I too was a victim of State Farm...

Hi Gary;

Just wanted to let you know that there are others who have been similarly treated. My local agent found out that I intended to start a bullet swaging business and they promptly canceled my homeowners also. I am now with Farmers.

Mike from Indiana

Mike,

Thanks for your comment. I would love to hear more about your situation and cancellation by State Farm over a firearm-related issue. In my case, immediately upon being told I would be cancelled because of my personal range, I told my SF agent that I would publicize the case as widely as possible. Her response, "Yeah, listen to you." Now, with national exposure of State Farm's apparent anti-gun stance, the company appears not quite so smug. In my case, State Farm says they might have used "bad judgment." Indeed. Or maybe just (emerging) bad policy seeing the light of day. Like you, I take attacks on the Second Amendment very seriously. Tell us about your situation. Sounds familiar. Details could be very important. Look forward to hearing from you, Mike.

If it's OK with you I will ask the Grass Roots SC webmaster to add your saga to the FAQ section of our State Farm story. The way these people treat their longtime customers is unfathomable. Your story and mine read almost identical. Just change a few words.

Thanks for response.

Best Regards,
Gary J. Atkinson

Glad to pass it along. Here are the details as best that I can remember them...

I went to my local agent to see if they wrote business policies (big mistake).

I explained...

- I would be making only the projectiles so there would not be large amounts of powder.
- It was a mechanical process so there would not be pots of molten metal.
- It was mail order only so there would be no customers on site.

After explaining the whole business he said that they did not write business policies (gee he could have said that in the first place) and that he would have to check with the main office as he was not sure whether they could continue to hold my homeowner's policy. I told him that I didn't see why not since there would be nothing in the house that thousands of their customers didn't already have for hobby purposes. He didn't seem to believe that SF covered tens of thousands of reloaders (what an idiot).

The next contact that I got was a letter from the main office announcing that my coverage was canceled (no reason stated) and giving me the phone number for Indiana's high risk coverage program (in their dreams... there is no way that I was going to go to the state for insurance).

I emailed the main office giving them the same information and asking (demanding) that they explain what added exposure (risk) they envisioned that required them to terminate coverage. I also mentioned that in the Internet age the way that a customer is treated becomes nation wide knowledge very quickly. What really made me angry is that after being with State Farm for 20+ years they didn't even have the courtesy to discuss the issues with me so that we might rewrite the policy to exclude the areas of imagined risk (which I would have been willing to do). The implication that I drew is that added risk was not the issue.

Nearly two weeks later I got a short snail mail letter which said that I was canceled due to the operation of a bullet manufacturing operation on the premises. Again there was no indication that they were interested in further discussion. Conspicuously absent was any mention of why this was a risk to them. In other words they never did answer my actual question. And then they had the balls (pardon my French) to say that they hoped that this would not affect my choice in auto insurance. What arrogant *&^$^%^&'s!!!!

Needless to say I went shopping. One of the guy's on the Sixgunner.com discussion board suggested that I try Farmer's Insurance. I went to the local agent and explained my plight (I had to tell him about the cancellation) and he said that it would be no problem for them. He said that though he did not write the business policies himself he could get some quotes for me from others who did. I transferred my home owners and both cars to him. I got slightly lower rates in the bargain.

Once the new policies were fully in force I sent a note to my old agent stating that due to the treacherous way in which I was treated by SF I was forced to end my 20+ year relationship with them and that I have transferred all of my insurance business to a company that is less hostile to small businesses. I got my refund within a week or two. Hope this helps. I am glad others are publicizing their "Good Neighbor" attitude.

Mike

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I too was a victim of State Farm...

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