Farmers Insurance California rates are rising by a statewide average of 1.5% from 15 September 2026. The increase reaches about 915,000 homeowners policies at each policy’s own renewal date after that day, not on the date itself. The California Department of Insurance approved the new rating plan after Farmers asked for 6.99%.
What Changed for Farmers Policyholders in California
Farmers Insurance Group, the second-largest home insurer in California by market share, began applying a new homeowners rating plan on 15 September 2026. It applies only in California, in United States dollars, and only to Farmers homeowners policies.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Approved statewide average change | +1.5% |
| Amount Farmers requested | +6.99%, filed November 2025 |
| Policies affected | About 915,000 California homeowners policies |
| Rating plan effective from | 15 September 2026 |
| When an individual policy changes | At its next renewal after 15 September 2026 |
| Home and auto bundling discount | Raised from 15% to 22% |
| Approved by | California Department of Insurance |
As of 17 September 2026, the approved statewide average increase for Farmers homeowners business in California stands at 1.5%, unchanged since the department signed off in May 2026.
Why No One’s Premium Changed on 15 September
A rating plan effective date is not a billing date. It is the date from which the insurer may apply the new rates to policies as they come up for renewal.
A homeowner whose Farmers policy renews in February 2027 keeps the old rating until then. One whose policy renewed on 20 September 2026 saw the new rating almost immediately. This is why coverage that described the change as starting on a single Tuesday is misleading: the rollout is spread across a full policy year, and the last policyholders will not see it until September 2027.
The document that states an individual premium is the renewal notice, which an insurer in California must send before the renewal date. That notice, not the statewide average, is what shows the actual figure for a given household.
Who Pays More and Who Pays Less
The 1.5% figure is a statewide average across the whole book of business, not the change any single household will see.
An average of this kind is the net effect of many increases and decreases balancing out. Both the San Francisco Chronicle and Newsweek reported that individual customers could see rises well above 1.5%, while others will see their premiums fall. Neither the department nor Farmers has published a breakdown by region or by risk band, so the spread behind the average is not public.
Two elements of the new plan push in the opposite direction to the base increase:
- Home and auto bundling: the discount rises from 15% to 22% for customers who hold both policies with Farmers, which for many bundled households is larger than the base increase.
- Wildfire mitigation: the plan expands savings for homeowners who take documented steps to reduce wildfire risk at the property and in the surrounding area. Farmers has not published the size of each mitigation credit.
Terms vary by policy, by location and by individual circumstances, so two neighbours with the same insurer can see different outcomes from the same filing.
What Farmers Asked For, and What the Regulator Approved
Farmers filed for a 6.99% statewide increase in November 2025 and was approved for 1.5%.
The filing was handled under Commissioner Ricardo Lara’s Sustainable Insurance Strategy, the California regulatory overhaul that changed how home insurance rates may be calculated in the state. Two changes matter for how a number like this is reached:
- Forward-looking catastrophe models: insurers may use department-reviewed wildfire models that estimate future losses, rather than relying only on historical loss data.
- California reinsurance costs: insurers may include the cost of reinsurance, the cover insurers themselves buy to absorb large losses, in their California rate calculations.
Insurers that use those models take on an obligation in return, which is set out below. Carrier Management reported that Farmers was the ninth major insurer group approved under the strategy.
What Farmers Agreed to in Return
Participation in the Sustainable Insurance Strategy is conditional, not automatic.
Under the strategy, participating insurers must write business in areas the department designates as wildfire distressed, working towards at least 85% of their statewide market share in those areas. Farmers committed to adding a minimum of 5,596 new policies in distressed communities over two years and removed the monthly cap it had placed on new California homeowners business.
Announcing the company’s participation, Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara said: “This is exactly the kind of sustained momentum we need to restore stability to California’s insurance market.” Behram Dinshaw, president of personal lines at Farmers, said the company continues “to see encouraging signs that the California insurance marketplace is strengthening”.
How California’s Home Insurance Market Has Shifted
The Farmers filing arrives as the state’s insurer of last resort stops growing at the pace it did.
The California FAIR Plan, the shared-risk pool that covers properties private insurers will not take, added roughly 16,000 residential policies in the first quarter of 2026 and about 12,000 in the second, a fifth consecutive quarterly decline. Between 2024 and September 2025 it had been adding 35,000 to 50,000 a quarter. Nine insurer groups, including six of California’s ten largest home insurers, have now committed to expand under the strategy.
That is a change of direction rather than a resolution. California homeowners in high-risk areas have spent three years facing non-renewals and market exits, and our reports on wildfire insurance protections expiring in Washington state and on New York’s change to auto insurance rate approval show that state regulators across the United States are reworking these rules at the same time.
Policyholders who want the official position on a California filing can consult the California Department of Insurance, which publishes rate filing notices and runs the state’s consumer complaint process.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Much Are Farmers Insurance California Rates Going Up?
By a statewide average of 1.5%, approved by the California Department of Insurance and effective from 15 September 2026. Individual premiums can rise by more than that or fall, depending on the policy.
When Does the Increase Reach a Given Policy?
At that policy’s first renewal after 15 September 2026. A policy renewing in mid-2027 will not reflect the new rating plan until then.
How Many Californians Are Affected?
About 915,000 homeowners policies, according to reporting on the filing by the San Francisco Chronicle and Newsweek. The change applies in California only.
Can a Farmers Premium Go Down Under the New Plan?
Yes. The home and auto bundling discount rises from 15% to 22%, and savings for documented wildfire mitigation were expanded, so some policies will price lower than before.
How Much Did Farmers Originally Request?
A 6.99% statewide average increase, filed in November 2025. The California Department of Insurance approved 1.5%.
What Did Farmers Agree to in Exchange?
To write at least 5,596 new policies over two years in areas the department designates as wildfire distressed, and to remove its monthly cap on new California homeowners business.
