Your Auto Insurance Company 



(Continued from page 27) 



tr 



Your check, in the meant ms, has ap- 

 peared in the office of the treasurer, 

 Robert A. Cowles, and he sees that it 

 gets into the bank. It only takes a few 

 hours to get this all done. 



Now, let's suppose you're taking out 



- f a policy. It may be on your auto, a 4-H 

 club calf, or an Employer's liability 

 policy. The agent has taken your ap- 

 plication and your first payment. He 

 sees that it gets in the mail. It turns 

 up on the desk of this Ernst person 

 again (seems to have her finger in 

 everj<(hing), and she turns it over to 

 another young lady for acknowledg- 

 ment. Employer's liability and 4-H 

 calf applications go to Miss Eckberg 

 who handles all this type of insurance. 

 The auto policies go a different route. 

 A young lady sends out an emblem 

 to you, if you have insured your car, 

 which means that everything's all right, 

 and that you're under the wire. Then 

 the application comes back to Miss 

 Ernst again who enters it in the agent's 

 record. The application is checked over 

 to see if you have given your whole 

 life's history, including that of your 

 great-aunt Jenny, and, if no mistakes 

 are found, the check is sent to Treasurer 

 R. A. Ccwles, who deposits it to your 

 account in his books and sends it to 

 the bank to clear. The policy, by this 

 time, has been neatly typed, entered 

 in the policy register, given a policy 

 number, and sent to you. Then you 

 get it, read it over, and drive happily 

 for the next 6 months. 



Suppose you have an accident. What 

 then? You probably pry the motor out 

 of your lap, unhook the steering wheel 

 from around your neck, and if you're 

 able, call the home office of Illinois 

 Agricultural Mutual on the phone. For 

 your convenience, there is a local ad- 

 juster for the Company in the county, 

 and, if your memory is still with you, 

 you call him and tell him to buzz over 



■ to where you are. Until the adjuster 

 arrives, you can spend your time argu- 

 ing with the other party to the acci- 

 dent. The company frowns on this. 

 You may say something you shouldn't. 

 The adjuster, who has either told you 

 what to do, or is now there to tell you 

 in person, takes charge. From then 

 on, the Company does all the work. In 



-■ the meantime, a claim is filed. That 

 comes in the mail and is turned over to 

 L. V. Drake, who heads the Claims 

 Department. The claim is checked 

 against your policy for motor number 

 and then is checked by the accounting 

 department to see if you have forgotten 

 to pay your premium. Contrary to 

 what you think, the Company feels as 



badly as you do if it finds that you are 

 out in the cold because you have let 

 your policy lapse. But, if you are all 

 in the clear, the claim is made up, along 

 with the diagrams of the accident sent 

 in by the adjuster, witnesses' state- 

 ments, and all the other paraphernalia 

 of the accident. Then the correspond- 

 ence starts. 



In the meantime, yovir automobile 

 is in a garage where an estimate 

 has been made of the damage. 

 The company handles all that detail 

 mighty well, and, depending on the 

 amount of work needed to get the old 

 bus back on four wheels, you are soon 

 behind the wheel again, wiser, more 

 cautious, and with a twinge here and 

 there to remind you that kissing an Ln- 

 trument panel is not the best pastime 

 on a summer day. The heroes, wrho 

 arise from warm beds to attend an 

 insured in an accident, are the local 

 adjusters. They handle the smaller 

 type of adjustment. But, there are 

 other staff members who work and 

 fight for you along with the local man. 



NOTICE 

 ILLINOIS AGRICULTURAL ASSO- 

 CIATION ELECTION OF 

 DELEGATES 



Notice is hereby given that in con- 

 nection with the annual meeting of 

 the Ogle County Farm Bureau to be 

 held during the month of June, 1936, 

 at the hour and place to be deter- 

 mined by the Board of Directors, the 

 members in good standing of such 

 County Farm Bureau and who are 

 also qualified voting members of Illi- 

 nois Agricultural Association shall 

 elect a delegate or delegates to rep- 

 resent such members of I'linois Ag- 

 ricultural Association and vote on all 

 matters before the next annual meet- 

 ing or any special meeting of the As- 

 sociation, including the election of of- 

 ficers and directors as provided for 

 in the By-Laws of the Association. 



(Signed) Paul E. Mathias. 



Corporate Secretary, 

 April 23. 1936. 



For instance, G. R. Williams, Salem; 

 G. B. Rankin, Bloomington: R. Lamb, 

 Jacksonville; W. E. Acker, Amboy; H. 

 L. Cummins, Vienna, and William Carr 

 of the Home Office in Chicago. These 

 staff adjusters co-operate with the lo- 

 cal adjuster in handling the larger fire, 

 theft and collision cases, and all em- 

 ployers' liability cases as well as those 

 having to do with personal injury and 

 property damage. Helen Eckberg at 

 the Home Office is in charge of Em- 

 ployers Liability and Calf Club insur- 

 ance claims. She says she has 1800 

 Employers-Liability Policies in force 

 this year and 1700 4-H calves insured. 

 In addition there's Paul Edwards and 

 Howard Marshall who assists Mr. 

 Drake, and' M. E. Raff. He follows your 

 ■claim with an eagle eye to see that it 

 doesn't get stalled en route. 



When a party with whom you have 

 tangled on the road decides to try his 

 hand at a suit, all information is gath- 

 ered by the local and staff adjusters 

 and from correspondence with the 

 Claims department. Court proceedings 

 are handled by the Department. When 

 another insurance company figures in 

 the picture, all proceedings are han- 

 dled by your Company. 



If you're wrecked while on the way 

 to California or New York, the com- 

 pany pays your toll charges for re- 

 porting, and, if the accident is serious, 

 it directs you to an accredited attorney 

 in the region near the place of the acci- 

 dent. If the damage is slight, you will 

 be told what to do and will be happy ' 

 finding out that no matter where you 

 are in these United States or Canada, 

 your Company is protecting you. The 

 general rule of the company is to take 

 care of its own people first; then, the 

 other party to the accident, no mat- 

 ter where that accident occurs. 



You might think the Claims Depart- 

 ment is peopled with cynical fellows 

 who cast jaded eyes on crumpled fen- 

 ders, accordion pleated bodies and shat- 

 tered chassis. Such is not the case. 

 Each acc'dent is something that has 

 happened to a policyholder. Something 

 like the way you'd feel if your small 

 son had broken a window and was be- 

 ing spanked by the property owner. 

 You'd barge right in, fists flying to 

 protect your own. But, the Claims de- 

 partment does shake its head sadly at 

 times. Some accidents show such plain 

 lack of common sen-'e. When one of 

 these come in. they take a deep breath 

 and try to overlook the idiosyncrasies 

 of the human race. By and large they 

 are good family men. kind and good 

 providers. But they are a bit upset 

 these days. Seriously upset. Accidents 

 reported the last two years are as nu- 

 merous as in the first 8 vears of the 

 (Continued on page 33) 



I, A. A. RECORD 



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