Posted on 07/10/2002 5:50:14 AM PDT by Dick Bachert
Gary Atkinson, a South Carolina businessman and Del Bruno, a Connecticut cop, have had a common problem. When their insurance companies found out that they were involved with guns, they had their insurance coverage canceled.
Del Bruno sought a homeowners policy for his new condo. Just after taking out his policy with Prudential, they wanted a list of his guns and their serial numbers upon learning that he owned firearms. For whatever reason, they decided that the Mossberg 500 was a no-no, and they cancelled his policy.
Prudential was of the opinion that Bruno's shotgun was not a sporting weapon, the only kind they will insure.
Gary Atkinson had been with State Farm for 34 years. He wanted to be sure his homeowners policy was up to date, especially -- as he told his agent's assistant -- since he has a pool and a shooting range on an adjacent property. "A shooting range?" (Forget the fact that pools are more dangerous. The magic word is GUN.)
Atkinson got a call from his agent the next day telling him he had seven days to find a new policy. Then State Farm was going to cancel him. Atkinson brought the agent to the adjacent property to see his range. It is actually rather professional, since Atkinson has heavy equipment, which his company makes. He used the equipment to make berms in front of hills that were already on the property.
Gary got a million dollar liability policy through the NRA to cover the range and offered to sign a total waiver of responsibility for State Farm on any firearm related claims. All of this was to no avail.
After some research, Atkinson learned that State Farm has canceled other people in other parts of the country. It seems they have -- for the agents -- a permissive policy. If the agent wants to cancel a gun owner, they can do so at their own discretion.
Atkinson was told by his agent that no company would insure someone like him. That is when Atkinson found out about Lockton Risk Services in Kansas City, MO (phone: 913-676-9150). They referred him to three insurance companies -- Farm Bureau, Nationwide and American National Property and Casualty.
Gary ended up switching all of his insurance to American National and saving money from what he had been paying State Farm.
One of his last conversations with his State Farm agent involved his discovery that she had the discretion to cancel him, not the requirement to do so. When he told her that he would tell others what State Farm had done to him, she retorted: "What are you going to be able to do by yourself?"
When Gary told me that, I decided that others should know about this anti-self-defense policy at State Farm (and, of course, at Prudential).
Hopefully there is one more reason you may decide to cancel your State Farm Policy -- they are anti-customer in general.
An investigative reporter for New Times found that State Farm has a national policy of underpaying claims. The policy even extends to dragging out lawsuits that any disappointed claimants might file against them in order to increase the cost of litigation to the point of forcing them to settle for less than the policy is worth.
You can go to the web page of Grass Roots South Carolina (www.scfirearms.org) and see the whole story with a very nice piece of artwork to represent Snake Farm Insurance Company.
After you have canceled your Snake Farm insurance policy, you might want to let them know why. Mr. Edward Rust is the president of State Farm Fire and Casualty Company in Bloomington, IL. The phone there is 309-766-2311.
And don't forget to let Prudential know why you have cancelled them if you have a policy with them. Their phone number at their Newark, NJ headquarters is: 1-800-562-8838.
See the archives at http://www.gunowners.org/radio.htm to listen to my interview on Live Fire with Gary Atkinson.
But as an avid gun collector and NRA member, I have a right to "cancel" them as my insurance company ad take my business elsewhere.....
As an American citizen, I have the right to voice my displeasure with this companies policies to like minded folk to ensure they do not use this company...
Geeeee State Farm......Did I just hear the beginning of a stampede???
Even gun owners who just have hunting rifles will stand with those who collect a variety of guns.....Some dumba$$ actuary at State Farm probably believed that this was a small segment of society, so who cares.......The guy/gal just doen't understand gun owners and NRA members......We all swing together....
NeverGore
I'm a Life NRA member & shooting instructor, have been with State Farm for many years - home, two vehicles, small business. I know my insurance agent well enough to sit down and discuss the situation - after sending him this post.
Insurance is a necessary, irritating evil. Most of these companies don't work hard enough to separate out the high-risk people from those of us who just never have a claim that results from negligent behavior.
Our Sportsmen's Club has over 2300 members and I would not be shy about bringing the anti-gun posture up. This should be interesting.
It's a good time for gunowners the NRA to get the word out that a boycott of SF and the Pru are in order.
Pass the word...
But that may be because I live in a region where an insurance company couldn't find clients without insuring gunowners - the South!
They even put "extra riders" on my collection ... only asking the value, not the makes and models.
http://www.conservativemonitor.com/news/2001020.shtml
The Conservative Monitor Received the following note regarding this article. It is a statement reputedly from State Farm Insurance to an interested reader who researched the matter further. The Conservative Monitor is making further inquiries regarding the facts of the case.
State Farm insures millions of gun owners, likely the most of any insurer in the United States -- many of whom are our own agents and employees. We provide firearms property and liability coverage automatically as part of our homeowners insurance policy. We also have personal articles and personal liability policies that cover firearms and the lawful use of those firearms by our policyholders. Our homeowners policy covers the liability exposure for normal recreational shooting and hunting activities for policyholders and guests. In general, deciding whether to provide or continue insurance coverage involves examining every situation (risk) on its own merits. When the risk presented exceeds our expectations of normal recreational shooting, it may become a necessary business decision to decline coverage. A reasonable level of shooting activity would be within the parameters of intended coverage. State Farm works very hard to earn and keep the business of its customers; it is a very serious matter when we feel we must end a relationship with a policyholder. Our insurance decisions are based on the individual facts at hand and the level of risk involved. We hope this information demonstrates that State Farm Insurance is not opposed to the reasonable and responsible ownership and use of firearms.
Thank you for the opportunity to respond.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.