Farmers Insurance Review - My Experience Using Farmers

Farmers Insurance is one of the biggest insurance companies in the United States. For car insurance, they rank as the seventh-largest, and for homeowners insurance, they rank fifth. 

While auto and home are their bread and butter, Farmers offers a wide variety of insurance products that will suit most (if not all) of your insurance needs.

In addition, they also offer financial products like annuities, mutual funds, and IRAs!

What is Farmers Insurance?

Farmers Insurance was founded in 1928 by Thomas Leavy and John Tyler. It began with the two of them going out to rural farmers (hence the name) and offering them insurance protection. They saw farmers as a far lower risk than other types of clients.

Since that time, the company has grown into a key player in the insurance industry. Headquartered in Los Angeles, it’s now called the Farmers Insurance Group. The organization is actually made up of about 46 different entities. 

They collectively provide a vast array of insurance products – including car insurance, homeowners insurance, life insurance, and a ton of other products and services across the country.

They’re now considered one of the leaders in car and homeowners insurance, as well as small business insurance. As a comprehensive organization, they assist over 10 million households, holding over 20 million insurance policies across the entire United States. 

They accomplish this through the use of more than 50,000 independent agents and 24,000 employees.

Farmers Insurance provides some of the top prices on homeowners insurance and pretty competitive prices on auto insurance. What I really love about Farmers Insurance, though, is the ability to customize your insurance policy greatly (and a ton of positive customer reviews don’t hurt, either). 

How does Farmers Insurance work?

Like most other major insurance companies, you can get a quote directly from Farmers Insurance on their website. Once you become a Farmers customer, you can do pretty much everything online. This includes getting a quote on a new product, reporting a claim (and checking the status of that claim), connecting with a new agent, finding local repair shops and towing companies, and so much more. 

Their site is really robust. And if you’re like me and don’t get into accidents often, you can get all the information you need on how to file a claim. This includes a checklist that you can follow if you are in an accident (a great thing to keep in your glove compartment, by the way).

You’ll also be able to do most of what you need right from the Farmers Insurance mobile app. There, you can quickly get your agent’s contact information, review your policy, pull up a digital insurance card, pay your bill, and a lot more.

Pricing for Farmers Insurance

Typically, most consumers are likely to find some of the best rates possible with homeowners insurance through Farmers Insurance. Auto insurance rates vary but are generally in line with other major insurance providers. 

Something you will find, though, is that Farmers Insurance offers a bunch of discounts for their auto insurance. This will definitely help bring the cost down (along with bundling, if you do that). What your rate is will depend greatly on not only the product you’re looking for, but also where you live and other relevant information (i.e., your credit, the type of home/vehicle). 

Farmers Insurance features

Auto, homeowners, and life insurance are the three most popular products offered by Farmers Insurance. Below, I’ll highlight some of the coverage options and features, though you’ll want to check out their website to get specific details on the coverage you might need.

Car insurance coverage

Just like most major insurers, Farmers Insurance has options for standard coverage plus some extra (and optional) coverage, like:

• New car replacement coverage – Farmers Insurance is going to replace your brand new car in the event that it gets totaled during the initial two (model) years and, in addition, has less than 24,000 miles on it.
• Loss of use coverage – You’ll get reimbursed for things like Uber rides and car rentals if your car was in an accident and being repaired, or if it was completely totaled.
• Accident forgiveness coverage – Farmers Insurance will “forgive” one accident every three years, assuming you aren’t in any other car accident. This basically means they won’t increase your rate because you got in a collision.
• Rideshare insurance – Service companies like Uber or Lyft typically offer limited liability insurance coverage for automobile drivers while the app is active, together with full insurance policy coverage that starts whenever you take a ride and have travelers. Farmers Insurance rideshare insurance spreads out your individual auto insurance policy to fill in the holes, supplying insurance protection in between trips so that you’re constantly covered all throughout your rideshare work.
• Customized equipment coverage – This provides protection to anything custom on your car (i.e., custom wheels) if it’s damaged or stolen. There are some stipulations to be aware of with this coverage, such as the age of your car and when and how any custom parts were installed, so be sure to ask your agent about specifics if this applies to you.

Homeowners insurance coverage

Farmers Insurance has three different levels of homeowners insurance: Standard, Enhanced, and Premier. 

• The Standard package is for “…homeowners who are just starting out,” and “…balances affordability with features that really matter.” 
• The Enhanced package “…accommodates higher policy limits and includes several extra features like covering the costs to replace your roof and contents without deducting depreciation.” 
• The Premier package “…comes with the highest limits and coverage on personal property, and can include Guaranteed Replacement Cost coverage for your home if certain requirements are met.”

They refer to these plans as the Farmers Smart Plan Home® and within each of these packages, you have incredible flexibility — you can raise or lower limits in virtually every type of coverage, as well as add or adjust coverage. Your Farmers agent can show you how each change will have an effect on your premium.

Here are a couple of things that each of the packages offers, regardless of which one you choose. 

• Claim forgiveness – This coverage credits any charge you get if you go five years or more without filing a claim on your homeowners insurance.
• Declining deductibles – Each year your plan is active, Farmers Insurance will take $50 off of your insurance deductible.

Presently, there are additional options you are able to include in any kind of Farmers Insurance homeowner policy, assuming that they are offered in your state:

• Eco-rebuild coverage – After you make a claim, you can get up to $25,000 to rebuild or repair your home using green materials.
• Contents replacement coverage – Get reimbursed for the value of anything that is damaged or completely destroyed inside your home. Valuables such as jewelry or artwork are examples of this.
• Identity Shield protection – This gives you perks such as credit report monitoring and identity theft support coverage.

Life insurance coverage

Farmers Insurance offers three main types of life insurance:

• Term life insurance – Where premiums stay level for a specified amount of time (typically for 10, 20, or 30 years). After the end of the level premium time frame, premiums are going to generally increase.
• Whole life insurance – Permanent life insurance that stays in place for your lifetime as long as you continue to pay for the policy according to the agreement – or until the policy expires. 
• Universal life insurance – A bit more complex, universal life is permanent insurance but can have a cash value, as well as a few other nuances. Learn more about universal life insurance here.

Other insurance

Here are some of the other types of insurance offered through Farmers Insurance, should you need it:

• Renters.
• Landlord/rental property. 
• Umbrella.
• Business.
• Off-road vehicle.
• Boat.
• Personal watercraft.
• Travel trailer.
• Motorcycle.
• Motorhome or RV.
• 5th wheel.
• Pet (from a third-party company).

My experience using Farmers Insurance

The quote process was easy on the Farmers Insurance website, and their interface is clean and simple to navigate. 

First, I click “Get a Quote” at the top of the Farmers Insurance homepage:

I chose to get an auto insurance quote:

Then I entered my basic information:

They immediately found my current insurance and found my two cars:

I enter some info on my marital status and employment:

I added in some details about my current auto insurance:

I input my email and phone number (notice that Farmers Insurance didn’t make me enter my Social Security Number, which was nice):

Then finally I got my quote:

For me, this quote was significantly more expensive than what I’m paying with GEICO. But take it with a grain of salt. Everyone’s profile will be different, and I also bundle with Geico. So it’s hard to say how much more expensive Farmers Insurance was, but they’re definitely more expensive.

Overall the experience in getting a quote was fast and easy, and I loved how clean the interface was. The cost, though, was too high for me to move any further.

That said, it’s worth taking the five minutes to do this on your own and seeing if they can beat what you currently pay.

Who is Farmers Insurance best for?

Farmers Insurance has a ton of options available to you. They have pretty much every type of insurance you could ever imagine. So those looking for a complete one-stop-shop for their insurance needs don’t have to look any further.

Also, in taking that route, you’ll get discounts from bundling a variety of products. That being said, Farmers Insurance isn’t going to be your cheapest option. So if you’re looking for cut-rate insurance or something that just offers you the bare minimum, look elsewhere.

Otherwise, I think you’ll benefit from at least getting a quote from Farmers Insurance. Anyone who needs more than just auto insurance should benefit greatly from Farmers.

Who shouldn’t use Farmers?

To build off the point above, if you’re looking for cheap insurance, you probably shouldn’t use Farmers. While their pricing is competitive, it does trend on the upper-middle to upper-tier for most products.

In addition, Farmers comes in pretty middle-of-the-road with customer satisfaction and complaints. For example, J.D. Power ranked Farmers right in the middle in their most recent survey for homeowners insurance.

With such a large company, it’s understandable that their customer satisfaction will vary – but this is something to take note of if it’s important to you.

Farmers Insurance vs. competitors

Allstate

Allstate actually started as a mail-order auto insurance provider but rapidly widened its product lineup. Allstate enables policyholders to file insurance claims online, using their call center or utilizing a local broker.

Using the smartphone app, insurance holders can keep track of insurance claims, get in touch with a local Allstate agent, connect to their insurance policy, as well as call for roadside assistance.

Allstate’s bundling plan rebate makes its car insurance an excellent choice for folks who currently have an Allstate homeowners or renter’s insurance coverage plan.

People in areas where Allstate is in J.D. Power’s top tier can rely on Allstate’s car insurance as a trustworthy coverage option. However, consumers in areas where Allstate ranks in the lower tier might want to think about a different insurance provider.

Summary

To get your exact pricing, though, make sure you get a quote directly from Farmers Insurance. You might have better luck than I had, and find a price point and set of coverage options that really make your life easier.

Read more:

• When Should You Actually Make A Homeowners Or Renters Insurance Claim?
• Lemonade Insurance Review: My Experience Using Lemonade