Kansas Commissioner Confirms Farmers Has No Plans to Leave State

Following a meeting between representatives from the Kansas Insurance Department and Farmers Insurance Co., Commissioner Kathleen Sebelius announced that the company had no plans to cease writing homeowners insurance in the State.

Concerns arose following the company’s announcement that it would not renew some 700,000 policies in Texas in a dispute with that State’s insurance regulators over rates. (See reports in IJ Website “South Central”)

“Farmers has assured me that they plan to continue their solid commitment to Kansas,” Sebelius stated. “I am confident that Kansas policyholders will not be facing the same plight as those in Texas. Over the years we have worked with Farmers to ensure that they remain strong here in Kansas.”

Farmers, the third largest writer of homeowners policies in Kansas, after State Farm and American family Mutual, is currently under investigation by the Insurance Dept. over its claims handling practices and its use of credit scoring. The bulletin stated that those investigations would continue.

Sebelius did recognize, however, that the insurance industry is facing somewhat of a crisis. In affirming that her primary concern was to assure that companies doing business in the state remain sufficiently solvent in order to pay claims, she noted that Farmers “is facing some of the same difficulties as many other insurance companies following 9/11 – that is, the loss of investment earnings and higher than expected claims.”

The Commissioner said that the Department “will continue to monitor the situation,” and added that “because of the tough decisions we’ve made and hard work we’ve done in this office, I’m confident that Farmers will continue to have a strong presence in Kansas for many years to come.”

Topics Agribusiness Kansas