Car Accidents
This page aims to provide information you can use in dealing with Farmers Insurance in personal injury claims involving car accidents and other negligence claims. We look at how Farmers arrives at a proposed settlement payout, examples of settlements and verdicts, and what you can do to maximize what your case is worth.
Farmers Insurance
Founded in 1928, Farmers Insurance is now the nation’s third-largest insurance company. It sells, among other insurance products, car and truck insurance. The company is owned by Zurich.
Farmers Insurance, founded in 1928, is one of the leading insurance companies in the United States. The original focus was the insurance needs of farmers and ranchers. That soon expanded to other insurance lines. Over the years, Farmers Insurance expanded its footprint across the U.S., acquiring several smaller insurance companies and launching new subsidiaries. Today, Farmers Insurance offers a wide range of insurance products, including auto, home, life, and business insurance.
Always a significant player in the car insurance market, Farmers purchased AIG’s auto insurance division (renamed 21st Century to remove the taint of the AIG name) a few years ago. Farmers also recently bought Bristol West, a car insurance company that began in Florida but now sells coverage nationwide. Accordingly, our law firm is seeing even more of Farmers. We regularly handle claims against this sometimes difficult insurer.
Settlement with Farmers Insurance in Car Accident Claims
In our experience, Farmers is a difficult company to deal with for the settlement of car accident claims. (Ironically, Zurich’s parent company is easier to deal with on injury claims.) One big reason: they rely on a computer-based program – Colossus – to evaluate personal injury cases. Paradoxically, we think this can benefit accident victims in minor cases because sometimes Colossus suggests more money damages in some smaller cases than would be expected.
Filing a Lawsuit Is Often the Only Path to Full Compensation
But in a severe case, you are rarely, if ever, going to get fair value for your accident claim before filing a lawsuit. Moreover, computer programs used to create a settlement formula are just silly because they take out of the equation both the subjective qualities of the claimant (judges and juries give more to good, honest victims) and the fact that not everyone responds the same to car accidents and their injuries differ as well. Computer programs are one size fits all. The real world in personal injury cases is very different.
Some adjusters we deal with on Farmers claims in Maryland are Octavia Hall, Jeffrey Silfies (PIP), Ralph Malus, Roxana Atela, Kelly Gallagher, and Tina Deans. These are ultimately lovely people, but they have their orders from above… and their computer program.
Higher Settlement Payouts After a Lawsuit
Things do get more reasonable with Farmers once a lawsuit is filed. Crosswhite, Limbrick, Sinclair, and Gorman & Williams often represent Farmers in personal injury cases. These are both excellent law firms, and they understand what the settlement compensation should be for car accident lawsuits in Maryland. This is why you see very few severe injury cases involving Farmers’ insureds that actually go all the way to a jury verdict.
Dealing with Farmers: A Dose of Reality
Much ado was made a few years back about how Farmers had an incentive program called “Quest for Gold” that offered pizza parties to its adjusters that met low claims payments goals. People were upset by this. Our lawyers were not surprised by any of it. We just assume this happens everywhere. This company just got caught.
These companies make money by taking in premiums and not paying claims. To be melodramatic: it is war. We have gotten reasonable settlements from Farmers. But the only way we get this is by, furthering the war analogy, the threat and use of force. It is the reality of dealing with insurance companies. Farmers may be a bit more extreme than some other insurers, but they are all essentially the same. They put profits over people, including their own customers. The only way to combat these insurance companies is with heavy artillery. In this fight, heavy artillery is a law firm with a long history of success in these cases that genuinely cares about the clients the lawyers serve.
You Will Get a Reasonable Quick Response to a Demand Letter from Farmers
When filing a personal injury claim against Farmers Insurance, you can expect the company to respond fairly quickly. Farmers is known for being efficient in getting back to claimants and processing initial communications. We have no complaints about Farmers on speed of initial response.
But that is just the first inning of what can be a longer game. You can expect the process to take several weeks to months. Early communications may be fast, but settlement negotiations can drag on, especially if there is a dispute over the settlement value of your claim or if Farmers contests liability.
If you’re unable to reach a fair settlement, you are on the path to filing a lawsuit. Farmers Insurance has a history of defending claims aggressively once litigation begins, but it is also not uncommon for them to settle out of court once a lawsuit is filed.
Farmers adjusters may seem friendly and cooperative at first. They are generally nice people. But never forget that they are working in the company’s best interest, not yours. Their goal is to settle claims for as little as possible, so while they may be responsive and seem helpful, their primary role is to minimize the settlement payout. Adjusters are trained to gather as much information as possible and may use tactics to try to downplay the severity of your injuries or suggest that the accident was not as serious as you claim.
Farmers Insurance Settlements and Verdicts
- Chances of Winning Case: To get a reasonable settlement amount from Farmers, they need to believe you will likely win at trial. This is the starting point for calculating any personal injury settlement—will you win? If there is a big chance you will lose at trial, you will not see a big settlement offer from Farmers unless the injuries are extremely serious.
- Severity of Injuries: The more severe the injuries, the higher the settlement amount you will see. Medical bills, long-term treatment, and the overall impact on the claimant’s life will all be considered. Severe or permanent injuries, such as those requiring surgery or causing long-term disability, typically result in higher settlements. Pain and suffering is a big part of this. This is a non-economic factor that compensates the injured party for physical pain, emotional distress, and loss of quality of life. It is often calculated in the early stages of a case using a multiplier method, where the economic damages (medical bills and lost wages) are multiplied by a factor. This is not how Farmers evaluates settlement compensation in the heat of litigation but there is an element of his in pre-suit settlement negotiations.
- Medical Expenses: Farmers will look at past and future medical expenses related to the accident. This includes hospital bills, doctor visits, rehabilitation, medications, surgeries, and therapy costs. Future medical costs are often projected based on the nature of the injury.
- Lost Wages: If the injured person has missed work or will miss work in the future due to the accident, these lost wages will be factored into the settlement calculation. This includes any impact on future earning potential if the injury has long-term effects.
- Insurance Policy Limits: The amount of coverage available under the policy will also determine the maximum payout. If the at-fault driver has only minimal coverage or if the victim’s own insurance policy is involved, Farmers will not pay a penny of their insurance policy limits.
Below are summaries of verdicts and reported settlements in injury cases in which Farmers was one of the insurance carriers.
$50,000 Settlement (Alabama 2024): The plaintiff and her daughter (a minor) were struck by a tow truck and both suffered fairly significant injuries. After settling for policy limits with the tow truck driver’s insurance company, the plaintiff sought additional damage under the mother’s UIM coverage through Farmer’s Insurance.
$75,000 Settlement (Oklahoma 2024): The plaintiff, a minor, was injured in a vehicular collision with a vehicle owned, maintained, and controlled by the the defendant, who was uninsured. The plaintiff was covered under a policy with Farmers Insurance Company (also named as a defendant) for underinsured motorist coverage and Farmer agreed to settle for $75,000.
$725,000 Verdict (Pennsylvania 2024): The plaintiff was operating a vehicle eastbound as an Uber driver when a westbound driver turned left in front of his vehicle and caused a collision. Uber subsidiaries had a policy in place with the defendant insurer Farmers Insurance to provide vehicular insurance for its transportation network company drivers during the course of providing rides to Uber customers. The plaintiff brought a claim under this policy but Farmers contested the alleged damages and took the case to trial. The plaintiff reported injuries including a concussion leading to post concussion syndrome resulting in cognitive impairment, headaches and loss of balance, as well as aggravation of cervical disc herniations leading to radiculopathy.
$200,000 Verdict (New Jersey 2023): The plaintiff was injured in a rear-end accident and suffered significant injuries including disc herniation at C5-C6 with C6 radiculopathy, C4-C5 disc bulging for which she received injection therapy and for which a discectomy was recommended, as well as a rotator cuff tear to her left shoulder for which she underwent arthroscopic sugery that failed. The plaintiff settled with the at-fault driver’s insurance for policy limits (a measly $15,000) and then sought additional damages from her UIM insurer, Farmers.
$75,000 Settlement (Alabama 2022): The plaintiff was a minor who claimed that she suffered permanent injuries in an accident caused by a drunk driver. The drunk driver was underinsured and the plaintiff brought a claim against her mother’s insurance company, Farmers, for UIM damages.
Our Lawyers Can Help You with Your Accident Claim
Our firm has successfully handled many auto accident claims involving this insurer not only in Maryland but nationwide. If you have been injured in a vehicle crash, call us at 800-553-8082 get a free online consultation.
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