Horace Mann Insurance/ Gary Cucchi Insurance unfair trade practices Lutz Florida

August 19, 2005,
To whom it may concern,

I am usually not a person to complain, but at the same time, I feel it necessary that my situation be well known and shared with the public to keep them aware of what is going on at Horace Mann Insurance and possibly the insurance business as a whole.

My parents contacted Gary Cucchi in the Lutz office of Horace Mann Insurance in early April 2005 and he saved them so much money on their homeowners insurance, they later decided to switch their automobile insurance to Horace Mann as well and consequently save about $500 a year with the same amount of coverage they had before. When my parents got home, they called me at work and asked that I give Gary a call regarding homeowners insurance for the purchase of my new home.

I contacted Gary that day and he prepared a quote within 24 hours of $773 per year for my new home with the understanding that the new policy would be issued no later than June 1, 2005.

I closed on my home on April 15, 2005 and have been working with Gary for over 4 months now. The company I got my mortgage through happens to be the same company I work for and they required that I get a homeowners insurance policy before closing, which I did through another company at a premium of $1663 a year ($890 more than quoted by Gary). I contacted Gary and left several message throughout the months of April and May and he assured me that Horace Mann would be writing new policies on June 1, 2005.

I continued to try and contact Gary for several weeks following, not receiving a return call and have documented evidence that I sent my mortgagee clause for the second time to Gary on July 6, 2005 via e-mail confirmation. I finally spoke to Gary on July 20, 2005 and he gave me two new bits of news. First, he informed me that Horace Mann cannot issue new policies unless you get your automobile insurance underwritten through Horace Mann as well.

Sounds like unfair trade practices to me, but I faxed my information on my vehicle on July 28, 2005 to switch my auto insurance as well. Second, he also informed me that he was going to hit me with a 10% increase in premium. I also agreed to this, figuring I was still saving money, but thinking something shady was going on and I was being taken advantage of.

I spoke to Gary's assistant on August 3, 2005 morning and she informed me they cannot underwrite my automobile insurance due to their guidelines changing on June 15th, 14 days after my homeowners policy was to go into effect. This apparently also means I cannot get my homeowners policy I was told I would have in April of this year.

Through all this, I have sent no less than 10 referrals to Gary at Horace Mann Insurance, mostly clients I have done mortgage loans for. I've even sent personal friends, family members and work associates of which one of them never even got a call back after giving their personal information to Gary's assistant on the phone.
Please be very cautious when considering using Horace Mann Insurance and especially Gary Cucchi for any reason and consider using them as a LAST resort!

Thank you for your consideration,

Bert
Land O' Lakes, Florida
U.S.A.