Farmer’s Insurance Completely Pulling out of Florida.

If you live in Lakeland or Winter Haven and have a home or auto insurance policy with Farmer’s Insurance I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news. Farmer’s Insurance is leaving the state of Florida. Apparently they are no longer selling new policies and taking all their Farmer’s branded policies, including auto insurance and umbrella policies, and non-renewing them.

This is a big deal as until the end of the 2022 Farmer’s had very loose underwriting standards in the Winter Haven area (probably throught Florida). As the homeowners insurance crisis began I found myself quoting a number of homes that I couldn’t place. None of my homeowners insurance companies would take them because of the age of the roof, maybe they had too many claims or who knows. So Farmer’s was one of the companies I would recommend they reach out too. And now all of those people are going to have an even bigger problem as the issues that forced them to go with Farmer’s in the first place have not been resolved. More than likely they will end up with the ticking time bomb that is Citizens Property Insurance but that’s a different and even more horrific issue.

It’s very important to notice that Farmer’s is not just ending it’s homeowner’s insurance program in Florida. It is also ending it’s auto insurance program. This is the first major company I’ve noticed to pull out of Florida auto insurance but is isn’t surprising to anyone whose been paying attention. Auto insurance rates in Winter Haven and surrounding cities like Auburndale and Lake Wales have sky rocketed. Florida is now the most expensive state for auto insurance in the nation. We are facing a crisis not just in homeowners insurance but in auto insurance as well. This is particularly a crisis for the young people of Polk County. I am regularly quoting upwards of $400 to $500 a month for people just starting out in life. These are for reasonable cars, older Honda Civics and the like. For older generations this is a problem but for people just entering the job market it is impossible. How a person making just above minimum wage can afford to get to work is beyond me. The idea that you can work in Polk County without a vehicle is laughable at best. And now we see a major company abandoning the Florida market which will only drive up pricing. Farmer’s didn’t have to pull out their auto to salvage their national homeowners profits. They’ve concluded that Florida auto insurance is such a bad bet it will be years before they could ever make a profit, if ever.

Farmer’s abandoning the Florida market is a big deal. The biggest take-away for me is the outlook they have taken on auto. We already knew the homeowners market was garbage but they have concluded the auto is just as much a threat to their profit margin. This will hurt residents of Winter Haven and Lakeland who took advantage of their loose underwriting over the last several years. If you haven’t already opened a roofing business, now is the time.

Did I mention I'll miss the guy from Spider Man.