Like a Good Neighbor?

Historically, Florida has been known for a few specific things.

We are the Spring Break capital. Any college football fan can’t deny our talent for producing great players all over the State. Just this year, one of our very own was the youngest player ever to be awarded the Heisman Trophy. Ask any 4 year old where Disney World is and he can tell you.
Oh, and hurricanes. We have those, too.
Since 2005 when hurricanes ravished our State, insurance companies all over the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts have gone into panic mode. Rates for homeowners have sky-rocketed…that is, if they didn’t drop you entirely.

Enter State Farm Insurance; probably one of the most well-known insurance companies in America. Well, minus Florida.

Need car insurance, health or life insurance? Great! They’ve got you covered. But you’re left out if you own a home. Sorry.

This reminds me of a commercial that Burger King runs. People go up to the speaker at the drive-thru window and are told Burger King no longer serves the Whopper. What? Isn’t that what they’re known for? What good is a fast-food restaurant without their specialty food item?
Now, if that really happened, Burger King would probably go out of business pretty quickly. People would just stop going there if their favorite menu item was no longer available. And what would happen if Florida was the only state that Burger King no longer served the Whopper? CNN would be camped out in our back yards!

But for some reason, State Farm doesn’t seem to think it should be a big deal they’ve taken away our “Whopper.” They still believe they deserve a piece of the pie anyway, with the other types of insurances they offer us.

While I’m on a roll with these food analogies, I’ll throw in one more. Should insurance agencies be allowed to carry out business as a buffet line, where we are only allowed to choose from whatever they’ve decided to serve us?
I say no. Why should Floridians continue to give money to a company who doesn’t believe we’re deserving of the full menu?

We can all agree that businesses are in business to make money, right? But it’s my understanding that State Farm can be found in all states. Over the past ten years, Tennessee has been hit with more tornadoes than I can count. Betcha they still offer homeowners insurance there, don’t they?

In any business dealings, the day I feel like I have to beg anyone to take my money is the day I walk away from that company and never look back. And that’s what we Floridians need to do. Change car insurance companies, life insurance, etc. If State Farm is so worried about losing money on us, they don’t deserve one dime of what we work for.

Come on, State Farm. We don’t care if you go away mad…we just want you to go away. Faster than the wind speeds of those hurricanes that have your wallets so scared.