Farmer's Insurance - Howard Insurance Agency

Review: Farmers Insurance turned me into a collection service for supposedly not renewing my insurance with them.

In January of 2012 I took out an insurance policy with Farmers for my vehicles and home. Shortly after taking out this policy I cancelled it and received a refund for the remaining balance. Prior to cancelling this policy I retained insurance from my previous Insurer, In January of 2013 I received notice that my policy was due for renewal, this was not true as the policy had been cancelled 1 year prior. As I already had insurance and did not have a policy with them and I was under no obligation to have insurance with Farmers, I did nothing. I then received notice from Credit Collection Services that Farmers turned me for collection. My complaint is against Farmers acting in unfair business practice. I am under no obligation to obtain insurance from them.Desired Settlement: I demand that Farmers removed the charge as reported to the collection service. This charge can effect my credit rating and impact me financially. An investigation into Farmers should be conducted to identify other such actions by them. I also feel action against Farmers is justified to prevent this from happening again in the future.

Business

Response:

Business' Initial Response

On 6/13/2013, I spoke with our corporate office in regards to this issue. I was informed that indeed Mr. [redacted]'s policy was cancelled 1/20/2012 by both him, and myself(the agent of record) on that requested date. Unfortunately, the request to cancel by both Mr. [redacted] and myself, never got processed. The non processing of the cancellation was done in error by someone in the corporate office. Farmers has since rectified the issue, and Mr. [redacted] is NOT in collections, nor has his credit been affected negatively because of this error. I run my agency with a high level of integrity, so I too, am upset in regards to this situation not being taken care of properly. I did exactly what Mr. [redacted] requested of me, and someone on the corporate end failed to do theirs. However, I am a professional who understands that people can make mistakes. I hope that Mr. [redacted] will understand as well. On behalf of Farmers Insurance, and my agency, we apologize for any inconvenience this has caused you, Mr. [redacted]!

Consumer's Final Response

(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)

In followup, the collection agency still holds this item as active, it is still in collections. I require that this be removed from collections and an investigation on how a corporation can place a person into this situation for not conducting business with them.

Thank you

Business' Final Response

In response to Mr. [redacted]'s reply, I have since followed up with Farmers Corporate Office, and this is what they're reply was:

Mr. [redacted] is in collections because on 1/7/12, he purchased AUTO insurance, and on 1/20/12, he cancelled that AUTO insurance policy. Farmers has stated that Mr. [redacted] owes Farmers $296.26 for earned premium for coverage on his vehicles from 1/7/12, to 1/20/12. However, if Mr. [redacted] can prove that he had coverage during that time with another carrier, then he will be taken out of collections. Mr. [redacted] may take care of this matter by calling X-XXX-XXX-XXXX, or by calling my office at XXX-XXX-XXXX. I will be more than happy to help Mr. [redacted] with this process.