Farmers Seeking 22% Home Insurance Rate Hike in Ohio

If approved, the hike would push rates higher for more than 115,000 Ohio homeowners.

Katie Powers
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Published September 17, 2024 at 5:00 PM PDT | Reading time: 2 minutes

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Home insurance may be about to get more expensive in Ohio. Three Farmers subsidiaries — Farmers Insurance Exchange, Farmers Insurance of Columbus Inc., and Fire Insurance Exchange — submitted filings on June 18 to request home insurance rate revisions in the state.

In a revision memo filed by Farmers Insurance Exchange, the company requested an overall rate change of 22.4%.

Reason for rate increase request

In all three filing memos, Farmers cited claims losses as justifying a 22.4% rate increase. Farmers companies in Ohio incurred losses of nearly $25.4 million during the 2023 fiscal year, which is about $3.3 million more than their losses of $22.1 million during the 2021 fiscal year.

Currently, the average annual cost of homeowners insurance in Ohio is $1,342, according to Insurify’s latest home insurance report. Insurify’s data analysts predict the state’s average cost will rise 5% in 2024.

Breaking down the requested 22.4% rate increase

The requested rate revisions will affect premiums for a few different Farmers homeowners insurance programs if approved, including the Farmers Smart Plan Home Program, the Next Generation Homeowners Program, the Farmers Smart Plan Renters Program, and the Smart Plan Condominium Program. Farmers Insurance Exchange, Farmers Insurance of Columbus Inc., and Fire Insurance Exchange all offer these four programs to customers in addition to other home insurance products.

If approved, Farmers’ request will result in an overall rate increase of 22.4% for the subsidiaries’ home insurance products in Ohio, affecting 115,700 policyholders in the state. Current and future policyholders in Ohio with any of the homeowners insurance programs below will face increased rates upon purchasing or renewing a policy.

The chart below shows the requested rate increase and estimated financial impact for policies under each affected program, as well as the combined overall rate increase when included with all homeowners insurance products in Ohio.

Farmers Home Insurance Program
Program Rate Increase
Estimated Financial Impact
Combined Rate Increase
Smart Plan Home Program13%$4,194,0006.7%
Next Generation Homeowners Program17.5%$3,345,0005.4%
Smart Plan Renters and Condominium Programs20% for renters; 30% for condominiums$294,0000.5%

What’s next?

All three filings are waiting for further response from the Ohio Department of Insurance. The Farmers subsidiaries have been involved in back-and-forth communication with the state insurance department regarding the state’s objections to matters in each filing.

The objection and response process appears standard when compared to past rate filing interactions between Ohio insurance companies and the insurance department. The Ohio Department of Insurance approved a similar rate increase request of 26.5% during June 2023 after initial objections.

The status for each current Farmers filing is pending response. It’s unclear how long this communication will last and whether it will result in the approval of the rate filings.

Katie Powers
Katie PowersAuto and Life Insurance Editor

Katie Powers is an insurance writer at Insurify with a producer’s license for property and casualty insurance in Massachusetts and expertise in personal finance and auto insurance topics. She strives to help consumers make better financial decisions. Prior to joining Insurify, she completed her undergraduate and graduate degrees at Emerson College. Her work has been published in St. Louis Magazine, the Boston Globe, and elsewhere. Connect with Katie on LinkedIn.

Chris Schafer
Edited byChris SchaferSenior Editor
Chris Schafer
Chris SchaferSenior Editor
  • 15+ years in content creation

  • 7+ years in business and financial services content

Chris is a seasoned writer/editor with past experience across myriad industries, including insurance, SAS, finance, Medicare, logistics, marketing/advertising, and many more.

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John Leach
Reviewed byJohn LeachSenior Insurance Copy Editor
Photo of an Insurify author
John LeachSenior Insurance Copy Editor
  • Licensed property and casualty insurance agent

  • 8+ years editing experience

John leads Insurify’s copy desk, helping ensure the accuracy and readability of Insurify’s content. He’s a licensed agent specializing in home and car insurance topics.

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