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Farmers Insurance Group (informally Farmers) is an American insurer group of vehicles, homes and small businesses and also provides other insurance and financial services products. Farmers Insurance has more than 48,000 exclusive and independent agents and approximately 21,000 employees. Farmers is the trade name for three reciprocal insurers, Farmers, Fire, and Truck owned by their policyholders. The non-claims activities of Farmers are managed by an attorney in fact, Farmers Group Inc, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Swiss-based
Zurich Insurance Group Zurich Insurance Group Ltd is a Swiss insurance company, headquartered in Zürich, and the country's largest insurer. As of 2021, the group is the world's 112th largest public company according to ''Forbes'' Global 2000s list, and in 2011 it ran ...
.


History


1922 to 2000

;1922 Farmers' future co-founders John C. Tyler and Thomas E. Leavey first met after Tyler moved to
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
. Tyler and Leavey had both grown up with rural backgrounds and believed that farmers and ranchers, who had better driving records than urbanites, deserved lower insurance premiums. During the 1920s, farmers across the United States were establishing their own mutual insurance firms and cooperatives in order to have less expensive policies. Tyler, the son of a South Dakotan insurance salesman, and Leavey, who had formerly worked for the Federal Farm Loan Bureau and the National Farm Loan Association, recognized that these farmers, ranchers, and other rural drivers were an overlooked market and wished to create their own auto insurance firm. ;1927 Tyler and Leavey received a loan from the founder of
Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank w ...
, enabling them to start their company. ;1928 Tyler and Leavey opened the doors to their newly founded company, Farmers Automobile Inter-Insurance Exchange, in downtown
Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
. Tyler served as president with Leavey as vice president. A sales manager and secretary completed the four-employee team. On March 28, 1928, the first meeting of the board of governors was convened. Two days later, Charles Brisco insured his 1925 Cadillac Phaeton and became the first Farmers customer. ;1935 Truck Insurance Exchange, a new reciprocal insurer, was launched to specialize in truck insurance. ;1936 Farmers Insurance Exchange was named the leading reciprocal in earned premiums for auto insurance by National Underwriter. ;1937 New headquarters building to house the Farmers Automobile Inter-Insurance Exchange and Truck Insurance Exchange, designed by
Walker & Eisen Walker & Eisen (1919−1941) was an architectural partnership of architects Albert R. Walker and Percy A. Eisen in Los Angeles, California. Partners in addition to Walker and Eisen included: Clifford A. Balch, William Glenn Balch, and Burt W ...
in the Moderne style, opens on
Wilshire Boulevard Wilshire Boulevard is a prominent boulevard in the Los Angeles area of Southern California, extending from Ocean Avenue in the city of Santa Monica east to Grand Avenue in the Financial District of downtown Los Angeles. One of the principal ...
. Architects
Claud Beelman Claud W. Beelman (1883 – January 30, 1963), sometimes known as ''Claude Beelman'', was an American architect who designed many examples of Beaux-Arts, Art Deco, and Streamline Moderne style buildings. Many of his buildings are listed on the N ...
& Herman Spackler add 4 floors and a seventh-floor garden terrace for staff in 1949. ;1942 Fire Insurance Exchange, the third reciprocal insurer, was launched, specializing in home insurance. ;1950 Mid-Century Insurance Company became a subsidiary of the Farmers Insurance Exchange. Aside from the insurance coverage provided by the original three exchanges, Mid-Century offered insurance coverage for Inland marine, robbery, burglary, personal lines, plate glass, selected bonds, and
floaters Floaters or eye floaters are sometimes visible deposits (e.g., the shadows of tiny structures of protein or other cell debris projected onto the retina) within the eye's vitreous humour ("the vitreous"), which is normally transparent, or between ...
. ;1953 Seattle-based New World Life Insurance Company was acquired by Farmers. ;1959 Farmers began annual participation in the Pasadena
Rose Parade The Rose Parade, also known as the Tournament of Roses Parade (or simply the Tournament of Roses), is an annual parade held mostly along Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena, California, United States, on New Year's Day (or on Monday, January 2 if N ...
, launching its involvement in parades and community events nationwide. ;1973 John C. Tyler died at the age of 86. Thomas E. Leavey, the remaining co-founder, took the CEO position. ;1978 Thomas E. Leavey retired. ;1988 After an eight-month takeover battle,
BATUS Inc. British American Tobacco US, mostly known for its acronym BATUS, was the US subsidiary of multinational company British American Tobacco (BAT), the world's second largest cigarette manufacturer. BATUS served as the U.S. holding company for BAT. ...
, the American subsidiary of British conglomerate B.A.T. Industries Plc, acquired Farmers Group, Inc. for $5.2 billion and became the sole stockholder of the company's 68 million shares of common stock. ;1989, 1991, and 1994 Multiple, large-scale disasters posed financial challenges to Farmers Insurance. The 1989 San Francisco earthquake, 1991 Oakland fire, and 1994 Northridge, California, earthquake were the three most significant disasters. It was estimated that the losses from the Northridge earthquake alone were $1.3 billion. ;1998 In September 1998, the
Zurich Financial Services Group Zurich Insurance Group Ltd is a Swiss insurance company, headquartered in Zürich, and the country's largest insurer. As of 2021, the group is the world's 112th largest public company according to ''Forbes'' Global 2000s list, and in 2011 it ran ...
was created from the merger with the financial services business of B.A.T. Industries for $18.6 Billion through a dual holding structure.


2000 to present

;2000 In March 2000, the Farmers Exchanges acquired Foremost Corporation of America (Foremost Insurance Group), a leading writer of
manufactured homes Manufactured housing (commonly known as mobile homes in the United States) is a type of prefabricated housing that is largely assembled in factories and then transported to sites of use. The definition of the term in the United States is regu ...
and a prominent insurer of
recreational vehicle A recreational vehicle, often abbreviated as RV, is a motor vehicle or trailer that includes living quarters designed for accommodation. Types of RVs include motorhomes, campervans, coaches, caravans (also known as travel trailers and camper ...
s, boats and other specialty lines. In August 2000, Farmers Financial Solutions registered with the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...
as a
broker-dealer In financial services, a broker-dealer is a natural person, company or other organization that engages in the business of trading securities for its own account or on behalf of its customers. Broker-dealers are at the heart of the securities and d ...
. Through it, Farmers began offering
mutual fund A mutual fund is a professionally managed investment fund that pools money from many investors to purchase securities. The term is typically used in the United States, Canada, and India, while similar structures across the globe include the SICAV i ...
and variable insurance products. In October 2000, the Zurich structure was simplified and unified under a single Swiss holding company. Allied Zurich and Zurich Allied shares were replaced by shares of the newly incorporated
Zurich Financial Services Zurich Insurance Group Ltd is a Swiss insurance company, headquartered in Zürich, and the country's largest insurer. As of 2021, the group is the world's 112th largest public company according to ''Forbes'' Global 2000s list, and in 2011 it ran ...
with a primary listing on
SWX Swiss Exchange SIX Swiss Exchange (formerly SWX Swiss Exchange), based in Zurich, is Switzerland's principal stock exchange (the other being Berne eXchange). SIX Swiss Exchange also trades other securities such as Swiss government bonds and derivatives such a ...
(
ticker symbol A ticker symbol or stock symbol is an abbreviation used to uniquely identify publicly traded shares of a particular stock on a particular stock market. In short, ticker symbols are arrangements of symbols or characters (generally Latin letters ...
: ZURN) and a secondary listing in London. Zurich Financial Services
American Depositary Receipt An American depositary receipt (ADR, and sometimes spelled ''depository'') is a negotiable security that represents securities of a foreign company and allows that company's shares to trade in the U.S. financial markets. Shares of many non-U.S ...
s (ADRs) are traded on the American Stock Exchange. ;2005 In 2005, after
Hurricane Rita Hurricane Rita was the most intense tropical cyclone on record in the Gulf of Mexico and the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded. Part of the record-breaking 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, which included three of the top ten L ...
hit
Beaumont, Texas Beaumont is a coastal city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat, seat of government of Jefferson County, Texas, Jefferson County, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur, Texas, Port Arthur Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area, metropo ...
, leaving it without power, Farmers Insurance brought in almost 300 insurance adjusters to assess exterior property damage in order to expedite the reconstruction effort, provided $100,000 for the emergency operations center, and two badly needed megawatt electric generators. ;2007 In July 2007, the Farmers Exchanges acquired Bristol West Holdings, Inc., the parent of a group of insurers specializing in non-standard auto insurance, which provides insurance coverage for drivers whose driving records or other problems make obtaining insurance difficult. During the
October 2007 California wildfires The October 2007 California wildfires, also known as the Fall 2007 California firestorm, were a series of about thirty wildfires (17 of which became major wildfires) that began igniting across Southern California on October 20. At least 1,500 h ...
, Farmers was one of only a few companies to set up facilities to aid their customers. In addition to writing checks for evacuation costs, damage claims, lodging and meals, the company ran commercials urging their customers to take advantage of these facilities. The company now also has 2 buses serving as Mobile Command Centers. This mobile claim center arrived at the Qualcomm Stadium only two days after the fires started. ;2009 In April 2009, Farmers announced that it would acquire 21st Century Insurance from AIG for $1.9 billion. The acquisition made Farmers the joint third-largest personal lines insurer in the U.S. The acquired assets included AIG Hawaii. ;2014 In response to the increasing number of deadly storms between 2010 and 2013, Farmers Insurance began "researching a model that municipalities across the United States could use to significantly reduce the time required for residential recovery." Teaming with SBP, a disaster relief organization based out of
New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster.
; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...
, the result was the Disaster Recovery Playbook, an evolving online resource. Since the guide's initial creation, AmeriCorps has been brought onto the team. ;2020 In December 2020, Farmers Exchanges and Farmers Group, Inc. (FGI) announced they will jointly acquire MetLife's property and casualty business (MetLife Auto & Home).


Operations

* The Farmers Exchanges, headquartered in Los Angeles, CA, are three reciprocal insurers or inter-insurance exchanges (Farmers Insurance Exchange, Fire Insurance Exchange and Truck Insurance Exchange) owned by their policyholders. The Farmers Exchanges, directly or through their subsidiaries and affiliates, offer homeowners insurance, auto insurance, commercial insurance, and financial services throughout the United States. Farmers Group, Inc. (dba Farmers Underwriters Association) and its subsidiaries, Truck Underwriters Association and Fire Underwriters Association, provide certain non-claims administrative services for the Farmers Exchanges as their attorneys-in-fact. The Farmers Exchanges do not hold an ownership interest in Farmers Group, Inc., and neither Farmers Group, Inc. nor its ultimate parent, Zurich Financial Services Ltd., a Swiss company, holds an ownership interest in any of the Farmers Exchanges. * The Foremost Insurance Group, headquartered in
Grand Rapids Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the ...
, Michigan, is a group of companies that primarily insure specialty products such as mobile homes, motor homes, travel trailers and specialty dwellings, motorcycles, off-road vehicles, boats and personal watercraft. It was founded in 1952 and was acquired by the Farmers Exchanges in March 2000. The Foremost companies are subsidiaries of the Farmers Exchanges. * The Bristol West Insurance Group became a part of Farmers in July 2007. In 1973, it began providing private passenger auto insurance to residents in Florida and now provides liability and physical damage insurance – focusing exclusively on private passenger vehicles – across the United States. The Bristol West companies are subsidiaries of the Farmers Exchanges. * 21st Century Insurance, headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, became a part of Farmers in July 2009. Using the internet and direct response marketing channels, 21st Century markets personal auto insurance to consumers throughout the United States. The 21st Century Insurance companies are subsidiaries of the Farmers Exchanges. * Farmers New World Life Insurance Company started as Catholic Life Insurance Company in
Spokane Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Ca ...
, Washington in 1910. Later that year it was renamed New World Life Insurance Company. In 1953, it was acquired by Farmers Group, Inc. In 1954, its name was changed to the current Farmers New World Life Insurance Company. Farmers New World Life Insurance Company is now based in the Seattle suburb of Bellevue, Washington. It offers flexible
universal life insurance Universal life insurance (often shortened to UL) is a type of cash value life insurance, sold primarily in the United States. Under the terms of the policy, the excess of premium payments above the current cost of insurance is credited to the cash ...
, traditional term life insurance, whole life insurance and annuities. Farmers New World Life Insurance Company is a subsidiary of Farmers Group, Inc. * Farmers Financial Solutions, LLC. was created by the Farmers Exchanges in 2000 to provide financial products to customers.


Products and services

Farmers' products and services include: * auto insurance; * home insurance, including homeowners, condominium and renters insurance, mobile and manufactured home insurance, specialty home insurance, including landlord and rental properties, seasonal homes, and vacation homes, and flood insurance through the National Flood Insurance Program; * motorcycle insurance; * life insurance, including term, whole and universal life insurance; * recreational insurance, such as insurance for boats, ATVs, RVs, and travel trailers; * business insurance for small and medium-sized businesses, such as liability and property insurance, commercial auto and workers compensation insurance for apartment and commercial property owners, artisan contractors, condominium homeowner associations, retail stores, service providers, offices, religious organizations, educational and non-profit organizations, hotels, motels, bed & breakfasts, and other businesses in the light manufacturing, restaurant, wholesale, and auto service & repair industries; and * financial services and products, such as mutual funds and variable annuities.


Sponsorships


Farmers Field

In February 2011, Farmers announced that it had agreed to sponsor a football stadium in the city of Los Angeles. This stadium would have been located downtown, close to the
Staples Center Crypto.com Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Downtown Los Angeles. Adjacent to the L.A. Live development, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex along Figueroa Street. The arena opened on October 17, 1999; it was ...
. The contract was signed for 30 years, and its estimated cost was $700 million. The deal would have started with $20 million for the first year, then eventual increases. The stadium was planned to be named " Farmers Field". The stadium project was cancelled after the
Kroenke Sports & Entertainment Kroenke Sports & Entertainment (KSE) is an American sports and entertainment holding company based in Denver, Colorado. Originally known as Kroenke Sports Enterprises, it was started in 1999 by businessman Stan Kroenke to be the parent company ...
announced their own stadium to be built to be the home of the
Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...
and
Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division, and ...
.


The Farmers Insurance Open

Farmers became the title sponsor of the Farmers Insurance Open PGA tournament in Torrey Pines, CA in 2010. The event raises millions for local San Diego charities each year. www.farmersinsuranceopen.com


NASCAR

Farmers was the sponsor of the No. 5
Chevrolet SS The Holden Commodore (VF) is an executive car that was produced by Holden between June 2013 and October 2017. It was the second and last significantly restyled iteration of the fourth (and final) generation of the Holden Commodore to be manufa ...
driven by
Kasey Kahne Kasey Kenneth Kahne (; born April 10, 1980) is an American dirt track racing driver and former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in 2018, driving the No. 95 Dumont Jets/ Procore Technolo ...
for Hendrick Motorsports in the
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971, ...
from the 2012 season till the end of the 2017 season. The year prior, Farmers sponsored
Mark Martin Mark Anthony Martin (born January 9, 1959) is a retired American stock car racing driver. He has the second most wins all time in what is now the Xfinity Series with 49. He scored 40 Cup Series wins. He finished second in the NASCAR Cup Series st ...
and a few years before that,
Travis Kvapil Travis Wade Kvapil ( ; born March 1, 1976) is an American professional stock car driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series, driving the No. 1 Chevrolet Silverado for Beaver Motorsports. He was the 2003 NASCAR ...
. Farmers was the first to introduce a #hashtag on a race car. Kahne's first victory in the No. 5 was at the 2012 Coca-Cola 600 at
Charlotte Motor Speedway Charlotte Motor Speedway (previously known as Lowe's Motor Speedway from 1999 to 2009) is a motorsport complex located in Concord, North Carolina, outside Charlotte. The complex features a quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including th ...
. Farmers promotes its motor-sport relationship through the Farmers Racing website. At the conclusion of the 2017 season, Farmers Insurance left Hendrick motor-sports and NASCAR. The combination produced 6 wins in 6 years together including a
Brickyard 400 The Brickyard 400 was an annual NASCAR Cup Series points race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. The inaugural race was held in 1994 and was the first race other than the Indianapolis 500 to be held at the Indianapolis Moto ...
.


Advertising

Farmers Insurance Group's television advertisements typically center around "Farmers University," a fictional institution in which professor Nathaniel Burke (
J. K. Simmons Jonathan Kimble Simmons (born January 9, 1955) is an American actor, considered one of the most prolific and well-established character actors of his generation. He has appeared in over 200 films and television roles since his debut in 1986. He i ...
) educates Farmers employees about various unlikely insurance claims (often involving devious animals) the company covers.


Criticism


Complaints to state insurance departments

In 2006, Farmers Insurance received the highest number of complaints to state insurance departments in
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
and
Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
.


Lawsuits

* In 2005, the company refused to pay a claim on a car accident because the accident was allegedly caused intentionally by another driver. Despite Farmers' claims, the state of Washington ordered the company to pay the claim. * In Betty Jo Walker v. Farmers Insurance (2007), Farmers was fined $3 million for not defending a pair of limited-income homeowners from a negligence claim. * In Goddard v. Farmers Insurance (2008), Farmers was ordered to pay $2.5 million for handling a claim with bad faith and "stonewalling" during settlement negotiations. The original punitive damages award was $20 million. * In Moeller v. Farmers Ins. Co. of Washington (2013), the company was alleged to have failed to comply with state law by not paying "diminished value," which is the loss in value suffered by certain insured vehicles even after they are repaired. The class-action lawsuit was resolved in exchange for payments from the company not exceeding $48.5 million. The company denied any liability. * In 2015, Farmers was hit with a putative class action by current and former employees who say they have been shorted on overtime wages and breaks. The suit was filed under California's Private Attorney General Act by four senior commercial claims representatives who claim that Farmers improperly classified them as exempt from overtime pay when they were often required greater than the standard 8 hours a day and thus sometimes more than 40 hours per week. * Also in 2015, a number of female attorneys employed as Farmers' in-house legal counsel filed a class action claiming that they had been discriminated against by being paid wages less than male attorneys in comparable positions and by being passed over for promotional opportunities. The class action was settled in June 2016 by an agreement which provides $4 million for the class members and also a commitment by Farmers to a number of employment policy changes going forward. These will include an increase in the number of women attorneys in its higher salary grades and a three-year period during which a company official will monitor compliance with the agreement, provide diversity training to its in-house attorneys and provide regular progress reports to the attorneys who represented the plaintiff in the class action.


Financial ratings

* A.M. Best Company: A (Excellent) * Moody's Investor Service: A2 (Good) *
Standard and Poor's S&P Global Ratings (previously Standard & Poor's and informally known as S&P) is an American credit rating agency (CRA) and a division of S&P Global that publishes financial research and analysis on stocks, bonds, and commodities. S&P is consi ...
: AA- (Very Strong)


Customer service record

* The 2006 American Customer Satisfaction Index conducted by the University of Michigan found that customer satisfaction with Farmers was at exactly the same level as the overall Property and Casualty Industry. In addition, Farmers' satisfaction level was the most improved from 2005 to 2006 among the companies surveyed. * In March 2006, Consumer Reports considered Farmers Insurance one of the "poorest performers" among 27 insurance companies in terms of paying off (auto) claims in 30 days or less. * In the JD Powers 2007 Collision Repair Satisfaction Study, which covered customers surveyed between 2001 and 2004, Farmers Insurance received the lowest possible ratings in all four of the studied categories: "Overall Experience," "Claim Settlement," "Claim Representative" and "Claim Process and Procedures." Of the 26 companies surveyed, Farmers was tied for 20th place. * In 2005, 2006, and 2007 Farmers Insurance Group won the J.D. Power award for Call Center Customer Service Excellence. * In 2008 Bristol West had a complaint ratio of 3.42 while the national median was 1.0 according to the NAIC. * In 2006, Farmers Insurance received the highest number of complaints to state insurance departments in
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
and
Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
. – Farmers Insurance had the most number of auto and homeowners complaints in 2007


See also


References


External links


Official Farmers Insurance Group website
{{Authority control Insurance companies of the United States Financial services companies based in California Companies based in Los Angeles 1998 mergers and acquisitions American companies established in 1928 Financial services companies established in 1928 1928 establishments in California Zurich Insurance Group American subsidiaries of foreign companies