Farmers to resume offering commercial insurance in California

Effective August 1, Farmers will resume accepting applications from new California customers for Auto Service & Repair, Habitational, Manufacturing, Real Estate and Wholesale Distribution Businessowner policies. This action follows the insurer group’s recent decision to lift its temporary moratorium on writing new commercial auto insurance policies in the state, effective July 1, 2024.

For the past several months, Farmers has been working with the California Department of Insurance on plans to re-enter the business insurance market after a temporary pause in offering coverage for a subset of new business insurance policies. Farmers continues to be a leading writer of small business insurance policies, offering coverage for Artisan Contractors, various Retail, Office, Service Industries, and Workers’ Compensation insurance in California, all of which remained open for new business applications through its temporary moratoriums.

“As a leading insurer of small businesses, we are excited to be re-opening these key lines of our commercial insurance offerings to new customers in California and help provide business owners with more choices when shopping for coverage options. Farmers has operated in California for nearly a century, and while challenges remain, we are encouraged by the positive changes taking place in the state’s commercial insurance marketplace. We have been consistent in our belief that a fundamental condition for offering coverage is that rates need to reflect the risk exposure we are insuring. Fortunately, through constructive discussions with the CDI, we are now ready to take this step back into the market.” – Eric Coleman, president of Business Insurance for Farmers.