Farmers Home Insurance Review 2024

About Farmers home insurance

Farmers homeowners insurance earned 4.5 out of 5 stars for overall performance.

Farmers offers a range of ways to customize your policy, including an option that can prevent your rate from going up after a claim. Although Farmers’ premiums tend to be higher than those of its competitors, the company has a long list of discounts for policyholders to take advantage of.

How Farmers home insurance stacks up

Where Farmers home insurance stands out

Unique coverage options. Farmers offers a variety of ways to customize your policy, including perks like claim forgiveness and coverage for a roof upgrade after a disaster.

Many discounts available. Most homeowners are likely to find at least one way to save on their premium.

Where Farmers home insurance falls short

Rates. It’s a good thing Farmers has a lot of discounts because its rates tend to be higher than those of competitors.

Customer satisfaction. Farmers was ranked lower than average for customer satisfaction in J.D. Power’s 2023 U.S. Home Insurance Study.

» MORE: The best home insurance companies

State availability

Farmers home insurance is available everywhere except Alaska, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia and Washington, D.C.

Standard Farmers home insurance coverage

Optional Farmers home insurance coverage

Farmers also offers many optional features and perks, including:

• Personal property replacement cost coverage, which will fully reimburse the cost of replacing a damaged or destroyed item rather than paying out a depreciated amount.

• Extended or guaranteed replacement cost coverage, which pays an additional percent of your dwelling coverage if your home is destroyed and the cost to rebuild is more than your current policy.

• Water backup or sump pump failure coverage, which applies if sewer lines or sump pumps back up and cause water damage to your home.

• Scheduled personal property coverage for valuable personal items such as jewelry or art.

• Ordinance or law coverage pays to bring your home up to building codes when you’re repairing or rebuilding it after a covered claim.

• Equipment breakdown coverage pays to fix or replace HVAC or large appliances if they stop working for reasons beyond typical wear and tear.

• Identity theft coverage, which helps pay expenses associated with recovering your identity.

• Service line coverage, which pays for damage to utility, electric or water lines.

• Fortified roof upgrade, which pays to replace a damaged roof with stronger materials.

• Homeshare coverage, which offers extra protection if you rent your home to others.

• Claims forgiveness, which means your rates won’t increase because of a claim if you’ve been claim-free for a certain period of time.

• Declining deductibles take $50 off your deductible each year you have a Farmers home insurance policy.

• Emergency mortgage assistance, which can make mortgage payments on your behalf for up to three months if your home is left uninhabitable after a covered disaster.

What's not included

Farmers homeowners insurance doesn’t cover:

• Flooding.

• Earthquakes. 

• Normal wear and tear.

Farmers home insurance rates

The average annual rate for Farmers home insurance is $2,415, according to a NerdWallet analysis. That means Farmers tends to be more expensive than the national average homeowners insurance cost of $1,915.

Among highly rated, large national insurers, Farmers is one of the more expensive options on average for homeowners insurance. Here’s how the insurers stack up:

The sample rates above are for 40-year-old homeowners with good credit, a $1,000 deductible, $300,000 in dwelling coverage and $300,000 in liability insurance. Your rates will be different.

» MORE: Home insurance calculator: Estimate your costs

Discounts

Depending on where you live, you may be able to earn a discount from Farmers by:

Consumer complaints

Farmers had fewer than the expected number of home insurance complaints to state regulators relative to its size, according to three years’ worth of data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

Digital and consumer experience

Website: The Farmers website allows users to get quotes and manage claims, and it features educational content based on common insurance scenarios.

App: The Farmers app is available for iOS and Android. You can use it to pay bills, view policy documents, report claims or get a quote for new coverage, among other features.

Customer support: When we called the Farmers customer service line, we waited three minutes before we were connected with a friendly human representative. When we asked whether the company covers personal property on an actual cash value or replacement cost basis, the representative told us that replacement cost coverage was available if it wasn’t already included in the policy. She also noted that when getting an online quote, we should be able to choose which type of coverage we wanted — but we didn’t see these options in either of the two online quotes we attempted.

She correctly answered our second question by saying that water backup coverage was available as an add-on. But again, she told us we should be able to choose it in an online quote, and we didn’t see it as an option.

We also tried Farmers’ live chat feature. We were connected with a live rep within a minute on both attempts, but the first agent answered only one of our two questions. She verified that water backup coverage was available but instead of addressing our question about replacement cost coverage, she told us how to start a quote.

The second time we tried the live chat, the agent didn’t even attempt to answer our questions but instead directed us to the agent search feature, stating that an agent would be able to provide coverage information.

How to file a claim with Farmers

You can submit Farmers home insurance claims through the website or mobile app. You can also report a claim by calling Farmers at 800-435-7764 or contacting your agent. For advice, see how to file a home insurance claim.

How to contact Farmers customer service

You can contact customer service at 888-327-6335 from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Central time weekdays and from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. CT on weekends. Farmers also has a live chat.

Farmers home insurance vs. competitors

Farmers home insurance vs. State Farm

The primary difference between Farmers and State Farm homeowners insurance is how much their policies cost. State Farm homeowners insurance was more than $400 cheaper per year than Farmers' average policy, according to NerdWallet’s rate analysis.

Otherwise, the companies have a lot in common. They’re two of the largest homeowners insurers in the country, and their policies are available in most U.S. states. Both offer a variety of other ways to customize your homeowners policy.

Learn more with our State Farm home insurance review.

Farmers home insurance vs. Allstate

The biggest difference between Farmers and Allstate home insurance is how often consumers complain about them. Farmers draws fewer complaints to state regulators than expected for a company of its size, while Allstate draws an average number. However, both companies ranked below average for customer satisfaction in J.D. Power’s most recent Home Insurance Study.

Both Farmers and Allstate have a long list of coverage options and numerous ways to save on your policy. Allstate’s policies tend to be cheaper on average, according to NerdWallet’s rate analysis.

Get more details in our Allstate home insurance review.

Other home insurance companies to consider

Not ready to make a decision? You may be interested in these other homeowners insurance companies:

How we rate homeowners insurance

NerdWallet’s star ratings reward companies for consumer-first features and practices. We evaluate factors such as financial strength, consumer complaints, coverage, discounts and customer experience.

In our research, we analyzed:

• More than 270 million homeowners insurance rates.

• More than 50 insurance companies.

• Nearly 200 homeowner profiles.

View our complete homeowners insurance rating methodology.

Methodology