THE MUTUAL WAY

Farmers Mutual Insurance Newsletter December 15, 2009 Issue 21

Farmers Mutual Insurance

Christmas is time for family, friends and fellowship. It can be one of the best times of the year. It can also be a time of running from store to store to find the right gift or trying to find a parking spot in a crowded shopping mall. It can be a hassle if we let it or it can be a time of peace and thanksgiving. One of my favorite times of the season is Christmas Eve when we go to church and stop to remember the real reason for the season. It seems that is a time when all the pushing and shoving have stopped and there is peaceful serenity that falls over us all. It is almost like a load has been lifted from our shoulders and we are at last free from the commercialism of Christmas. This year as you gather around your tree with your family we hope you will pause to remember those special people who are serving in our military and protecting us from people who would like to do us harm. Some of you who are reading this have served in the military and know the feeling of being away from home on special holidays such as Christmas. The sacrifice

being made by some of America’s best and brightest young people is a gift to all of us of peace and safety in our homeland during this Christmas Season. We are fortunate to live in America – the land of the Free because of the Brave. At Farmers Mutual we have chosen this year to send this newsletter in lieu of Christmas Cards and to donate the expense we would normally pay for Christmas Cards to the Fisher House, a program that provides no cost temporary housing to the families of active service men and women during their time of recovery from injury or illness. We hope you will remember to say a prayer of thanksgiving and safety for the soldiers both at home and away. We wish all of our friends and associates a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. To learn more about the Fisher House go to www.fisherhouse.org.

Holiday Closings

Christmas Eve - Closed @ Noon Thursday December 24

Christmas Day- Closed

Friday December 25

New Years Day - Closed Friday January 1

Martin Luther King Day - Closed

Monday January 18th

Presidents’ Day - Closed Monday February 15th

Third Quarter Financial Notes

September 30, 2009 2008 2009 Premiums Written $4,134,202 $4,164,684 Premiums Earned $3,156,708 $2,811,060 Losses Incurred $2,183,808 $2,667,998 Operating Expenses $1,519,434 $1,532,512 Surplus $2,416,441 $1,032,761085

Christmas Time- Howard Rogers, CEO

This time of year it’s easy to get caught up in the hustle of the holidays, the preparation for year end and anticipation of the New Year. So what do you do to relax or take you way from it all? In addition to the normal Holiday gatherings and attractions here’s some ideas I found that were interesting:

Recreating Oz in Comics – Dates: 11/11/09 - 1/31/10 Location: 14th Street and Anderson Ave, Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art, Manhattan, KS. This exhibition explores the ways in which artists have adapted the Oz story to comic book form. Recreating Oz in Comics features the work of artist, writer, and Oz historian Eric Shanower and Marvel Comics artist Skottie Young. In addition to Shanower’s and Young’s work, “Recreating Oz in Comics” will include selections of Oz-related comic books and graphic novels from the L. Frank Baum Collection in the Morse Department of Special Collections K-State Libraries.

Ice Skating Rink – Dates: 11/28/09 - 12/31/09 Location: 1400 Main, Courthouse Square, Great Bend, KS Ice skating on an iceless skating rink. Skates available during hours of operation. Dec 1-31, Thurs & Fri 4-9 pm, Sat 1-8 pm, Sun 1-5 pm.

Run For Your Wife – Dates: 12/2/09 - 2/7/10 Location: 9229 Foster, Overland Park, KS 66212, Phone: (913) 649-0103 Starring Garrett Morris from the original cast of Saturday Night Live and The Jamie Foxx Show. Run For Your Wife had them rolling in the aisles in London and New York. A taxi driver gets away with having two wives in different parts of town because of his irregular work schedule. Complication is piled upon complication as the cabby tries to keep his double life from exploding. "Virtually continuous laughter"...NY Post "I was exhausted from laughing so hard"...WMCA Radio

Tournament of Champions – Dates: 1/21/10 - 1/23/10 Location: 2110 1st Ave, Dodge City Civic Center, Dodge City, KS. The oldest continuous high school boys basketball tournament west of the Mississippi. Eight teams from all over the state.

Hunting – (My personal favorite!) Hunting has a long rich heritage in Kansas. With 300,000 acres of public land and more than 1 million acres of private land open to hunters, the state offers an abundance of pheasants, deer, quail, turkey and geese. Most hunters know Western Kansas as a pheasant hunter's paradise. Fewer are aware that the hedgerows and farms of southeast Kansas provide some of the nation's best bobwhite quail hunting. In eastern Kansas, whitetail deer are plentiful and many bucks reach trophy size. Farther west, you can stalk mule deer. Geese, ducks and teal congregate by the tens of thousands along pools and marshes under the Central Flyway. Squirrels, rabbits and other small game remain plentiful.

Find your own exciting idea at the Travel Channel (http://www.travelchannel.com/Travel_Ideas), or to look around a little closer to home, go to http://www.travelks.com/ for a searchable directory of Kansas attractions and destinations. Whatever you do when you get out this winter or Holiday Season be safe and have a wonderful time! If you do something unique and would like to share it, please feel free to send your story in along with a photo or two, we may just put in on our website or in the newsletter.

What are you doing this Holiday Season or Winter? – Justin Lear, Assistant Manager

What You Need! 2 cups flour 1 tsp. baking soda 1/4 tsp. salt 4 squares Baker’s unsweetened chocolate 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter 1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, cubed, softened 1 1/4 cups sugar, divided 1 egg 1 tsp. vanilla 1/3 cup red raspberry jam

Chocolate-Raspberry Thumbprints Create Them! Heat oven to 375 F Mix flour, baking soda and salt, set aside. Microwave chocolate and butter in large microwaveable bowl on High 2 minutes; stir until chocolate is completely melted. Whisk in cream cheese. Add 1 cup sugar, egg and vanilla; mix well. Stir in flour mixture. Refrigerate 15 minutes. Roll dough into 1- inch balls; coat with remaining sugar. Place 2 inches apart, on baking sheets. Press your thumb into center of each ball; fill each notch with 1/4 tsp. jam. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light browned. Cool 1 minute on baking sheet; transfer to wire rack and cool completely.

Don’t forget that the Annual Meeting is February 19, 2009. All

of our agents are invited to come. For more information about the meeting please contact Carol at extension 305!

Farmers Mutual Insurance Company is there when you

need them because...

Farmers Mutual Insurance wants to remind our agents that we are still writing basic and broad actual cash value policies. We also accept vacant and seasonal dwelling applications. Please contact your underwriter for more details. There have also been questions about the $15 policy fee on the invoices. There are a few mortgages who do not pay the policy fees, therefore the insured is required to pay the $15. Please be sure to inform the insured of the $15 policy fee so their policy is not cancelled due to the non payment. Inserts are being mailed to the insureds advising them of the $1000 wind/hail deductible and the actual cash value policies.

Reminders from FMI

You spoke and we listened. After the release of the new Underwriting Guidelines and the beginning of the plan we have in place to reduce exposures statewide a number of requests from agents have been made. One of these requests is for a form to make the change from Replacement Cost (RC) to Actual Cash Value (ACV) when the policyholder wished to accept that change in the policy terms. We have received approval from the Kansas Insurance Department for a new form to assist in the process of changing policies from RC to ACV. The form is named “Change Request Actual Cash Value” and numbered “FMI-407 ACV Change Request (11-2009).” It provides the definition of ACV as well as some basic description of the change to assist you in explanation of the differences. Additionally it has areas for you to enter the respective changes in coverage limits to agree with the new terms of ACV and for signatures of both the policyholder and agent (both are required).

Please complete the entire form. We continue to require that prior approval be given by the underwriter before changing these policies, as there may be other unacceptable underwriting criteria specific to the risk that may prevent the acceptance of the change. Please also be aware that all changes decreasing coverage require that the policyholder accept such change by signing the change request. Additionally, we require that the agent also sign those request to verify that they have explained fully the change in coverage. This form will be available in Adobe .pdf format to print and complete as well as in fill-able form that you may utilize from our website or download to your computer. We can also provide a stock of these forms if you should desire, just contact us for assistance if you would like us to print and ship you some.

New Change Request Form

We would like to draw the attention of our agents for a minute to the newly revised Underwriting Guidelines (11-1-2009 Edition). You may notice within these there is no mention of qualifications for Special Form or Form 3 coverages and the qualifications thereof. There is an explicit reason for this in that, at this time in addition to not offering the Replacement Cost coverages, we are also not seeking to insure Special Form coverages. Current policies with Special Form coverage may be non-renewed and may be accepted with a change to decrease the coverage form at renewal. Please remember any decrease in coverage requires the policyholder’s signature on the change request. This is an additional measure we have taken to assist in the goal of reduction of exposure overall. Should you have any questions regarding this requirement, or to discuss any specific policy please contact your underwriter for assistance.

Special Form Coverage Not Currently Available

Farmers Mutual Insurance PO Box 396 16 N Main Ellinwood, KS 67526 Phone: 620-564-3281 800-752-3449 Fax: 620-564-3555 Email: fmi@fmi-ks.com www.fmi-ks.com

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