Farmers Insurance

Farmers Insurance
4680 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90010

If you are looking for an insurance package that can provide you with a wide range of insurance solutions, then Farmers Insurance Group may just be able to help you.

Farmers Insurance Group of Companies is one of the largest insurance groups in the United States that provide service to 41 states. The company is based in Los Angeles, California.

Farmers Insurance started in 1927, when two men, who both came from rural backgrounds, realized that farmers and ranchers, who have better driving rates than the people from urban areas, were being overlooked by the existing insurance firms that should have been offering these groups lower premium rates. During this period, farmers across the U.S. were putting up cooperatives and insurance companies in order to cater to their business needs and save up on huge premiums, which other bigger firms were imposing. Because of this observation and with the desire to help people whom they shared the same background with, John Tyler and Thomas Leavey created their own auto insurance company with money loaned from the Bank of America.

In 1928, Tyler and Leavey opened their first venture, the Farmers Automobile Inter-Insurance Exchange in downtown L.A. The company started with an employee base of four people – Tyler was the company president, Leavey was the vice president, and an additional sales manager and secretary completed the picture.

Through the years thereafter, many developments and changes has had shaped the company. In 1988, after an eight-month-long takeover battle, the Farmer Group was assimilated by BATUS, Inc., the American counterpart of British B.A.T. Industries Plc. for $5.2 billion. BATUS became the sole owner of the Farm Group’s 68 million shares of common stock.

Farmers Insurance is made up of a holding firm and smaller companies that are affiliated with it.  Farmers Group, Inc. is the holding firm and provides services relating to insurance management. Other companies that exist under this umbrella function include Farmers New World Life Insurance Company, Farmers Financial Solutions LLC, Foremost Insurance Company, Bristol West Insurance Group and 21st Century Insurance.

Farmers Group’s range of services covers the following:

1. Auto Insurance – insurance coverage for automobiles and collective automobiles;
2. Motorcycle Insurance –provided by Foremost Insurance Group covering motorcycle units;
3. Home Insurance –for structures such as condominiums, mobile and manufactured homes and residential home units; a special coverage is also available for renters, theft and natural phenomena such as floods and earthquakes;
4. Life Insurance – for policyholders that is directly provided through Farmers New World Life Insurance Company; these packages include universal life insurance and annuities;
5. Recreational Insurance –for units used for traveling such as boats, trailers, ATVs and others;
6. Financial Services – refer to mutual funds and annuities that are offered through Farmers Financial Solutions LLC; and
7. Business Insurance – coverage specially designed for property owners, landlords, contractors, homeowner associations, as well as businesses operating in manufacturing, restaurant, wholesale, retail, service, automotive service and automotive repair

Financially, the company is rated “A” for excellent by A.M. Best Company. It also enjoys an A2, or a good rating from Moody’s Investor Service, and an AA, for very strong, from Standard and Poor’s.

With more than 80 years of practice and expertise, Farmers Insurance has solidified its bid to be the number one insurance group operating within U.S. The products it offers and the reputation it has built with its specific and solid customer base since the early 1920s give it an edge in the market and makes it a formidable opponent that startup companies in the field of auto insurance may find hard to beat.