Susan, I shall appreciate your personal attention to this matter, and remain,
Very Sincerely Yours,
April Barhorst
Ps: hard copy of documentation sent upon request
The following shows that Susan received this detailed request and remanded it to Scott Leblanc in the original claims office in Reno, NV, for review. These are the same people who kicked the crutches out from under me to begin with! This is what I have had to work with.
On Fri, 27 Jul 13:16: 43 -0700
[email protected]
wrote:
April,
I asked Scott LeBlanc the Reno Branch Claims Manager to contact you personally regarding your claim. He is the best position to review the file and the concerns outlined in your email.
Susan
I had high hopes that this could be settled in a friendly and as inexpensive manner as possible. I guess I had "SUCKER" written all over my face...
Aprilbarhorst@4email
To: [email protected]
Subject: thank you, susan - one more?
08/01/01 07:32 am
Susan:
We have had no contact whatsoever from the Reno claims office, but will be back in the area after tomorrow. I will try to call this person. However, it would be nice if I could email him. Can you tell me his email address where he would personally see any communications - NOT an autoresponder, etc. Thank you very much. I am sure reasonable people can work this out satisfactorily very soon.
April.
On Wed, 1 Aug 18:54: 40 -0700
[email protected]
wrote:
April,
Scott LeBlanc can be emailed at: [email protected].
Susan
Having waited a sufficient period of time, I called Scott LeBlanc's office of the Reno Farmer's Insurance Claims Office at 775-826-8666. The next day Scott called to make an appointment with me (aka go through the motions) for Friday, August 3, at 3:00 P.M. At this time he pretended to listen carefully and made copies of my documentation. Scott informed me he was no longer going to be in the Reno office and was being transferred to Las Vegas after that day, and for the next 90 days. Scott said he didn't know the snail mail address or phone number of the office to which he was being transferred in Las Vegas. I could only email him further, and he would get back to me in the week.
Today I received this email from Scott refusing to further satisfy the claim - despite Farmer's payment didn't even cover my emergency room bills.
August 8
April Barhorst
Sent via e-mail on 08-07-01
Re: Insured: Vaughan
Policy No.: 67-126747601
Claim No.: 45-158724
Loss Date: 05-02-01
Dear Ms. Barhorst:
This letter is a follow-up to our meeting on August 3. Thank you for the opportunity to discuss your claim and concerns with you.
After careful review of the claims file, review of the information you provided at our meeting, and discussions with Claims Representative Jennifer Stuart, it is our opinion that you made informed decisions with respect to your claims. As you are aware, both you and your husband signed releases in exchange for payment of your claims. We issued indemnity payments on behalf of our insured based on your full release of all claims. You have processed these checks through a banking institution.
While we believe it is unfortunate that you now dispute the agreed settlement, we have both a duty and obligation to protect the interests of our above-referenced insured.in accordance with our obligations to our insured, we are not willing to void the properly executed releases you and your husband signed with respect to this matter. Therefore, we will be unable to be of any further assistance to you in this matter.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at the above-referenced address.
Sincerely,
Farmers Insurance Exchange
Scott LeBlanc
Branch Claims Manager
Following is my final plea to Susan Bithell, head of all claims in the State of Nevada, as I am informed.
Date: Tue, Aug 7th 17:58: 53 Filter sender
From: april barhorst Add to Address Book
To: [email protected] Download Message
Cc: View Header
Subject: UNSATISFACTORY RESULTS - LAST REQUEST FOR LOCAL HELP Include Original: Yes/No
Dear Susan:
Following is the decision I just received from Scott LeBlanc. I cannot say that I am shocked, as this office is a cold-hearted, miserly branch. I cannot accept this decision. ONE LAST TIME I will ask for YOUR intervention. If YOU, Susan, will look at the "release" that I tendered, you will plainly see that I signed it under duress. The word DURESS is written by myself right next to my name. If you think this will hold up in court as a final settlement, then it will cost Farmer's more than the modest amount of $3,000.00 (which I told Scott I thought is a minimal fair settlement) to have Farmer's attorneys defend it. I
can tell you right now, I am not going to eat any attorney's fees on this. I know a jury would shame Farmers for this. I am not trying to make any attorneys rich. I just want a more fair settlement. So, here is what I can suggest: Before things get any worse for any party concerned, will YOU, Susan, please review Scott's decision and amend it asap? In the meantime, I am going to use other means available to me to post complaints on the internet drawing public attention to the coldness with which Farmer's kicks the crutches out from under people. Additionally, I suppose I will have to contact both the other Farmer's
insureds in this case and notify them of my intent to sue for appropriate damages. Mr. Coe and Mr. Vaughan can pay to retain their own attorneys to defend against Farmer's refusal to be fair - or you can pay their attorney fees, whichever is correct. I really don't care. Farmer's hasn't even covered my initial medical costs. So, if we can't, as reasonable fellow human beings, come up with something that resembles $3,000.00 within the next few days, then let's spend some REAL money and let the attorneys laugh at how they will be the only ones to come out ahead here. This is really a sad way to have to settle something. Until this is settled fairly, I have nothing better to do than make this my pet project.
If I do not hear from you within the next 48 hours at least acknowledging this message, I will have no other choice but to think Farmers believes they are too big to be bothered with public opinion. You will receive copies of any complaints. Personally, I am sorry to have to send this to you, Susan. I really felt you would have been more fair and flexible than the Reno office. Please respond by
friday, august 10, close of business. You know where to call me:
April Barhorst
415-201-2670
So, dear public:
Don't let this happen to you! If you are paying premiums to farmer's insurance for protection against your at fault accidents, i am sure you go to sleep at night thinking farmer's will fairly take care of your liabilities, thus preventing any unnecessary lawsuits against you, personally. But if farmer's stiffs innocent victims, what else can one do but give them all the opportunity to settle out of court - and then take the whole thing before a jury??? Only the attorneys make money in such an event. I don't want to be like this. But this is not a fair settlement, and any documents signed obviously under duress will surely not hold up in court.
Think before you pay those farmer's premiums - especially you, mr. Coe and mr. Vaughan. Farmer's isn't doing you any favors in this matter.
"can't we all just get along - and pay the fair amount!!!?"
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