I have been a Farm Bureau member for 30+ years, having an auto insurance policy with them and for a short while, health insurance. I had never filed a claim with them until last year. As of 11/19/2014, I am terminating all policies with them, and will not renew my Farm Bureau membership.
Having health insurance through Farm Bureau was a near disaster. I quit their health policy after about 2 years or so because of one screw up or another by their plan administrator, Gilsbar.
The real problem with their service started in 2013. While sitting at at stop light, I was side swiped by a lawn care truck. There was only minor damage, but it took weeks for an appraisor in Travis County to contact me. I had to go to my agent to get action on my filing.
The final straw was this past September, 2014. I had some varmint, either a rat or a squirrel, eat through some wiring that was a part of my airbag system in my Toyota FJ Cruiser. I took my vehicle to a local dealer in the Austin area that told me it would cost $1900 to fix, but that my insurance would cover it. The service rep said that an entire warning harness to the SRS system had to be replaced. I filed a claim and an appraiser from Travis County contacted me. I put her directly in touch with the Dealership. After some weeks went by and not hearing anything, I contacted the appraiser who told me a check for $3500 had been mailed to me. I told her that did not make sense, that I was told the repair would only be $1900. She indicated that the $1900 was for the part only and with the labor to replace the wiring harness, the total was around $4500. I had a $1000 deductible. The Farm Bureau appraisor did not inspect my car, nor did she offer to inspect my car.
I thought something did not sound right, so for the first time, I went and thoroughly inspected the wires that had been damaged. I was shocked to see that there was NO damage to the wiring harness the dealer said needed replacing. The only damage was to 2 low voltage wires leading to the front bumper from what I will call an “SRS Control Box”. A simple repair involving correctly reconnecting the wires would have appeared to solve the problem.
I informed the Farm Bureau appraisor that the wiring harness was NOT damaged and that it appeared only a simple reconnect of 2 low voltage wires was in order. As it turned out, a $3500 check had not been mailed to me, which would have been returned by me if it had. I talked to the appraiser's supervisor in Waco, because by now, it was apparent someone was not doing their job. I should not be the one to have to inspect my vehicle and call “foul” on the dealership for trying to rip me off. The superivisor in Waco admitted that my vehicle should have been inspected. I asked if she could help me find someone to properly repair the wires and she said she would make some calls and get back to me. I never heard from her again.
Finally tired of the poor Farm Bureau service, I decided to look for a new auto insurance policy. In that process, I found out that an industry database that all insurance companies use to investigate applicants for auto policies had a listing that I had received $3500 for a claim I filed...which was clearly wrong. I complained again to the Travis County Farm Bureau appraiser who said that nothing could be done to correct the entry. She again referred me to her supervisor, who in turn referred me to my Farm Bureau agent, who has not responded, as of this date, to my request to fix the problem. More poor service from Farm Bureau.
Just as an aside, Geico gave me a quote on an identical auto insurace policy, the same coverage I had with Farm Bureau, that was $200 a year cheaper than Farm Bureau. So long, Farm Bureau, forever!