Complaint Review: Tennessee Farmers Mutual Insurance Company

On Nov 20-21 2011 we had another wind/rain storm to hit the Memphis area among the many we have had in the last 3 years including the Tornado that struck 1/2 mile away from my home in 2008.  I developed a leak in front of my fireplace.

I then looked on the ServiceMaster website to find a contractor to get the leak fixed.A contractor came out to my home on Nov 23 and tried to fix the leak,he done some work on the roof and then informed me that I had approx. 50-60 shingles lifted that appeared to be from wind uplift and that I may want to call my Insurance company to file a claim.So I filed a claim with Farm Bureau.

After I filed the claim the contractor asked me to call him and he would come out and mark the roof to show the Adjuster where all the shingles had uplifted.When the adjuster came out he did not bring a ladder with him to even get up on top of the roof to check for damage,he took pictures of my fireplace and started to leave and I then asked him if he was going to check for damage to the roof he then agreed to use the contractors ladder to check the roof.He the came back down and told me he  would contact me later.

A couple days later he called and started to go on about all these contractors trying to ripoff the insurance company and about these contractors knocking on peoples door and asking them to let them look at their roofs so they could make money,I then informed him that was not the case that I had contacted them, he then told me that he was going to get a structural engineer out to look at the roof to determine if it was storm damage.

After the engineer came out I got the adjustment along with the engineers report that was saying the there were some up lifted shingles but most appeared to be a glue issue and that these shingles could be hand glued and that the roof did not need replacing and the adjuster estimated the cost at about  $600 which sounded good to me which would have been better than being out a $1000 deductible

On Dec 24 I received a policy endorsement from Farm Bureau saying that they were putting a TF-7 endorsement on my roof (was not going to cover) any roof or wind or leak damage to my home unless my ROOF was REPLACED.This totally went against what the Engineer and Adjuster had said originally in their report and adjustment.So I replaced my roof to get out of the Tf-7 endorsement.

During the spring/summer of 2011 I noticed that that there were quite a few homes in my area having new roofs put on including 3 homes that were within 100-250ft of my house(not including my home) and all these homes were facing North-South and all had LEAKS.

I then filed a complaint with the State Insurance commission on Farm Bureau and sent them all the documentation that I had.I got the commissioners report saying that Farm Bureau had violated no laws and the response from the Vice President of Claims at Farm Bureau claiming the same thing

I then called my agent and asked him about the claim and the fact that their adjustment and their Tf-7 endorsement were saying 2 different things,that is when the agent told me that the same adjuster was the same one that put the TF-7 endorsement on my home.

I then called an attorney he told me that I had a"do able" case but our Tennessee Legislature had redone the Tort laws in Tennessee and they "Decided to Exempt" the Insurance Companies.Which basically means if you decide to sue them that you cannot sue for Attorneys fees which means if you have $10000 worth of damage on your home and the insurance company denies the claim you are still going to be out Attorney fees which can be 30-40% of the claim if you sue and win.

In closing CONTACT your Tennessee State Rep,Senator,and Governor before these Insurance companies run AMUCK.  BUYER BEWARE!!!!!!