Court Reverses $20 Million Jury Award to Ex-State Farm Agents

January 25, 2007

  • January 26, 2007 at 4:56 am
    OmniSure says:
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    This is SCARY

    Every State Farm Agent can be terminated at the will of the company for anything, even trying to fight for their customers?

    Wow! If I were a consumer purchasing insuance, I would rather be with an insurance agent that has the ability, without fear of losing his hard faught livelyhood, to help me when I might have been wronged by my insurance comapany, which, as we all know, State Farm is certainly capable of being accused of AND paying settlement of HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS FOR.

    Perhaps it would be better for the insurance consumer to buy their insurance through and INDEPENDENT AGENT that is not under COMPLETE CONTROL and THREAT of his employer, like the CAPTIVE agents of State Farm, Allstate, Nationwide, etc.

    Also, if I were an agent, I would shudder at the possiblity of being TERMINATED at will, with no cause and LOOSE EVERYTHING I\’ve worked for just for NOT AGREEING with my BOSS. As an independent, if I don\’t agree with an insurance company and I\’m not satisfied with the outcome of our disagreement, I OWN THE BOOK OF BUSINESS AND CAN MOVE IT FROM COMPANY A (the bad guys) to COMPANY B (the good guys that want my customers business)

    This is an example of how CAPTIVE agents and companies are bad for the consumer and bad for the agents that offer their livelyhood so vulnerably.

  • January 29, 2007 at 11:49 am
    Irene Ochoa CIC, API, AIS,CISR says:
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    I agree. I\’ve always considered State Farm agents more like State Farm employees. Like any other \”captive agent\”, they only represent one company and that is where they derive all their income.

    Will a \”captive agent\” bite the only hand that feeds them in order to protect their insureds? Look what happened when they did.

    I\’m interested to know if their employment contracts allow them to express an opinion that differs from the company line?

    Has anyone had an opportunity to read \”From Good Hands to Boxing Gloves\” by David Berardinelli yet? It appears with Allstate, instead of good hands, sometimes you only get the finger.

    I would love to know if it\’s worth the price tag? I\’m considering getting my own copy.

  • January 29, 2007 at 2:31 am
    Caddy says:
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    Key phase:

    \”The agreement was clearly terminable at-will by either party,\’\’ the court said.

    I\’m sure State Farm would not terminate quality agents. The story does not specify why the agents were released from their contracts, only that the agents \”claimed they were improperly terminated for criticizing the company\’s treatment of policyholders\”. The court seems to disagree.

    I also think this was about the time the agents were being asked to sign a new contract. If the agents would not sign the new contract, this may have played into the descision to release them.



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