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Farmers Insurance blushes Company is mailing thousands of apologies for mistake in billing

By Richard Williamson
Denver Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer

Farmers Insurance is sending out nearly 50,000 apologies because its customers in Colorado and other states weren't able to make electronic premium payments on New Year's Eve.

"This was not Y2K-related in any way," said Farmers spokeswoman Kitty Miller. "It was a manual programming error in our billing system."

Farmers is the No. 2 insurer in Colorado. Miller said she did not know how many customers were affected in specific states, including Colorado.

The December payment will be taken from customers' bank accounts along with the January payments, Miller said.

All insurance policies will remain in force, she said.

"There may be some confusion when they receive their bank statement and the charge that they usually see from Farmers isn't there," she said.

Farmers is sending letters to its customers today explaining the problem and telling them to expect a double bill in January.

"We sincerely apologize to our customers for any inconvenience," Miller said.

The problem occurred when a programmer who was updating January billings accidentally eliminated the withdrawals scheduled for late December, Miller said.

By law, Farmers and other companies can only make electronic withdrawals from customers' bank accounts on dates the customers specify.

[ENDS] January 8, 2000

-- John Whitley (jwhitley@inforamp.net), January 09, 2000

Answers

---- Got 800 lines set up to deal with 900%X customer inquiry volume?

-- fortune cookie (cookie w/@bad.attitude), January 09, 2000.

The problem occurred when a programmer who was updating January billings accidentally eliminated the withdrawals scheduled for late December, Miller said.

This is not Y2K related in any way!

Bwahahhaahaaa AAAhahahahahha oohhOOhha!

-- Lisa (lisadawn@yahoo.com), January 09, 2000.

Why in the world would we imagine it was Y2K related? Simply because of when it occurred? No, we would never imagine anything like that. In fact, nothing happening this year is Y2K related other than some little cosmetic probles.

-- Mara (MaraWayne@aol.com), January 09, 2000.

A friend of mine here on Maui said that an electronic transfer from her insurance company Jackson National Insurance(Lansing, Michigan) failed to reach the Bank of Hawaii. It was likewise scheduled for December 31. She spent the entire week dealing with the Bank and the insurance company who both were scratching their heads....The same person also said that American Express double billed her in her latest bill. She says American Express sent her a letter of apology. Woman's irritated enough to where I think she'd provide the letter if someone provides me with a real world link to send it to.

-- Carl Jenkins (Somewherepress@aol.com), January 09, 2000.

It seems computers are above the law, they only do what they're programmed to. Maybe congress should get more computers instead of passing tax legislation.

"By law, Farmers and other companies can only make electronic withdrawals from customers' bank accounts on dates the customers specif

-- hunchback (quasimodo@beltwor.com), January 09, 2000.