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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 UFAA's newly updated website |
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Oklahoma UFAA Contacts:
UFAA Chapter 15 serving Eastern Oklahoma
President- Glenn Johnson 918/252-0561
UFAA Chapter 12 serving Central-Western Oklahoma:
President- Tony Reese 580/355-1335 - Lawton
United Farmers Agents Assn. National Office 800-275-8668
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
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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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 April 15th Last Chance to Attend UFAA Convention 2011 in Vegas Left: Street view of the Golden Nugget with the worlds largest 1500' canopy LCD video screen towering 90 feet above Fremont Street. This is the downtown night life of the "Fremont Street Experience" with canopy light shows every hour. And, where street vendors, entertainers and live band concerts perform nightly. Admission is free. There are many casinos, retail shops and variety stores within close walking distance.
UFAA Members Only: Convention Dates June 6,7,8,9
Time is growing short. You only have 15 days to register. Registration deadline April 15th.New Member join date and convention registration deadline extended to April 15th - Need a change of scenery?
- Need to get out of town for a few days and away from the business?
- Want to know what's happening across the Farmer's territory?
- Talk to agents attending from California to Ohio at this outstanding annual UFAA event.
UFAA has planned the 2011 exciting National Convention to be held at the fabulous Golden Nugget 4-star Hotel and Casino in beautiful downtown Las Vegas June 6-7-8-9 with convention special $39 Carson Tower Room rates. See the Vegas sites and make this an education vacation you will long remember. If you have not attended a UFAA Convention, you owe it to yourself to get a real education outside Farmers.
Registered non-member guests are welcome to attend non-business functions of the convention.
Your Convention guest may option to attend none, any or all events of the Hospitality, Opening Breakfast and Cocktails/Banquet at an additional cost. These events are included in the member registration amount.
Attendees tell UFAA the Annual Conventions surpasses Toppers Club and rivals PC and Championship Events. UFAA does not require P&C & Life count to qualify member attendance! 
Featured speaker this year will be Oklahoma's newly elected Insurance Commissioner, John "Okie" Doak, who has been a Farmers and State Farm Agent and knows the great benefits, trials and tribulations of an agent's business. Members, plan now to attend to hear Commissioner Doak and other special convention guest speakers.
Non-member Farmers Agents act now to attend the 2011 UFAA Convention. You must join UFAA and submit convention registration NO LATER THAN April 15th. Complete a member app and registration form together with proper payment using Visa or Mastercard by fax # shown on forms.
More convention information & registration* form here. Membership form** available here *All registrants will receive a convention packet. **New members receive welcome member packet. |
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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 its appreciation to the many members who assist in and support its 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.
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 Breaking News! Join UFAA Before May 31 and save UFAA is running a Spring Membership Drive until May 31st. Any agent joining between now and the end of May will receive $50 off the first year of membership. *Convention attendance not required to join UFAA
Only applications for Full Regular Membership paid either annually or semi annually, will qualify for this discount. A semi annual payment will receive a 25.00 discount when the application is processed and a 25.00 discount when the membership is invoiced in 6 months. On the application put "15" in the "Chapter Box." - A REGULAR MEMBERSHIP does NOT include Career, Associate, Affiliate or Limited Members FOR THIS CONTEST. See membership app for definitions of membership.
- Rejoining members must have a MEMBERSHIP LAPSE of 90 days or more.
- An application can be obtained at www.ufaa.com, or page 15 of the voice or by calling the National Office at 800-275-8668.
"Agents Helping Agents"tm |
Greetings!
 Rumors Raging through the Agency Force on Required Numbers R U on EDGE because you are Red, Yellow or Green? UFAA National Survey results posted on ufaa.com UFAA is hearing from many sources within the agency force on required production numbers coming down from L.A.
DMs seem to be the major source of these rumors. Currently, it is unknown if such rumors are fact or, if the source DMs are in the hot seat with low numbers. They may be threatened with termination for low district numbers, therefore, transferring the threat and fear-factors to their district to pump up sales, quotes, 21st C conversions and other numbers including life.
Seems DMs will be graded on above numbers on a state-wide basis with those with the lowest numbers allegedly to be terminated. Other sources say it will also apply to agents with 2-3% up to 15% of the agents rumored to be eliminated across a few to several territory states. It is alleged both DMs and agents will be segmented by colors of red, yellow and green and a program called Edge that quotes the termination paragraph in the agent's contract.
There are many schools of thought as to the reasons for the rumored slaughter. They range from FGI wanting greater numbers from their alleged non-competitive black box rates in a bad economy to support FGI's alleged failing business plan; to the alleged elimination of agents on the older AAA contracts in favor of newbies with the new AAA with more corporate control and production requirements.
Whatever is discovered as fact or fiction, will surely come to light over the coming months. In the meantime, an increasing number of dissatisfied agents have left the agency force as most see a very dim future under the current management.
UPDATE: For more must read information on this issue check out the Green-Yellow-Red and EDGE Program updates on the "News Block" on the main page of ufaa.com. Be sure to watch the Paul Hopkins video concerning both new and tenured agents by clicking the video pic in the upper right corner of ufaa.com main page. (video may take a while to download)
Remember that UFAA National Survey you completed a few weeks ago? The survey results link is in the News block. -ed . 400 Foremost Sales and
Customer Service Positions Open At Caldonia, Mi. Do Liars Figure or Figures Lie? Division A: Seems in Jan & Feb. 2011, a Farmers state division with 260 full time agents (FTA) issued an average of 19 autos per FTA for a total of +4,940 nubiz auto. But, the division auto YTD PIF was a loss of -598. In the same period, the same division issued an average of 8.6 fire policies per FTA for a total of +2,210 nubiz fire. However, the division PIF fire YTD gain was only 378. So, it would appear the division had a PIF change for the 2 month period of a -598 loss in auto and 378 gain in fire. Total -/+ PIF = minus -220. Division B: Another division in the same state with 215 FTAs issued an average of 19 autos per FTA during Jan & Feb, 2011 or 4,085 nubiz autos. Yet, division auto YTD PIF was -1,624 loss. The same division issued an average of 6 fire per FTA for a total of 1,290 with a PIF gain in Jan & Feb, 2011 of just 13 policies. It appears the PIF YTD for this division was a plus 13 fire and a loss of -1,624 auto for a combined PIF change of minus -1,611 in Jan & Feb, 2011 for auto and fire.  Unlike above, Farmers focuses on the nubiz numbers production as the overall retention numbers have been suppressed since July, 2009, and remains this day at 262,254 households in these divisions per the CUSTOMER MANAGEMENT REPORT BY ST DIST AGENT. This report can be found on Dashboard > Management > Reports >Standard reports. Watch this monthly report and compare your changing agency numbers to the state's PIF which does not change and hasn't for nearly 2 years as they track your numbers while hiding their severe PIF loss. The Real Retention Numbers While 260 Division A Agents were writing an average of 27 new auto & fire nubiz PIF through the front door for a total of 7,020 added to division PIF, an even larger number of seasoned clients were defecting out the back door to competition to the tune of 220 PIF loss over and above the 7,020 issued. That's a 7,240 PIF change. On average, each Division A agent lost 28 auto & home PIF during the months of Jan. & Feb. 2011, while 9 DMs lost an average of 804 PIF for the period, excl. nubiz. While 215 Division B Agents were issuing an average of 25 new biz policies through the front door for a total of 5,375 added to division PIF, an even larger number of seasoned clients were defecting out the back door to competition to the tune of -1,611 over and above the the 5,375 issued. That's nearly a -7,000 PIF change. On average, each Division B agent lost 32 auto & Home PIF during the months of Jan. & Feb. 2011, while 8 DMs lost an average of 875 PIF for the period, excl nubiz. Agents and DMs continue to complain that most all P&C nubiz folio commissions are erased along with some renewal commissions due to PIF attrition charge backs. Only 4 of 17 districts in the state had an auto PIF gain in Jan. & Feb. 2011. Those gains total about 100 auto PIF The retention numbers show the entire state lost over just over 14,000 auto and fire policies over a 2 month period at an average of 30 per FTA or 830 per DM, excl. nubiz. That's a very serious attrition rate of 350 policies per day in the 40 workdays in the 2 month period. The retention rate is not an agent problem, It's a black box rate issue among other internal corporate problems over which you have no controls. Now, for the shocking part. Farmers Divisions A and B are located in Western and Eastern Oklahoma. Please Farmers! Help us lock the office back door before you start blaming us for your apparent failing business model. Just who can succeed and grow with these negative numbers. Has Oklahoma been selected for PIF-RUN-OFF? It would appear that way. It's impossible to drive to success in a Red, Yellow, Green race, while being on EDGE with the corporate emergency brake fully engaged. Now, you know the rest of the story. It's not just you. -ed Agents don't get to drive the train, blow the whistle or ring the bell - But, let the damn thing jump the track and see who catches hell. Pulse of the Agents POLL "Six in ten policyholders who have experienced a premium increase indicate they received no advance notice of the change from their insurers." "77 percent of highly satisfied agents say they intend to increase business with an insurer, while only 24 percent of less-satisfied agents say the same." |
Pulse of the Agents Poll Results from the March 2011 issue.
How would you rate the client loyalty in your Farmers Agency?
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 Greetings! Availability in April. Contact me direct for up to 40% off published rate. NEXT SUMMER, THIS WILL RENT FOR AS MUCH AS 1,600/WEEK, REFERRALS PAID 10% Contact Glenn at glenn@gjohnsonagency.com Click pic for panoramic interior/exterior view 07/11
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 "Customers who bundle auto and homeowners insurance policies are notably more satisfied and likely to renew with their insurer, compared with customers who do not bundle their policies."
"Six in ten policyholders who have experienced a premium increase indicate they received no advance notice of the change from their insurers."
"Among home insurers that provide highly satisfying claims experiences, 71 percent of their claimants indicate that they "definitely will" renew with their insurer." "Generation Y shoppers tend to be less sensitive to price, as only 68 percent cite price as a reason for shopping for a new auto policy, compared with 83 percent of Baby Boomer shoppers (those born between 1946 to 1964)."
"77 percent of highly satisfied agents say they intend to increase business with an insurer, while only 24 percent of less-satisfied agents say the same."
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Oklahoma Insurance Dept
BULLETIN NO. PC 2010-04
Insurers are reminded that pursuant to Rule 365:15-7-26 of the Oklahoma Insurance Department, homeowners' policies and any other personal residential insurance coverage shall not reflect a surcharge for weather related claims.
Additionally, 36 O.S. § 3639.1 provides that insurers shall not cancel, refuse to renew or increase the premium of a homeowner's insurance policy, which has been in effect more than forty-five (45) days, solely because the insured filed a first claim against the policy.
BULLETIN NO. PC 2008-01 Revised 10/12/2010
Certificates of insurance
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Dispute over wind damage vs. cost to rebuild business insured by Farmers
Was this an Agent E&O Claim?
Aumsville, Oregon..This video link came over Internet Yahoo News March 10th describing the the scenario of events since a tornado damaged a business four months ago. The dispute is over a rebuilding cost difference of $250,000.
Farmers says they will replace/repair the building and contents in the near future. Why the delay? Was it because of an insurance coverage error by the agent?
Would your E&O insurance keep you awake at night if you were personally facing a quarter million payment from your pocket? Perhaps, you should check out the UFAA sponsored E&O Policy.
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Bethel Collision Center in Broken ArrowBBB Rated A+
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Oklahoma Agents Bite the Dust in 2011
Looks like we're off to another rough year with farmersagent email addresses returned with non-existent addresses from these issues of the Oklahoma Voice.
January issue- 15
February issue- 8
March issue- 8
YTD 31*
*These figures may not match actual as it's based on returned mail only
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Top Disaster States
Florida is the second most likely state to be hit by a natural disaster. That's according to the Kiplinger Financial Group.
A recent study says Florida is behind only Louisiana when it comes to natural disasters year-in and year-out. Between 2001 and 2010, Florida was hit by eight hurricanes, five tropical storms, and numerous types of severe weather.
It's estimated that all those storms cost the state more than $31 billion in property damage
Texas, New York State and Mississippi round out the top five. Alabama came in 7th on the list while Oklahoma is #6 and California #8.
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Have you reviewed the UFAA National Survey results in the ufaa.com news block?
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Farmers Insurance Announce the Farmers Airship's First-Ever National Tour
World's Largest Airship Will Be "Covering Communities" Across the United States on Six-Month Journey MOFFETT FIELD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE 3/28/2011)--Airship Ventures and FarmersŪ Insurance today announced that in April the Farmers Airship will embark on a six-month journey, "Covering Communities," which will take the world's largest airship across the United States and back. The journey will mark the first time a Zeppelin airship has ever barnstormed across the nation; the Graf Zeppelin flew from Los Angeles to Lakehurst, N.J. as part of its famed 1929 around-the-world voyage, but its journey was non-stop. In total, the Farmers Airship will sail in the skies of nearly half of the nation's states, two dozen communities expected to host the Zeppelin for extended stays that will include airship-related community events, as well as public flightseeing tours. "The Farmers Airship is a truly incredible sight and this coast-to-coast tour gives us the chance to share this sky high superstar with customers and fans across the country," said Kevin Kelso, Chief Marketing Officer of Farmers Insurance. "We are excited to once again tie the Farmers brand to aviation history." "Covering Communities" Tour Route and Events Final surveys are being conducted to confirm "Covering Communities" operating sites, but a tour outline of states and events, by month, follows below. Updates on operating locations and dates, as well as additional Farmers Insurance-supported events where the airship will appear, will be posted regularly to www.FarmersAirship.com. April- Zurich Classic Golf (New Orleans); May- Florida, Virginia; June- Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois; July- Minnesota, Wisconsin; Aug.- Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas; Sept.- Arkansas, Texas. Public "Flightseeing" Tours Within each state on the "Covering Communities" tour route, the public will have a chance to go flightseeing on aerial tours above their local communities. These sightseeing tours will be offered above nearly two dozen cities and will range from $375-$950/person, plus taxes. Corporate and private charters will also be available. Seats in each city will be made available for sale to the public approximately one week prior to the Farmers Airship's arrival. To learn more about flight options in your area, or to register your interest in a particular city for booking alerts, visit www.AirshipVentures.com/Tour, or call 650-969-8100 x111.
This could be a great flightseeing sales promotion for the state offices above. -ed |
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 AutoBoatHome - Japan
Nature's balance- A boat sits atop a building in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, Japan, Tuesday, March 22, 2011, following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami which devastated a vast area of northeastern Pacific coast of Japan. (AP Photo/Yomiuri Shimbun)
Apparently, Professor Burke at Farmers University had it right. The boat must be on bottom with the house on top. Other than roof-docked, this yacht has little ,if any, apparent damage There is one advantage to this design. The yacht motors could be started to provide ceiling fans for the 2nd story using the dual propellers. -ed
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 UNIVERSAL LAWS Law of Mechanical Repair - After your hands become coated with grease, your nose will begin to itch and you'll have to pee. Law of Gravity - Any tool, nut, bolt, screw, when dropped, will roll to the least accessible corner. Law of Probability -The probability of being watched is directly proportional to the stupidity of your act. Law of Random Numbers - If you dial a wrong number, you never get a busy signal and someone always answers. Law of the Alibi - If you tell the boss you were late for work because you had a flat tire, the very next morning you will have a flat tire. Variation Law - If you change check out lines or traffic lanes, the one you were in will always move faster than the one you are now in (works every time). Law of the Bath - When the body is fully immersed in water, the telephone rings. Law of Close Encounters -The probability of meeting someone you know increases dramatically when you are with someone you don't want to be seen with. Law of the Result - When you try to prove to someone that a machine won't work, it will. The Coffee Law - As soon as you sit down to a cup of hot coffee, your boss will ask you to do something which will last until the coffee is cold. Law of Physical Surfaces - The chances of an open-faced jelly sandwich landing face down on a floor, are directly correlated to the newness and cost of the carpet or rug. Insurance Law of Marketing Strategy - As soon as you find a product that you really like, they will stop marketing it. Doctors' Law - If you don't feel well, make an appointment to go to the doctor, by the time you get there you'll feel better. But don't make an appointment, and you'll stay sick. Law of Dropped Accuracy- While working on a small object after your age 45 with your new bifocals, the dropped part or piece will always glance off your foot at the speed of light in an unknown direction. The vital part or piece can only be found days later by the clatter of the vacuum cleaner that renders it useless. |
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Check out the UFAA  Chapter 15 Home Pagewith more Farmers, industry news, lots of member benefit information, newsletter archives and breaking news too late to publish above.
Quick reference Advertiser listing in this issue you can print or download for your officeChapter 15 HOME PAGE Link
-- On our Home Page link this month --
Who will the IRS target for audits
Zurich Insurance fined 3.7M over customer data loss
Failure to timely renew your Oklahoma Insurance license gets serious per Farmer's friendly email to agents.
The OID has updated the Oklahoma Auto and H/O rate comparison charts as of Jan. 2011 on our home page =============================== Did you know? As a member of UFAA you get: 1 hour of tech support a month
1 Free @ufaa.com email
1 Free web page with your domain name Call us today Toll Free, Primary # 1-866-441-8018
Alex Conger - UFAA Tech 
Looking for office equipment and furnishings to buy or sell? Members can now submit classified ads on most anything to buy or sell on the UFAA Website. Go to the Member's Only image on ufaa.com and create your ad. It's Free! Oklahoma UFAA MEmbers can send a copy of their ad to the Oklahoma Voice for publishing for 30 days- FREE! Just another UFAA chapter 15 service to assist you. Send ads to- ufaa15editor@ufaa.com Okla Ins Dept:
Change of address or name more than thirty (30) days after the change occurred shall be $50.
Have you missed past issues of the Okla. Voice? If you missed past issues, you can access them and other article headlines on our Chapter 15 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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