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Farmer’s Insurance hit with landmark fine for Telemarketing

At Edge insurance we love sharing articles written by others in hopes they bring value to our site visitors. Here’s an article by Insurance Business America that makes you scratch your head a little bit. Are Farmer’s Agents taught to be crazy aggressive of something?


In a landmark ruling, Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster said Monday he had fined California-based Farmers Insurance Exchange, Truck Insurance Exchange and Fire Insurance Exchange $575,000 for violating state telemarketing and No-Call laws.

This is the largest amount ever paid by a telemarketer for Missouri No-Call and telemarketing violations.

The settlement agreement filed in St. Charles County Circuit Court also requires Farmers to adopt policies and procedures to prevent future telemarketing and No-Call violations, and to embark on a program of training and annual audits of its agents, which sell home, life and auto insurance.

Koster said the Attorney General’s Office received more than 275 No-Call complaints over a four-year period about Farmers’s “harassing telemarketing practices”. Many consumers complained that they continued to be contacted by Farmers agents after instructing them not to call. Koster said unwanted telemarketing calls annually rank highest on the list of complaints received by the Attorney General’s Office.

“Farmers Insurance simply looked the other way while its agents were flouting Missouri’s no-call law, illegally bombarding Missouri consumers with unwanted telemarketing calls,” Koster said. “This historic settlement combined with new training requirements should ensure Farmers reforms its practices to protect Missouri consumers.”

Koster is known to be a vigorous campaigner against harassing telemarketing practices. Also Monday, he announced his office has filed a lawsuit in federal court against Charter Communications for violating federal and state telemarketing and No-Call laws.

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Insurance Business Americ

Rusty Brett

Rusty began his insurance career with Gallaher Insurance in 1996. Over his career he served on the Missouri Young Agents committee, earned his Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) designation and helped grow Gallaher Insurance to become one of the largest agencies in Missouri. In 2012, he launched Edge Insurance, based in Columbia MO. Gallaher Insurance and Edge Insurance remain sister agencies sharing similar goals of protecting our client’s assets to the best of our ability and providing amazing service.

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