TLDR: You can absolutely find an insurance agency that will treat you better (and get you a better…read moredeal) than this one. They do not treat their clients with respect, care, or courtesy.
I so, so rarely write a one star review. I actually can't stand doing it. I've debated doing this for weeks, so know it wasn't written in the heat of anger. But as a consumer, I wish I hadn't ever worked with these folks. Sorry in advance for the novel.
Douglas took over this Farmer's agency from someone who I had been happily working with for years. My introduction to the new crew was a bit chaotic, but fine. For the first year of business with them, things were unremarkable and I had no reason to change companies.
The trouble started when my renewal came up in the Fall of 2024. The first renewal invoice I received from them was marked "Overdue" and was for about a hundred dollars more than my previous policy. I had not received any invoices prior to this "late" one, either via email or mail, and I hadn't gotten any notice of a rate increase. In the past, with the former agency owner, I paid on time, every time, and that owner would have reached out directly by email or phone if I had somehow missed a payment, or to discuss the change in price.
This didn't sit well with me, so I decided to find my old guy at his new agency. Luckily, he was able to provide a quote for the original price ($100 cheaper) AND take me on as a client. We did all the paperwork, and I left O'Leary Farmers.
Months later, I received a letter from Collections, saying I owed the O'Leary Farmers agency money. I truly thought it was a scam, because I had not received a single invoice from them since leaving their firm, either by mail or email. But I remembered that last invoice I got that had somehow already been "late," so I reached out to Nicole the office manager to double-check. Sure enough, she told me that yes, I had an unpaid balance of $50-something, and would I like to take care of that with my card on file?
This REALLY bothered me. No invoice, no call, no nothing--but they sent me to Collections? I couldn't get over how this happened. When I followed up with this question, she did some digging and discovered that, oops! Their billing department had an old address on file for me. Yet somehow a different department had my current address to give to Collections. Hmm.
THEN, when I looked at the detail of the invoice, I saw that $20 of the $50-something was a late fee. For a bill I never received. I asked to have that removed, and she did at least do that. I paid promptly with them directly, and was assured they would follow up with Collections. I assumed this would be the last encounter.
Until, a few days into the new year, I get a call from Collections. Saying I owe Farmer's $50. Unbelievable. I had to send them proof of payment, so THEY could follow up with their client, Farmer's, to remove me from their system.
I am most incensed by three things:
1. The lack of simple client communication and care. A quick phone call (or, I don't know, emailed invoice/online billing, HELLO twenty-first century) would have prevented all of this mess. I would have paid promptly, as always.
2. The lack of apology or acknowledgement of harm from either Nicole or the owner, Doug (who, by the way, I copied on an email to Nicole letting him know my displeasure at the situation and from whom I never got a response.)
3. The lack of basic, necessarily follow-through with Collections, which could have had an impact on my credit were it not for my swift response.
I'm a business owner myself and a pretty damn easy client. The way they treated me through this process and the ridiculously preventable and annoying chaos they caused makes me want to warn others to find a better agency. If we have to pay for insurance, we should at least be treated with courtesy and respect by those taking our money.
