On July 21 I was in a minor accident; no persons were harmed, and I was cited. To give a brief back story, I was just laid off from my job at a local Factory, and had made arrangements with my Insurance agent (Jeff Paxton of Farmers' Insurance 5700 Alexis Road Sylvania Ohio) for a later-than-usual payment. He told me that there was no problem with my insurance payment being late, and never told me the insurance was going to be inactive, or to avoid driving or anything. His words were that there was no problem with the payment being late; I feel foolish in admitting that I assumed that no problem meant exactly that. Thus, the arrangement was to pay the bill on the 25th of June. The accident occurred on the 21st, when I was on my way to get more money to pay my Insurance.
I never received anything in writing regarding our insurance being lapsed. Even the notice declaring Farmers' unwillingness to cover the accident was sent to an old address in Florida! All my checks that I have paid the Insurance Company with had a Toledo address on them (My current or my Brother's, depending on the payment date), and since my brother lives at the other Toledo address, he calls me whenever there is mail for me. At the time we had moved here, I was instructed to give a previous address; that would have been my old Florida address. Once we finally got a house of our own, I sent out all the necessary change of address forms and informed Jeff Paxton of the address change personally. I did that in May of and was getting some if my bills at my current address (they were marked with my brother's address, and I called and left my address with Jeff Paxton on a couple more occasions.
In fact, I have to wonder... Why, if I lived at my brother's address, and my mail went to Florida, would I have renters' insurance for the house I currently reside in? (My current address was even on the original policy for renters' insurance. But still, Mr. Jeff Paxton sent my mail to my brother or Florida.) To recover my mail from Florida, I have two stepsons down there that will gladly return it, and inform me if anything important looking comes to them with our names (Husband's, Daughter's or mine) on it. You have no idea how badly I desire to change Insurance Companies!
It's bad enough that I have had to keep that awful insurance agent, and reduce the quality of my coverage to merely afford insurance for our car. This is because, despite the accident, my premiums have remained uninflated. If I were to drop this insurance agency to get insurance with another, the accident on my records would make my premiums skyrocket.
My husband wasn't even in the car at the time of the accident, let alone on the scene. His name was simply on the insurance information I exchanged with the police Officer at the time of the accident. His license is (was) a Commercial Drivers' License, Class A, with HazMat endorsements, and up until this fiasco, BOTH our Drivers' records were as clean as a whistle. Now, the D.M.V. Wants us to pay $1,800.00 after having taken away our primary source of income, and is looking to take my license, too. But since I've been trying to get our insurance company to budge (lawyers are involved... Have been since this whole mess started), they are kind of keeping my suspension in a holding pattern until litigation runs its course and a decision is reached.
It has been over a year since the accident, and October 17 was the last day my husband sat behind the wheel of a motor vehicle. Since then, he has not been gainfully employed (I myself just finished school at the University). As you know, the current economy makes getting a job of any kind difficult, but Transportation is a constantly active industry. I have seen my husband amazed at the sheer magnitude of trucking jobs available, and he sits, impotent to respond to his family's need.
Now I ask you, in all fairness... I could understand this treatment if I was the type of person who was driving with certain knowledge of being uninsured. I wasn't trying to save a buck, or thumb my nose at the insurance laws, and I have never been without insurance and driving. To be utterly honest with you, I had no idea whatsoever that my insurance was inactiveJeff Paxton never told me this was the case! Add to that, instead of having taken my license, it is my husband that loses his license, and he wasn't even on the scene of the accident!
If you have had anything similar to my experience at the hands of this same insurance agent, and you're local to me, I'd love to hear from you. Maybe there is a way we can bring this decietfulness into the light.
Thank You all for hearing me out...
"Don't Let Them Get Away With It!"
Over two million hits to this site... And I hope my note on Farmers Insurance gets read, and helps someone make the best, informed decision.
Vera
Toledo, Ohio
U.S.A.
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