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Founders: Then and Now
Founded in 1928, Farmers Insurance was originally created to insure the vehicles of rural farmers. Having steadily grown from there, according to their website, Farmers is now comprised of several companies which make up the Farmers Insurance Group. Three reciprocal insurers, Farmers Insurance Exchange, Truck Insurance Exchange, and Fire Insurance Exchange, make up the Farmers Exchanges and are owned by their policyholders. These companies have developed from the original basic vehicle insurance agency to, ” a multi-line, multi-company insurer and financial services group with a solid reputation…” as stated on their site. Over ten million households are served by Farmers Insurance at this time, spanning all 50 states.
In order to evaluate and compare Farmers insurance company’s rankings against other insurance companies, the methods of popular research and ratings companies are utilized to determine a ranking according to various factors. Customer satisfaction, policy offerings, policy prices, agent and call center interactions, claims processing procedures, and other evaluations can all be factors. Research and ratings companies can include such prominent names at A.M. Best, Moody’s, and Standard and Poor’s, which each assess a unique array of such factors
J.D. Power Study’s Ratings on Farmers for 2017
For example, a 2017 J.D. Power study reveals that in the area of U.S. Auto Claims Satisfaction, their study revealed a rank of 12th place for Farmers, with more specific ratings as follows:
Farmers earned 3 out of a possible 5 stars, or an average rating, in six out of seven factors measured, including:
The seventh factor measured, known as the repair process, earned Farmers 2 stars out of a possible five, or a below average rating.
But the J.D. Power study indicated a broad range of rankings when the different regions and states within the country were considered.
For example, in California’s 2017 U.S. Auto Insurance Study from J.D. Power, Farmers ranked slightly lower overall with the following scores:
Farmers earned 2 out of 5 scores, or a below average rating, on five out of six factors, which were:
The sixth factor of price, earned Farmers three out of five stars in the California study.
In the Central states study from J.D. Power, Farmers ranked in 9th place overall, with the following scores:
They earned 3 stars out of five, or an average rating, on the areas of:
They earned a 2-star rating, or below average, on the category of Price, and a 4-star rating, or above average, on Claims.
In the Florida study, Farmers did not rank high enough to be included in the top 15 rankings provided.
In the MidAtlantic region’s study, Farmers ranked in 10th place with scores as follows:
3 stars out of a possible 5 in the factors of:
They earned a score of 4 stars in the category of: Policy Offerings
For the New England region’s study, as well as New York State, Farmers did not rank high enough to be included in the top scores provided.
In the North Central region, Farmers ranked 16th, with scores of:
Three out of five stars, or an average rating in: overall satisfaction, policy offerings, billing process and policy info, interactions and claims.
They earned 2 stars, or below average, in: Price
For the Northwest region, Farmers ranked 4th overall, with slightly better with scores of:
Three out of five stars, or average, in: Overall Satisfaction, Policy Offerings, Billing Process/Policy Info, and Claims.
They earned a 2-star rating, or below average, in price and a 4-star rating, or above average, in interactions (customer service).
For additional details on J.D. Power study scores for Farmers in the Southeast, Southwest, and Texas regions, please visit this site.
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners Reports
On the National Association of Insurance Commissioners site, NAIC provides information on insurance topics like complaints and licensing financial information. In regard to Farmers, they provided the following information:
For Farmers Mutual Aid Society of Farmers Retreat: Zero complaints were reported on the NAIC site for the year 2017 thus far. 2016 also noted zero complaints.
For Farmers Automobile Insurance Association, zero complaints were reported for 2017. It should be noted, however, that a star replaces a number in most states’ categories, which means that the company did not write business in the state in the year 2017. The same is true for 2016, with the exception of 4 complaints being filed in the state of Indiana.
For Alamance Farmers Mutual Insurance Company, zero complaints have been reported for the year 2017, with the same situation being true for the company not writing business in many states this year. 2016 revealed the same results for Alamance.
For American Farmers and Ranchers Insurance Company, zero complaints were reported for 2017, with a large number of stars indicating the company did not write business in many states this year. The same is true for 2016, with the exception of one complaint reported for Oklahoma.
The exact same reports were made for American Farmers and Ranchers Life Insurance in 2017 with zero complaints and many stars indicating no business was written in many states this year. 2016 also had one complaint in the state of Oklahoma.
Financial Stability
To evaluate Farmers on the company’s financial stability, we can look at Moody’s and A.M. Best’s analyses.
As of January 2017, A.M. Best issued a press release with the following ratings on Farmers Insurance, according to their website:
“A.M. Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of A (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings (Long-Term ICR) of “a” of the members of Farmers Insurance Group (Farmers) and Farmers Reinsurance Company (Farmers Re) (Woodland Hills, CA). Concurrently, A.M. Best has affirmed the Long-Term ICR of “a” of Farmers management company and attorney-in-fact, Farmers Group, Inc. (FGI), as well as the Long-Term Issue Credit Ratings (Long-Term IR) of “bbb+” on the outstanding surplus notes of Farmers Insurance Exchange (Exchange) (Woodland Hills, CA) and Farmers Exchange Capital. The outlook for all Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable.”
Moody’s gave an overall rating of “stable” as well in their Rating Action here.
