Farmers Insurance in Florida: What’s Actually Available
If you searched “did Farmers leave Florida,” here is the straight answer: Farmers-branded policies stepped back from the state in 2023 and haven’t returned — but the Farmers family never left. Its specialty brands kept writing Florida throughout, and the one that matters most at our desk is Foremost Signature: the former MetLife Auto & Home operation Farmers acquired in 2021, quotable for Florida auto through independent agents like us, carrying the same AM Best A (Excellent) pool rating as the Farmers Exchanges themselves. This page tells the whole story honestly — the 2023 pullback, who owns what, the S&P upgrade, and the lane that’s open — so you can decide with facts instead of headlines.
Farmers in Florida at a glance
Carrier ratings verified directly with each rating agency.
Policyholders own the Exchanges — the structure, told precisely
Farmers began in Los Angeles in 1928, founded by John C. Tyler and Thomas E. Leavey on a selection thesis that should sound familiar by now if you’ve read our other carrier profiles: rural drivers were better risks than the market priced them, and deserved rates that said so. It was organized from day one as a reciprocal — and the structure still surprises people. The Farmers Exchanges — Farmers Insurance Exchange, Fire Insurance Exchange, Truck Insurance Exchange — are owned by their policyholder-subscribers. Zurich Insurance Group owns Farmers Group, Inc., the management company that serves as attorney-in-fact for fees — but Zurich holds no ownership in the Exchanges themselves. So “Zurich owns Farmers” is only half the story: Zurich owns the manager; policyholders own the insurers.
The current numbers read strong: the Exchanges posted their first net policy-count growth in over a decade in 2025, first-half 2026 premium reached $15.6 billion on an 82.4 combined ratio — and in August 2026, S&P upgraded the Farmers Exchanges’ financial strength from A to AA−, alongside AM Best’s A (Excellent), affirmed August 2025 for the full ~45-member pool. Whatever happened to the Florida brand posture, the balance sheet behind the family is in its best shape in years.
2023, told even-handedly — and what happened to the policies
In July 2023, at the hardest point of Florida’s property-insurance crisis, Farmers discontinued its Farmers-branded auto, home, and umbrella policies in the state — roughly 30% of its Florida book, most of it homeowners — citing catastrophe costs at historically high levels. The company’s own statement drew the line that headlines blurred: the other roughly 70% of its Florida customers, on the family’s specialty brands — Foremost, Foremost Signature, Foremost Choice among them — were unaffected and continued.
The homeowners book found a Florida home: Slide Insurance, the Tampa-based carrier profiled in our library, acquired renewal rights to roughly 86,000 Farmers Florida home policies, with renewals beginning in February 2024. Farmers-branded policies have not returned to Florida — the company’s national growth push is real, but it is aimed elsewhere — and our pages don’t speculate about announcements that haven’t happened. What we can do is quote what’s actually open, which brings us to the lane that matters.
Foremost Signature: the MetLife book, alive and quotable
In April 2021, Farmers completed its $3.94 billion acquisition of MetLife’s auto and home business — the Metropolitan Property and Casualty operation — and rebranded the independent-agent side of that book as Foremost Signature. That is the Farmers-family paper we quote for Florida auto: a mature national book with decades of history under the MetLife name, now carried inside the Farmers pool — which means a Foremost Signature policy carries the same AM Best A (Excellent) group rating as Farmers Insurance Exchange itself. Brand names moved; the rating tier didn’t.
The know-your-paper habit applies here twice over, and pleasantly: your declarations page names the writing company, we read it with you before anything binds, and the answer traces to one of the better-capitalized insurance families in the country — fresh off an S&P upgrade. Whether Signature wins your household is the same question as always, answered the same way: one entry, 6+ auto carriers on identical answers, and the sheet decides.
Claims, and the review that comes first
Claims file with the carrier named on your policy — the claims contact prints on your policy documents and ID card, and Farmers-branded legacy policies use 1-800-435-7764, answered around the clock, with online and app filing. Your agent’s part comes before any loss: liability limits, uninsured-motorist elections, deductibles, and how the household’s policies fit together — questions for 813.920.8181 on any quiet day. What a policy pays in a particular loss is governed by its own terms.
Farmers in Florida: your questions, answered
Did Farmers leave Florida?
The Farmers-branded policies did — auto, home, and umbrella, discontinued in July 2023, roughly 30% of its Florida book, most of it homeowners, with the company citing historically high catastrophe costs. The Farmers family did not: its specialty brands, including Foremost, Foremost Signature, and Foremost Choice, continued writing Florida throughout, per Farmers’ own statement. The homeowners book’s renewal rights went to Tampa-based Slide, and no Farmers-brand return has been announced.
Can I still get Farmers insurance in Florida?
Not under the Farmers name — but the family’s Foremost Signature lane, the former MetLife Auto & Home business Farmers acquired in 2021, is quotable for Florida auto through independent agents like us, and it carries the same AM Best A (Excellent) pool rating as the Farmers Exchanges themselves. One entry prices it beside 6+ other auto carriers, which is the honest way to find out whether it wins your household.
Who owns Farmers Insurance?
Its policyholders own the insurers — the Farmers Exchanges are three reciprocal exchanges owned by their subscriber-policyholders. Zurich Insurance Group owns Farmers Group, Inc., the management company that runs operations as attorney-in-fact for fees — but Zurich has no ownership in the Exchanges. Both halves of that sentence matter, and most coverage of the company gets one of them wrong.
What is Foremost Signature?
The independent-agent brand Farmers created for the auto and home business it acquired from MetLife in April 2021 — the Metropolitan Property and Casualty operation, a $3.94 billion acquisition. The book kept writing Florida through the 2023 Farmers-brand pullback, and it’s the Farmers-family paper we quote for Florida auto. Same pool, same A (Excellent) rating, different name on the door.
What happened to Farmers home insurance customers in Florida?
Their renewal rights were acquired by Slide Insurance, the Tampa-based homeowners specialist, with renewals starting February 2024 — the policies moved to a Florida-built carrier rather than vanishing. Slide’s full profile, including its ratings and reinsurance program, is in our carrier library. Auto, renters, and umbrella were not part of that transfer.
How strong is Farmers financially?
Stronger than the Florida headlines suggested: AM Best’s A (Excellent) was affirmed in August 2025 across the ~45-member pool, and in August 2026 S&P upgraded the Farmers Exchanges from A to AA− — on the heels of the group’s first policy-count growth in over a decade and a first-half 2026 combined ratio of 82.4. A carrier can reposition in one state and strengthen overall; both facts belong in the same sentence.
Does Farmers Signal work in Florida?
No — Signal is the telematics program attached to Farmers-branded auto policies, which aren’t offered in Florida. Households that want usage-based pricing here have real options on our shelf — several of our auto markets run telematics programs in Florida — and the fit conversation takes five minutes with your agent.
How do I file a Farmers-family claim?
With the carrier named on your policy — the claims contact prints on your documents and ID card, and legacy Farmers-branded policies use 1-800-435-7764, around the clock. Your agent’s work comes before the loss: limits, elections, deductibles, and whether the coverage still fits — any quiet day at 813.920.8181. What a policy pays in a particular loss always comes down to its own terms.
