JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Farmer’s Insurance company has notified the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation that starting Tuesday, it will no longer renew or write new auto, home and umbrella policies.
It’s the latest insurance company to reduce coverage in the sunshine state. Just last year we brought you stories of two companies that canceled policies in Florida.
This move could reduce the availability and affordability of insurance coverage here across the state.
"A lot of companies that are really struggling in Florida right now. And so they're, you know, they feel like they're overexposed in a state that's really high risk. And so they're dropping a lot of their customers," Matthew Carlucci Jr, with Brightway Insurance, said.
The decision applies to only Farmers-branded policies and will affect less than 30%, about 100,000 Florida policies.
In a statement, a spokesperson wrote;
"We have advised the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) of our decision to discontinue offering Farmers®-branded auto, home, and umbrella policies in the state. This business decision was necessary to effectively manage risk exposure. Farmers offers insurance through several different brands, and this decision applies only to policies issued through our exclusive agency distribution channel. There is no impact to 70 percent of policies currently in force for customers in the state, including Bristol West®, Foremost SignatureSM, Farmers GroupSelectSM, Foremost Choice® and Foremost®-branded policies. Such policies will continue to be available to serve the insurance needs of Floridians. Affected customers will receive notifications detailing when their coverage will end and will be advised of options for replacement coverage."
For customers receiving a notice of non-renewal, Carlucci says don’t panic. He believes while premiums may increase slightly, newly passed legislation, like the elimination of one-way attorney fees, could bring costs down in the long-term.
“It's helpful to them in the areas that they get hit the hardest and claims which is legal fees…. So once insurance companies, reinsurance costs go down, then they're going to be able to lower their premiums for the consumer," Carlucci said.
For policy holders who now find themselves looking for a new policy, Carlucci says there are ways for homeowners to lower insurance premiums.
“The first one was looking at lowering your contents coverage. The second one is looking at raising your deductible from maybe 1000 to 2500. And the third is to look at having actual cash value coverage on your contents instead of replacement cost. If you do those three things, there's a very good chance you'll save between 480 $800 a year," Carlucci said.
A day before the announcement, on Monday Florida's Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis tweeted his agency is going to hold Farmer’s accountable if Farmer’s pulls out of Florida.
First Coast News has reached out to his office asking what potential punishments the company could face, we are awaiting that response.