Is State Farm Still There?

Most home owners have an insurance policy on their home. If you are such a home owner, then think about this—you’re betting money that your home is going to be damaged or destroyed, and the insurance company is taking your bet and they’re betting that nothing seriously bad is going to happen to your house. So, you’re betting against yourself each time you send your insurance company a check.

I’ve had home insurance for years and I’ve never made a claim. Nevertheless, my insurance company (State Farm) has decided to terminate my home insurance, effective in September. However, they will allow me to continue sending them money if I will do two things.

I have a little side “porch” (it’s about 3x5 feet and is commonly called a “stoop” in these parts) and State Farm wants me to put a railing on it and down two steps to the ground. I suppose they fear someone may fall into the grassy yard, which would be a drop of about 1 to 3 feet, depending on where the “victim” was standing. There is a door on the end of my house that allows access to this stoop. However, that door hasn’t been used in many years. In fact, if you were inside my house, you would see a refrigerator parked in front of that door. That’s because my kitchen is so small that there’s no good place to put the fridge without getting rid of a kitchen cabinet and a cutting-block table.

“But what if there’s a fire?” you ask. My answer: I have a front door, a back door, and a basement door that all open to the outside. Plus, the refrigerator is on wheels and can be rolled away from the side door in an emergency. Nevertheless, simply because the stoop exists it must have a railing, even though it has never had a railing and that has never been a problem.

Then there’s the second issue. The stoop is made of cement block with a brick façade, as is the rest of the house. So the brick, in this case, is not structurally significant. It doesn’t support anything. It merely hides the cement block and makes the stoop blend in with the rest of the house. But the brickwork on the stoop is getting to be in bad shape. Some of the mortar has deteriorated and one or two bricks have become loose. It’s a cosmetic issue. Nevertheless, State Farm insists I must repair the stoop’s façade or my policy will be cancelled.

Frankly, I think State Farm just wants to eliminate older homes (that may have more problems) from their customer pool. My guess is they prefer to insure newer homes, and I can understand that. While I’ve been betting against myself for years, State Farm has been betting on me. But now they’ve chosen to not bet on me. So I’ve been thinking about countering their non-bet on me with my own non-bet against me. I’ll quit betting against myself and allow the insurance to drop. I’ll save hundreds of dollars each year which can be applied to expenses like, oh, let’s say…railings and mortar repairs.

Maybe State Farm will reconsider their decision to drop me and do what the jingle says and be like a good neighbor. Remember that jingle? “Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there!” Maybe they’ll be there, but that’s up to them. (By the way, do you know who wrote that jingle? It was written by Barry Manilow. He was paid $500 for writing it. State Farm really got some mileage out of that jingle. It’s an earworm—once you hear it, you can’t forget it.)

My home insurance may be ending, but at least State Farm still has my auto policy—for a while. Just kidding, I would never cancel my State Farm auto insurance just because State Farm canceled my home insurance.

Oh, who am I kidding? Sure I would!

[Update 8/15/2020: State Farm Update]