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OKLAHOMA
VOICE
November 2010
Published monthly by United Farmers Agents Association, aka UFAA, Chapter 15 Eastern Oklahoma. The chapter meets the first Wednesday of each month.
Next Chapter 15 Member Meeting: Wednesday, November 3rd 11:30 AM |
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UFAA Chapter 15 returns to the Green Onion for remainder of 2010 monthly meetings and annual Christmas Party. More party info below.
 The Green Onion
Tulsa, OK. 74135
Non-member agents welcome to our lunch meetings.
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Mission Statement
The United Farmers Agents Association -UFAA-
is a professional association committed to helping our members through
education, communication, support and information and to establish a
true partnership with Farmers Group, Inc.Check out our website |
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Oklahoma UFAA Contacts:
UFAA Chapter 15 serving Eastern Oklahoma
President- Mike Gately 918/481-3277 -Tulsa
UFAA Chapter 12 serving Central-Western Oklahoma:
President- Tony Reese 580/355-1335 - Lawton
United Farmers Agents Assn. National Office 800-275-2662
UFAA Oklahoma Voice Editor
UFAA Oklahoma Voice Ads
To join an Oklahoma UFAA Chapter
choose one closest to you and
contact the chapter. Or, sign
up at the UFAA Website.
United Farmers Agents Association Web Site
UFAA Chapter 15 Newsletter Archive & Homepage
Letters to the Editor
 Learn more about our advertisers in this issue. Ads are hot links to their websites.
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 Greetings!
Zurich announces settlement of U.S. class action litigationUnder the terms of the settlement, a sum of USD $455 million will be made available to up to 13 million policyholders who may qualify for a distribution under the settlement. This averages to an estimated USD $35 per class member or policyholder subscriber. Zurich also will pay attorneys' fees to class action counsel of up to USD $90 million.
Zurich, October 7, 2010 - Zurich Financial Services Group (Zurich) announced today that it and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Farmers Group, Inc. (FGI), have agreed in principle to a proposed comprehensive settlement in the matter of Fogel vs. Farmers Group, Inc., a purported nationwide class action lawsuit pending in Superior Court in Los Angeles, California. The proposed settlement will resolve all claims, dating back to 1999, in a complaint originally filed in August 2003. In the lawsuit, the plaintiff challenged the management services fees paid by the Farmers Exchanges (Exchanges) to FGI and certain of its affiliates, which under policyholder subscription agreements act as the attorney-in-fact for policyholder subscribers of the Exchanges. |
Greetings!
 | | HOT SCOOP |
Suggestion On Improving Auto Sales
Here is a suggestion that may help in getting some of your old clients back.
Open Dashboard and click on the little "man" (b.o.b.) at the top of the page again at the top of the page click on "reports." Now, across the top click on the tab "auto." Toward the bottom is a list that can be printed called "market on former customers" click on GO, now click "run."
This will bring up a list of all your auto customers that have canceled between 4.5 months and 1 year ago (you can actually go back as far as three years) now place your cursor over the cancellation date and left click. You have now arranged them by cancellation date. With this list you can re-quote your past customers with the new FA2 policy using the information on file at the time the policy lapsed. (cars, drivers, etc.) In many cases, with no "caps" in place, you will find the new FA2 rates are considerably less than the old Legacy policies. You have the X-date from your list and can market at the prime time for switching. Good hunting.
Compliments of UFAA Chapter 14 - Portland Oregon. We hope this works for you in Okla.
"Agents helping Agents TM"
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2010- OCT ISSUE, NOV ISSUE
B e t t e r B u s i n e s s B u r e a u
 BBB Reliability Report forFarmers Insurance HelpPoint
BBB Rating "F" at these locations
Name: Farmer's Insurance Claim Office Phone: (800) 435-7764 Address: PO Box 108815 Okla. City, OK 73101
Name: Farmer's Insurance Phone: (800) 445-8055 Address:
P.O. Box 268994 Oklahoma City, OK 73126 Farmers Insurance - Property Phone: (918) 660-8866 Address:
PO Box 470244 Tulsa, OK 74147-0244  click on any blue address above for BBB report and grade. The Oklahoma Voice has published these Farmers Claims ratings from the BBB three times in the last 12 months. This article will run until it improves as this is openly Internet available to you and all your clients. -ed
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Edmond 405-330-0025Tulsa 918-270-2888
At Red River Roofing, our goal is to provide you the proper information to make the best roofing decisions. Should you have any additional concerns, questions, or comments, do not hesitate to contact our offices.
Residential & Commercial Roof Repair & Replacement 05/11
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 | Click logo above to obtain UFAA Membership App
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| Click logo above to view the UFAA Website
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If you wish to be excluded from future mailings please let us know by emailing us at ufaa15@.gmail.com or by using the Unsubscribe feature at the located within this document. Disclaimer - The Oklahoma Voice is published twelve times per year for the United Farmers Agents Association, Chapter 15 Northeastern Oklahoma. The United Farmers Agents Association and the editor neither assumes any responsibility for the accuracy of the articles or advertisers, nor any liability arising from reliance upon them. The Oklahoma Voice expresses it's appreciation to the many members who assist in and support it's publication,. Opinions in the Oklahoma Voice do not necessarily express the views of any single member or Chapter officer or UFAA organization. Products and services advertised are not endorsed by this Chapter or United Farmers Agents Association, Inc. Complaints or inquiries should be forwarded directly to the advertiser. All purchases and services are at the complete discretion of the consumer. Trademarks and/or logos are the respective products or trademarks of their respective owners. |
918-663-5848
Fire, Water, Storm Damage & Other Perils
Full Service Mitigation and Reconstruction 10344-B East 58th St Tulsa, OK 74146
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 Farmers Insurance on FarmVilleLOS ANGELES, Oct. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- The Farmers Insurance Group of Companies® announces today it is extending its industry-leading partnership with Zynga, the maker of FarmVille, the most popular game on Facebook with over 60 million monthly players.
Click Z 10/18/10: If a brand has "farm" in its name, it's difficult to ignore the possibility of a FarmVille integration. And when a company actually owns a branded zeppelin, it would be a shame not to include a virtual version of that flying machine in one of the most popular social games around. Starting today, The Farmers Insurance Group of Companies is doing just that. The provider of auto, home, and life insurance will offer players of Zynga's FarmVille game access to a Farmers-branded airship. The blimp will hover over players' crops and work with the game to prevent withering - an actual result of crop neglect in the game's universe. FarmVille was a natural: Farmers, FarmVille - get it?" said Marc Zeitlin, VP ebusiness for Farmers. The goal is to attach Farmers to the idea of protection in a fun, hip way, said Zeitlin. "We're helping people in FarmVille protect their virtual crops with virtual insurance," he said.
The free zeppelin feature will be available to players for 10 days from October 18 through October 27. "The airship lends itself to becoming a piece in the game," said Zeitlin. The firm first used the zeppelin as part of a PGA tournament sponsorship, and decided to stick with it. Overall, Zeitlin aims to help establish Farmers - a company established more than 80 years ago - as a cool with-it brand, in part through doing innovative things in digital media. "The company's sort of been sleepy" when it comes to online marketing, said Zeitlin. Making a real-world connection, of course, is key for many companies conducting virtual marketing campaigns. For Farmers, that came naturally. The company is running a Facebook contest simultaneously with the integration with the popular Facebook game app. Until November 15, people can enter to win a ride on the Farmers airship through the company's Facebook page. It's not a direct tie-in with the FarmVille effort, said Zeitlin, "but obviously we're doing both at the same time for a reason.... We're integrating reality with the social world and connecting the two." Farmers is also currently running video-enabled expandable banners featuring a series of humorous commercials. "At the end of the day, we want to sell more insurance and retain more customers," said Zeitlin. "We want to communicate with our communities in a more fun and engaging way."
In another press release from the Insurance Journal October 14, 2010- Farmers is offering the coverage in a partnership with Zynga, the maker of FarmVille, which is considered the most popular game on Facebook with over 60 million monthly players.
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 Greetings! ONLY 8 WEEKS LEFT AT $400/WEEK. NEXT SUMMER, THIS WILL RENT FOR AS MUCH AS $1600/WEEK, REFERRALS PAID 10% Contact Glenn at glenn@gjohnsonagency.com for additional information. 07/11
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Insurance Commissioner Candidate John Doak
Seeks Injunction to Repeal MVR Fee Increase TULSA, OKLA. Oct. 4, 2010 - In the closing moments of the 2010 legislative session, the fee Oklahomans pay for a copy of a motor vehicle report was more than doubled. The last-minute increase made Oklahoma's fee for such records the highest in the nation.
"This fee increase hurts both businesses and individuals," said John Doak, the Republican Nominee for Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner. "The regional average for a copy of a driving record is slightly more than $7 - charging $25 is ridiculous." On Friday, Doak filed a lawsuit against the State of Oklahoma and the Department of Public Safety in the District Court of Oklahoma County to stop the fee increase.
"There are countless hard-working commercial drivers as well as insurance companies and agents who require copies of these records for reasons from employment to insurance underwriting," Doak said. "The additional costs will be passed on directly to the consumer." According to the Oklahoma Constitution, this type of revenue increase may not be passed in the final five days of the legislative session. The bill passed on the last day of the 2010 session. "It is unfortunate that the current insurance commissioner, Kim Holland, does not understand the ramifications this fee increase will have on the insurance industry and consumers," Doak said. "That is why I have filed this lawsuit. Through my experience as an insurance professional and businessman, I fully recognize the implications of such an increase. |
N/O bama Care & Farmers/AetnaDear Okla Voice, By now, you should have received your Farmers benefits selection options for 2011. If you have Farmers-Aetna Medical Insurance, like I do, all I can say is- WOW, What a Premium Increase!Just let my insured's complain about a few dollars or a hundred or so bucks increase on their casualty insurance annually. I can retaliate with my Aetna Medical increase for 2011 in the amount of $766 a month or $9,200 a year per the Farmers benefits package I received. If that wasn't so bad, I got a letter from Aetna that they would no longer cover the doctor and doctor ordered services such as lab, xrays, MRIs, etc.
But, here is the worst part. It's only me and the wife, no kids, no animals and apparently- no major coverage on doctors and their expensive ordered services. Yes, the basic hospital is covered with room and oatmeal but, that's likely it. Under the lovely Farmers-Aetna plan I was already paying $1,957 a month with a jump in 2011 under the Obama-Holland-Farmers-Aetna plan to $2,657 a month for an annual cost of nearly $32K.
If I would have had dependents kids, like many of you do, the rate was shown at nearly 3,900 a month or $46,800 annually. Can you just imagine if I throw in the towel and voluntary terminate and go on COBRA with an individual plan for the wife and I- what that would cost? Generally, add 50%.
It's a catch 22- I can't afford to quit and I can't afford to stay. What is one to do? Call Farmers Benefits and hear the same thing we hear from ServicePoint? That is, double-talk, this is the way it is, we can't audit those auto, home or your medical rates as L.A. as not made them available to us.
I am not a qualified Veteran. I am not an Indian. I am not an alien. I do not qualify for subsidized rents, mortgage, food stamps or free medical insurance program. Like you, I am still waiting on the promised Obama small business bail out. There's gonna be a bail out alright. Bail out of small businesses.
I am just screwed after all these loyal decades of loyal sales and service- guess I will be looking for a big paying part-time job. So, look for me at your local Wal-Mart as your friendly Wally-World Greeter. "Need a shopping cart ma'am? "Yes I sure do for about 15 minutes." "Here you go, that' will be $3 for my Obama Care. Return it to me and you get a dollar back- unless you are a Veteran, Indian, alien, have subsidized rents, mortgage, receive food stamps or free medical care. If so, you get it all back and I don't pay my medical premiums. That's fair, right? Like Farmers, this is not the America I grew up in. Okie Broke Agent.
Dear Okie Broke, Amen, as my Farmers-Aetna medical increased also, but not like yours. However, you have to keep the insurance as I am hearing- your current Okla. Obama DeIegate Insurance Commissioner has proposed to take away your hunting, fishing, drivers license and your season tickets to OSU and OU Football, as penalty for no medical insurance in Okla. Do we need a conservative change in that state office too? Let's band together and do just that, Okie Doak?
Pulse of the Agents Poll
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Bethel Collision Center in Broken ArrowBBB Rated A+
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Ads are now hot links to websites
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Learn more about our advertisers as you or your clients may need their services in the future.
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ads rotated for 11/10 issue.
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Question of the Month
Do you believe the auto conversion process from legacy to FA2 is based on skewed data that no one can explain or audit for accuracy?
Nov. Pulse of the Agents Poll
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In the October issue we asked agents this question-
Should Agents & DMs be paid future commissions on clients who leave the agency due to confusion in claims handling?
NO
 13% Yes, 1 years commission on all client canx PIF
30% Yes, up to 7 years in commissions (avg. stay on books) on all client canx PIF
57%
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Call for Board up Service 24/7
 Click to check out our website 08/11
Tulsa Broken Arrow
918/664-7904 918/258-7578
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OK Lic #879 Click to access our website
TNT Security- Our goal is providing homeowners and small business owners with a wide range of security options at an affordable price. 04/11
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6 More Agents Leave Their Agency
No Satisfaction?
According to the Oklahoma Voice report of non-existent farmersagent.com email addresses, 6 were returned after we emailed the Sept. Issue. These are agents that left in Sept or prior. Here's our count to date.
Jan thru Apr 88May 5June 30July 29Aug/Sept 24
Oct 6
Total 182 YTDLooks like the Summer of 2010 was tough on the Oklahoma Agency force. What do you believe led to their demise?
November Agent's Poll |
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Greetings!
Dates to Remember
Vote: Tue. Nov. 2ndTime Change: Sun. Nov. 7Thanksgiving: Thur. Nov. 25-----------------------------------------------
UFAA Chapter 15 Christmas Party:
Green Onion Sat. Dec. 4th 6PM. Chapter 15 members will receive party invitations on Nov. 4 by last known email address. R.S.V.P. Required- for Green Onion to prep seating & meal count. UFAA to prep for up to $50 for member/guest instant cash meal rebate$, name tags & door prizes. Don't delay as seating is limited this year. We continue our hilarious Chinese Christmas Gift Exchange. Look for your RSVP invitation by email in the next few days that will allow you to register to attend or regrets by email.
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10 Digit Dialing Required: With the roll out of a new N.E. Oklahoma Area Code 539, by March 5, 2011, all callers must dial a 10 digit number even to make local calls. 10 digit dialing is now optional for local calls. You may want to get a head and start on reprogramming your home, mobile and office auto dialers. -ed
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A Correct Pick on November Elections may save tax increaseLess than a week out from the November elections more information is pouring from the media. The latest is the apparent flaw in the government's unemployment data stated to be a 9.7%. CBS says their investigation shows the accurate percentage is at 17% approaching double the White House numbers.
The White House now has a "Deficit Reduction Panel" that is pouring over the tax deductions for all Americans and businesses. Here are a few of the many deductions being reviewed for either a cap on the amount that can be deducted or the deduction is totally eliminated-
Child Care Deduction; Mortgage Interest Deduction which could devastate the new buyer market; Medical Insurance Deduction for businesses, Social Security/Medicare Deduction on amounts paid through the year for small businesses; Personal Exemptions and Standard Deductions lowered.
A devastating tax increase is not what is needed in this recessionary and high unemployment period. Vote for the candidates that will stall these increases until the economy will support them.- ed
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 Fast, Reliable Exams for Over 35 Years.EMSI Insurance Services Click on logo to view our website.
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Tulsa, OK 74136-3426 Oklahoma City, OK 73112-4479
P: 918.488.0500 P: 405.945.0038
F: 918.488.1561 F: 405.945.0032
tulsa.exam@emsinet.com oklahomacity.exam@emsinet.com
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Check out the UFAA  Chapter 15 Home Page
with more Farmers, industry news, lots of member benefit information, newsletter archives and breaking news too late to publish above.
Chapter 15 HOME PAGE Link
UFAA Vacation Membership Drive
Agents are the Driving Force of Farmers
Okla. Continuing Education Requirements
Reminder: From the Oklahoma Ins. Dept: The administrative fee for submission of a change of address or name more than thirty (30) days after the change occurred shall be Fifty Dollars ($50.00).
Have you missed past issues of the Okla. Voice? If you missed past issues, you can access them and other article headlines on our home page link above.
We just can't make it much easier. Just mouse the Join Ufaa logo to obtain the a membership application. Fill it out; attached a check and mail or use the bank card option and fax it to 1-314-631-7963. United we stand. Divided we fall.
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