Farmers Insurance drops coverage in Florida

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Farmers Insurance announced Tuesday that it would no longer write new policies or renew existing homeowner, auto and umbrella policies in Florida.

"This business decision was necessary to effectively manage risk exposure," Farmers Insurance spokesman Trevor Chapman said in an email. "Farmers offers insurance through several different brands, and this decision applies only to policies issued through our exclusive agency distribution channel."

The decision will impact 30% of the company's business in Florida, Chapman said, affecting about 100,000 customers. It will not impact the 70% of policies currently in force in Florida under other Farmers brands, including Bristol West, Foremost Signature, Farmers GroupSelect and Foremost Choice, Chapman said.

Samantha Bequer, a spokeswoman for the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, said in an email Tuesday that the office had "received a market reduction notice" from Farmers Insurance.

"OIR is reviewing the notice in accordance with applicable Florida Statutes," she said. "However, the notice has been marked as a trade secret."

Florida law requires an insurer to provide 90 days notice in writing if it intends to stop writing or cancel "any one or multiple kinds of lines of insurance."

Jimmy Patronis, Florida's chief financial officer, took to Twitter on Tuesday, saying he intends to hold Farmers accountable.

"I've always said that when big decisions are made on insurance — the policyholder is rarely in the room — and unfortunately Farmers Insurance proved me right," he said. "I have asked my team to put their heads together in holding Farmers Insurance accountable to Florida policyholders. I want additional scrutiny on this company."

He said he has directed the Division of Consumer Services "to conduct a deeper dive into Farmers Insurance complaints — and if those complaints hit a certain threshold, it will trigger market conduct investigation that could lead to fines being levied against the carrier."