COUNTRY/ILLINOIS FARM BUREAU -COMBINED BILLING PROJECT
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
1. WHAT ARE THE “FARM BUREAU” MEMBERSHIP DUES LISTED ON MY COUNTRY POLICY?
Farm Bureau membership is required for initial eligibility for most Illinois insurance policies issued by COUNTRY Mutual Insurance Company and COUNTRY Preferred Insurance Company and for subsequent renewal of those policies.
2. WHY ARE THE FARM BUREAU MEMBERSHIP DUES LISTED ON MY COUNTRY POLICY PREMIUM NOTICE?
Farm Bureau membership dues are now listed on your COUNTRY bill so you will only have one bill and one easy payment. This will eliminate the risk of accidentally throwing away the Farm Bureau membership bill and the inadvertent nonrenewal of your COUNTRY policies.
3. HOW DOES COUNTRY DETERMINE WHICH POLICY MY FARM BUREAU MEMBERSHIP WILL GET BILLED WITH?
COUNTRY will look at your Farm Bureau membership billing due date and find a premium installment or withdrawal notice that is coming up. You will be invoiced XX days (see below) prior to your payment due date for both your Farm Bureau annual membership dues and your policy premium.
a. 35 days: full pay policies (annual, semi-annual & quarterly single)
b. 22 days : installments or combined
c. 10 days: debit notices (AMP)
4. WILL MY FARM BUREAU DUES ALWAYS GET BILLED WITH THE SAME POLICY MOVING FORWARD?
As long as you don’t make any changes to your policy (including address, names, or vehicles) and pay by the due date, your Farm Bureau membership dues should continue to bill with the same policy. However, if your policy lapses, you cancel your policy, your policy otherwise terminates, you make changes to an account, etc., your Farm Bureau dues (for the next year) will be included with the next available installment or withdrawal, which may be for a different policy. If no other policy is available, your Farm Bureau membership dues will bill separately on a Farm Bureau branded bill sent to you in the mail.
5. I JUST CANCELLED MY POLICY. CAN I GET A REFUND OF MY FARM BUREAU DUES?
No, once you pay, you can enjoy benefits for that membership year. If you have any questions about your Farm Bureau membership, please contact your county Farm Bureau office.
6. WHAT PAYMENT PLANS DOES THIS COMBINED BILLING CHANGE AFFECT AND HOW?
Farm Bureau dues will be added to your COUNTRY bill regardless of payment plan. When your Farm Bureau membership is due, your entire annual dues will show up on your next COUNTRY Mutual or COUNTRY Preferred premium installment or withdrawal notice.
7. HOW WILL YOU APPLY MY PAYMENT?
The first $20 of your payment will be applied to your Farm Bureau dues. Then the remainder will apply to any of COUNTRY ‘s extra fees, past due balances, and current billed items proportionate to the amount of your policies (in that order).
8. CAN I CANCEL THE COUNTY/ILLINOIS FARM BUREAU MEMBERSHIP?
If you choose to cancel your Farm Bureau membership, your COUNTRY Mutual and COUNTRY Preferred policies will not be renewed if there is no other qualifying membership.
9. THERE AREN’T ANY FARM BUREAU DUES ON MY COUNTRY POLICY PREMIUM NOTICE. WHY?
Farm Bureau membership dues pay for an annual membership., You should only receive a COUNTRY policy Premium Notice that includes Farm Bureau dues once a year.
10. WHAT IS THE COUNTRY PREMIUM NOTICE UNDERWRITING RULE AND HOW DOES IT AFFECT ME?
a. Beginning August 1, 2014, only one named insured per policy for personal auto, home, personal umbrella, mobile home, or watercraft is required to maintain a Farm Bureau membership for COUNTRY Mutual Insurance Company and COUNTRY Preferred Insurance Company.
b. If the personal auto is a farm-rated vehicle, the one membership must be a Voting membership.
c. There are no changes to underwriting rules for Agribusiness or Commercial policies. You are still required to maintain all memberships even if they are not combine billed.
d. If you currently have multiple memberships, contact your financial representative. Your financial representative will review each individual policy to determine if you meet or exceed the revised qualifications.
11. WHY DID I GET A FARM BUREAU DUES NOTICE WHEN I ALREADY PAID MY DUES WITH THE COUNTRY FINANCIAL BILL?
You may have more than one Farm Bureau membership. Starting August 1, 2014, only one named insured or business owner per policy is required to maintain a county/Illinois Farm Bureau membership for COUNTRY Mutual and COUNTRY Preferred. I would advise you to contact your financial representative. S/he will be able to review each individual policy to determine if you meet or exceed the revised qualifications.
12. I HAVE A VOTING MEMBERSHIP WITH THE FARM BUREAU. CAN I HAVE MY DUES ADDED TO MY COUNTRY PREMIUM NOTICE TOO?
At this time, we are only combining the billing for Associate members.
13. WHEN WILL I RECEIVE MY FARM BUREAU MEMBERSHIP CARDS?
After your membership dues payment is received, membership cards will be sent in a separate mailing to you in approximately two (2) weeks from our corporate office in Bloomington, Illinois.
14. WHY DID I RECEIVE A BILL WITH MY MEMBERSHIP CARDS WHEN I HAVE ALREADY PAID MY MEMBERSHIP DUES?
This notice is not a bill, but a solicitation for voluntary contributions and services (e.g. Plus Package memberships, foundation contributions, Ag In The Classroom, ACTIVATOR (State/Federal) local PAC./PIC, etc.). This is not a bill for your county/Illinois Farm Bureau membership dues.