For the last hundred-odd years, Farmers Insurance has offered coverage to everyone from farmers looking to ensure their equipment to renters and businesses. However, if Farmers has ever sent you a quote for their insurance products, you may have been startled by the price tag. Let’s investigate how Farmers justifies its expensive coverage to determine whether it’s worth it for you.

Table of Contents

  • What is Farmers Insurance?
  • What does Farmers Insurance cover?
  • Reasons why Farmers Insurance is so expensive?
  • How do I save on Farmers Insurance?
  • Is Farmers Insurance worth it?
  • Final Word

What is Farmers Insurance?

Farmer’s Insurance first started in the 1920s as an insurer that covered farm vehicles. Since then, the company has branched out into numerous other forms of insurance for your home, business, life, and more. Part of Farmers’ philosophy is to organize their agents in a decentralized fashion. Their tens of thousands of agents work locally to develop relationships with clients in their area. Naturally, this also opens up the potential for a variance in pricing, as you might have noted from their high prices.

What does Farmers Insurance cover?

Since Farmers Insurance coverage is wide-ranging, let’s break it down into relevant categories. Note that Farmers Insurance is typically known for its auto insurance. In general, auto insurance is more expensive than most types of insurance, so this might be the cause for Farmers’ expensive reputation.

Vehicle Insurance

  • Car Insurance, Motorcycle, Boat & Watercraft, Collectible Auto, RV, ATVs & Offroad, RVs & Motor Homes, Travel Trailers, 5th Wheels

Home Insurance

  • Homeowners, Condos, Renters, Mobile & Manufactured Homes, Vacation Homes, Vacant Homes, Landlord, Earthquake, Flood

Life Insurance

  • Life Insurance, Term Life, Whole Life, Universal Life, Accidental Death

Business Insurance

  • Business Insurance, Commercial Auto, Commercial Property, Workers’ Compensation, General Liability

For every policy plan you purchase, Farmers bundles several different aspects together. For instance, their homeowner’s insurance will cover you in the case of accidents in your home, thefts from your home, and natural disasters. This could include liability for injuries to visitors or damages to the structure and your belongings inside it.

Farmers Auto Insurance Coverage

Since car insurance is one of the most popular types of insurance Farmers offers, let’s look at the full extent of the car insurance coverage Farmers Insurance offers.

1. Injury and property damage liability

This is the most basic type of coverage and is required in almost every US state. In the case you get into an accident, this type of coverage will pay for your liabilities when it comes to injuries and property damage to other people. Although in some cases, this damage will only extend to your liability limit, whatever it may be.

2. Uninsured motorists

If you get into an accident with a driver who has no insurance, you will need this type of coverage. In many cases, it is also required

3. Collisions

To pay the repair costs in the case of accidents for either your vehicle or someone else’s, you must pay for collision coverage. Farmers Insurance has a separate type of collision insurance that is optional for drivers. This is unusual, as basic plans typically cover the expenses for damages to other people’s cars.

4. Comprehensive Coverage

Otherwise known as full coverage, this type of coverage is usually not required except in the case of car leases and loans. Comprehensive coverage covers everything in the previous three types of coverage. In addition, Farmers will also cover you in the case of weather, theft, vandalism, and other events beyond your control.

In general, car insurance is divided into two types: liability and full coverage. However, Farmers divides their offerings into four types. This type of price segmentation is perhaps why many find Farmers Insurance so expensive.

Reasons why Farmers Insurance is so expensive

One of the main reasons why Farmers Insurance is considered expensive is because they quote high insurance premiums to potential clients. Once you balk at their pricy offerings, they’ll know that you aren’t a suitable customer for them, it’s a type of price discrimination. Therefore, you can see why many consider Farmers Insurance to be suited for an older, wealthier clientele. Not to mention, their ad content seems to appeal to family, reliability, and in general, values that might attract older customers.

In return for your expenditures, Farmers offers a high degree of policyholder benefits. Aside from the standard online interface which integrates paperless billing, Farmers Insurance offers car-buying, driver’s safety, and teen driver guides.

As we noted earlier, other factors like having local agents who could offer customized pricing might be relevant in increasing the price of the insurance for particular individuals. Also, the fact that they separate many different types of insurance that are otherwise bundled together by other companies tells you that they are pushing you to buy at a higher price.

How do I save on Farmers Insurance?

There are several different ways for you to receive discounts from Farmers Insurance. However, you should shop around and check that cheaper insurance providers don’t offer similar discounts before you give Farmers Insurance a try.

Farmers Insurance offers the following discounts on their auto insurance policy:

  • Bundle discounts
  • Professional groups
  • Distant students
  • Multi-car
  • Teen driver
  • Young drivers
  • Alternative fuels
  • Homeowners
  • Premiums paid in full
  • Policy Transfer
  • Good student
  • Mature driver

Additionally, you could download Farmers’ tracking app which accounts for your driving habits. The safer you drive, the higher the discount on your insurance. Of course, this comes with risks to your privacy. Furthermore, these discounts are not all accessible to the average person.

Is Farmers Insurance worth it?

We can’t tell you exactly what it’s like to experience every facet of Farmers Insurance’s offerings. However, there are numerous policyholder reviews for you to peruse online. Keep in mind that online reviews for this type of service usually skew negative. This occurs because those people who have a positive experience are often not motivated enough to bother leaving a positive review. On the other hand, many won’t know how good the policy is until they need to put it to the test.

Farmers Insurance Pros

  • They offer plenty of coverage options.
  • They offer several discounts if you bundle plans together.
  • Many satisfied customers report having an enjoyable experience dealing with their insurance agents.

Farmers Insurance Cons

  • Farmers Insurance doesn’t offer all their policies in every state.
  • Policyholders report that Farmers will hike their rates multiple times a year.
  • Some agents quote an unreasonably expensive premium before settling on a lower one later, meaning prices could be unreasonably high
  • They have not provided coverage for COVID-related incidents in their policies.

Last Word

Understandably, there are far more aspects of Farmers Insurance for you to consider. The main factors driving up the price of the insurance plans seem to relate to the actions of independent agents and the way Farmers constructs their insurance packages. On the other hand, Farmers Insurance may instruct these agents to constantly play with prices. Your best bet is to shop around for more insurance quotes before you settle on Farmers.