Yes. Farmers Insurance covers California, and it is the largest property and casualty insurer headquartered in the state. Farmers currently sells auto, homeowners, renters, condominium, umbrella, and commercial policies to California residents. After sharply limiting new business starting in 2023, the company removed its cap on new homeowners policies in November 2025 and is actively expanding under a new rating plan approved by the California Department of Insurance in May 2026.1Farmers Insurance Newsroom. Farmers Insurance Receives Approval for New Homeowners Insurance Rating Plan in California, Includes Sizable 22% Home/Auto Package Discount
What You Can Buy From Farmers in California Right Now
On the personal lines side, Farmers offers its Smart Plan Home, Smart Plan Condominium, Smart Plan Renters, Smart Plan Auto, and personal umbrella policies to California customers.2Farmers Insurance Newsroom. In Major Move to Expand Growth, Farmers Insurance to Remove Cap on Writing New Homeowners Insurance Policies in California and Submits New Rating Plan Foremost Insurance, a Farmers affiliate, writes manufactured home, landlord, and dwelling fire policies in the state.3Insurance Journal. Farmers Insurance to Expand Coverage Options in California
Commercial customers can apply for coverage in industries including auto service and repair, manufacturing, real estate, and wholesale distribution. Farmers lifted its temporary moratorium on new commercial auto policies in July 2024.4Farmers Insurance Newsroom. Recognizing an Improved Insurance Marketplace in California, Farmers Insurance to Expand Its Coverage Options in the State
The Smart Plan Auto policy meets California’s minimum liability requirements of $15,000 per person and $30,000 per accident for bodily injury and $5,000 for property damage. You can add collision and comprehensive coverage, and Farmers offers discounts for bundling home and auto, insuring multiple vehicles, and safe driving.5Farmers Insurance. California Car Insurance Every applicant still has to meet Farmers’ underwriting guidelines, and not every product or discount is available to every household.1Farmers Insurance Newsroom. Farmers Insurance Receives Approval for New Homeowners Insurance Rating Plan in California, Includes Sizable 22% Home/Auto Package Discount
How Farmers Pulled Back in 2023 and Reopened the Market
If you’ve heard that Farmers left California, that’s a misread of a real story. Farmers narrowed what it would write and non-renewed some policies. It never stopped writing new homeowners coverage entirely, which is what set it apart from State Farm’s May 2023 halt on new applications.6Farmers Insurance Newsroom. In Major Move to Expand Growth, Farmers Insurance to Remove Cap on Writing New Homeowners Insurance Policies in California
The pullback and recovery, in order:
- April 2023: Farmers stopped accepting new condo and renters applications and began non-renewing about 15,000 existing homeowners policies (roughly 1.3% of its book) in areas with elevated wildfire risk.7San Francisco Chronicle. Farmers Insurance Expands California Coverage
- July 2023: Farmers capped new homeowners policies at about 7,000 per month and stopped writing new personal umbrella policies, citing inflation, severe weather, and reconstruction costs.8The Real Deal. Farmers Insurance Puts Cap on New California Property Policies
- September 2023: Farmers Direct Property and Casualty Insurance, a Farmers subsidiary, stopped writing new policies and began non-renewing nearly 100,000 policies, including roughly 58,000 auto policies. Most customers were offered coverage through another Farmers-affiliated entity, but around 2,800 policyholders were not.9Repairer Driven News. Farmers Subsidiary Pulls Out of California10The Business Journal. Farmers Direct Insurance Latest to Pull Out of California
- December 2024: Farmers raised the homeowners cap from 7,000 to 9,500 per month, resumed condo and renters coverage on December 14, resumed personal umbrella coverage on December 24, and restarted Foremost landlord and dwelling fire policies by March 2025.3Insurance Journal. Farmers Insurance to Expand Coverage Options in California
- November 2025: Farmers dropped the monthly cap entirely, opening new homeowners, condo, and renters business without numerical limits for the first time since mid-2023.11Insurance Journal. Farmers Insurance Eliminates Cap on Homeowners Policies Offered in California
Rates Under the New Homeowners Plan
When Farmers removed its policy cap in November 2025, it filed a new homeowners rating plan with the California Department of Insurance. The initial filing sought a 6.99% average statewide rate increase and proposed lifting the home-and-auto bundling discount from 15% to 22%.11Insurance Journal. Farmers Insurance Eliminates Cap on Homeowners Policies Offered in California
The Department approved the plan on May 11, 2026, with an effective date of September 15, 2026 for new and existing Smart Plan Home and Next Generation Home customers. As approved, the statewide average rate increase is 1.5%, and Farmers says households that bundle home and auto should generally see their combined rates drop because of the 22% package discount. A new auto rating plan takes effect on July 1, 2026, though specific rate details have not been disclosed.1Farmers Insurance Newsroom. Farmers Insurance Receives Approval for New Homeowners Insurance Rating Plan in California, Includes Sizable 22% Home/Auto Package Discount
The plan also builds in savings for wildfire mitigation. Under California’s Safer from Wildfires regulation, qualifying steps include a Class-A fire-rated roof, a five-foot ember-resistant zone around the structure, upgraded vents and windows, enclosed noncombustible eaves, and cleared vegetation and combustible outbuildings.12California Department of Insurance. Safer from Wildfires Consumer advocates have said Farmers’ proposed mitigation discounts are modest, averaging about $42 to $75 per year for high-fire-risk policyholders, and objected to a proposal that homeowners pay $125 every three years for a third-party inspection. The Department of Insurance directed that the insurer, not the policyholder, should bear inspection costs, and specific discount amounts remain under regulatory review.13United Policyholders. California Insurers Must Give Discounts for Wildfire Mitigation
Wildfire Zones, Distressed ZIP Codes, and the FAIR Plan
If you live in a high-fire-risk area, your odds of getting a Farmers policy are better than they were a year ago. As a condition of filing the new rating plan, Farmers had to commit to expanding coverage in areas the Department of Insurance classifies as “distressed.” The state identifies 662 distressed ZIP codes, generally those in moderate-to-high wildfire zones where 15% or more of residential properties rely on the California FAIR Plan or where premiums are disproportionately high relative to local incomes.14Cornell Law Institute. 10 CCR 2644.4.8 Under California’s Sustainable Insurance Strategy, insurers that file new rates must write at least 85% of their statewide market share in these distressed areas or grow their exposure there by at least 5% every two years.15California Department of Insurance. Sustainable Insurance Strategy Updates
Farmers expects the new rating plan to add several thousand policies in distressed ZIP codes over two years. In early 2026, it began marketing directly to roughly 300,000 consumers in those areas.6Farmers Insurance Newsroom. In Major Move to Expand Growth, Farmers Insurance to Remove Cap on Writing New Homeowners Insurance Policies in California
If Farmers still declines your property, the California FAIR Plan is the state’s insurer of last resort. It covers fire, lightning, smoke, and internal explosion, but not liability, theft, or water damage; most FAIR Plan policyholders buy a separate wraparound or “Difference in Conditions” policy from a standard carrier to fill those gaps. The FAIR Plan covered about 556,000 policies statewide as of March 2025, up more than 100,000 since September 2024.16California Department of Insurance. California FAIR Plan17California Department of Insurance. Sustainable Insurance Strategy
What to Know About Farmers’ Claims Record
A September 2024 report by Weiss Ratings found that Farmers Insurance Exchange closed 257,189 homeowners claims nationally in 2023 and denied payment on 49.7% of them, the highest denial rate among the largest home insurers surveyed.18Weiss Ratings. Homeowners Beware: Big Insurers Deny Half of Damage Claims The National Association of Insurance Commissioners put the industry average that year at 37%.19Los Angeles Times. California Home Insurance Claims Denials Industry representatives have cautioned that closed-without-payment figures can be inflated by claims that fell under the deductible, were not covered by the policy, or were duplicates for the same loss.
California’s own tracking tells a similar story of strain. Justified complaints against Farmers Insurance Exchange rose from 105 in 2023 (a ratio of 24.0 per 100,000 exposures) to 177 in 2024 (a ratio of 40.2), then eased to 47 through the available 2025 reporting period (a ratio of 9.6).20California Department of Insurance. Homeowners Complaint Composite Report
Farmers Insurance Group remains the second-largest home insurer in California, with 15.4% of homeowners premiums written in the state in 2024, and holds roughly 8.8% of the private passenger auto liability market and 8.0% of physical damage premiums.21California Department of Insurance. California Property and Casualty Market Share Report If you’re shopping, the practical path is to request a quote through a Farmers agent, ask specifically about the 22% home-and-auto bundle discount taking effect September 15, 2026, and confirm what wildfire mitigation credits your property qualifies for.