My tenure at Farmers started well enough. I was heavily recruited to lead a nascent organization through multiple leadership changes and internal tensions with their stakeholders -- largely brought upon by their previous leaders. It was no small task to take on, yet I was feeling energized as I started conversations with their recruiters mainly because the fellow I’d be working for was so engaged and on fire with a deep passion for the program. It was easy to connect with him. That’s how my whole sad saga at Farmer’s began. . .
One shouldn’t judge an entire organization by a few bad apples. That was true of my organization that I was tasked to lead, and it is certainly true of Farmer’s as a whole. I met many great folks there at all levels, and frequently felt impressed by a level of professionalism, dedication and deep passion for the customer. Yet, the career track that takes one off the floor towards leadership roles is fraught with cronyism, favoritism, sexism, ageism, and HR casting a blind eye to all of it. I found myself in the midst of this stew of chaos shortly after joining at senior manager level. I quickly found that I couldn’t trust anyone and that the ladder climbing culture from manager to above was off the charts -- throwing peers and lower level staff under the bus was a standard practice. As an outsider, I found myself looking every direction for those buses and I could not avoid them even with the sincerest intentions. It was my duty to lead my team effe
Farmers is a great company, but before applying...
I’ll start by saying that Farmers is an awesome company with great benefits and I believe they care about having a great work culture. Most people take an entry-level position (customer service, adjuster, etc.) and use it as a stepping stone to move to a different department.
I would like to preface this by saying that this job is not for everyone. There are a handful of people who are consistently successful, but that is not the reality for most. The workload can be unbearable from about May to September. The turnover rate is extremely high, and because of this, the department recently tried to extend time in position from 1 year to 18 months before you are able to apply to a different department.
Being an adjuster at Farmers is one of the most challenging jobs I have ever had, but I have learned A LOT about insurance coverage and construction. The training makes you think you won the lottery in terms of employment. The training is fun, interesting and engaging; they definitely pick the right personalities to sell the position in a way that makes it seem like a dream job.
I really enjoy my coworkers and most management members are cool, but I don’t enjoy the office politics that come with a large department. Opportunity seems to exist only for those willing to say “yes” without any pushback. If you speak up against a process or attempt to advocate for someone, you are seen as negative and will end up with a target on your back. Your success is somewhat defined by the
ProsGood benefits and starting pay, work from home, nice coworkers, cafeteria, Starbucks, flexible hours
ConsUnrealistic expectations, hard to get to know team members, office politics, metrics-based, few internal job postings with better pay
facilities are nice and the office atmospher is pleasant
I am an agent. I love my coworkers, I love my location (near my home) and my income, so far if my PIF doesnt keep falling, is kinda paying the bills. My work/life balance is OK. As a new agent you work very hard and long hours. Im under the new contract with the new quotas which are difficult attain and maintain! go to www.ufaa.com to see it,..I believe its there.
I have been reading the posts on here and it's been quite educating. I knew things at the service center were screwed up since I deal with them all day long. I cring when I have to call them. If we dont like the answer we got, we hang up and call back. We know that the people there arent trained adequately so its very frustrating when we depend on getting the correct answer.
Im calling because I need clarification on the policy language or how to write something correctly. What the service center dont realize is that we deal with people's lives and families. People's homes who have burned to the ground and that tornados have destroyed everything. They look to me as an expert on what to do. To get someone in the service center to "tell them the wrong answer but be confident" is simply unacceptable!!!! I was HORRIFIED to read that!!!
I admit, I have hung up on a CSR lately because our gray world didnt fit in their black and white little box. They arent given the authority to think for themselves as to what is logical and the right thing to do.
We are so busy with getting "signed requests from insureds
ProsNice office, Co-workers pleasant, friendly and helpful
I was an employee with Farmers for over 10 years and I worked in 5 different departments. My biggest piece of advise to anyone seeking employment here is to move around often. Do not stay in any position for over 2 years. Also, be prepared to be stressed out especially if you are handling more complex claims such as field auto or property claims. If you suffer from anxiety and cannot handle stress well, this is absolutely not the job for you. I think that it is imperative that an employee working here has a strong support system because there will be days that you come home and all you need is a big bear hug.
The Good:
Profit Sharing- every employee is entitled to a yearly bonus based on a combination of both the worker and the company’s performance. It has the potential to be quite a hefty sum of cash.
Benefits- health, life, dental, and vision are offered to every full time employee. Tuition assistance is also offered. Employees must be in good standing to obtain the tuition coverage but I was able to get my Masters degree completely paid for.
Pay- depending on the complexity of the job, pay is relatively decent especially taking profit sharing into consideration.
Relationships- your coworkers are your lifeblood and will help get you through the hard times
Perks- field employees get a company car, cell phone, laptop, mobile hotspot, and gas card that are 100% paid for by Farmers.
The Not so good:
Benefits cost- let’s face it, insurance is expensive e
Do your research with any company you work for and make the best decision you can. If your are buying an existing agency, make sure there are enough policies in the existing book to support yourself and the business expenses, along with the financing expenses. If there are, then you've made a wise decision on your purchase. Then expect to lose 30% of your existing book in your first year and if you can still make it work then you've made the right decision. Also, expect to have service commissions reduced, reducing your income by 11% in 1 year, if you can still make it work, your okay. You can even Increase your new business commissions by 241% compared to the previous year, and still struggle, if you said no to any or all of the statements above, then you made a bad business decision
That's right, I will say it again. 241% increase in new business commissions my first year and I still struggled.
Why?
* You have to be able to sell every line of insurance well, but
particularly commercial. If you can't sell commercial insurance then
you will not make it.
* The expense of running an agency is expensive
* Staffing can make you or break you, if you have a commission
driven staff, who wants to make money and help your
agency grow and succeed, you did good. If they are more
concerned with salary or hourly wage increases then their
commission rate, send them on down the road, because they will
be a liability and not an asset.
* Service
I was an employees' personal assistant, so my review may be biased, but her office only consisted of myself, her, and her boss. Although the space was quite small due to the number of people, the atmosphere was great! The two women I worked with were always happy to talk to clients and during my time there, I never heard a complaint. A typical day consisted of checking & sending any and all mail, black-boxing unneeded clientele files, transferring data from paper documents to digital format, and providing anything else my boss needed from me. It is quite difficult for me to speak upon management. My boss was not "the" boss, and the woman who was "the" boss was not around much, but any time she was, she was the nicest person in the room. The hardest part of the job was answering telephone calls. That was never a part of my job until later on, so it was something to adjust to. This being my first job, my social skills were not all that great, so answering phone calls and having to speak to clients was kind of nerve-wrecking. Second hardest part of the job was writing and sending cards. Where I was employed, customer satisfaction was key, and they were constantly sending out "thank you" cards to those who have been loyal to the company. Aside from the "thank you" cards, I also sent birthday cards to clients who had birthdays approaching. That was not the hard part though, the hard part did not come until the holidays came around. During that time, most of my other work was pushe
My supervisor's book of business was very large. We had numerous phone calls to attend to daily. The phone rang most of the time at regular intervals of 2-3 minutes throughout the day and often until after closing as well. We assisted many walk-in clients that were both in our book of business and many of whom belonged to other agents as well. They either had policy questions, needed to make a payment or desired to make changes to an existing policy. We also regularly serviced prospective clients needing quotes and shopping for renter's, homeowner's, auto, motorcycle, mobile home, RV, and boat polices. I also assisted clients in many ways such as securing bonds or with DMV issues that were outside of our normal scope of business.
I learned how to write professional letters on company head with detailed information to inform clients about upcoming changes to their policies and many other forms of correspondence with clients. These were used as a template for both the supervisor and my co-workers. In addition, I wrote letters for my supervisor when he needed to communicate something in a professional and polished manner. I also learned how to balance and break up the day which included processing paperwork and resolving various issues for policy holders.
The office staff was mostly self-managed. However, for any questions outside of our knowledge or authority we sought out the supervisor to assist us. As a three person staff with several other people availa
ProsWe could bring our kids to work, ample flexibilty in our schedules, we were not micro-managed, we had a ample autonomy, our supervisor trusted us implicitly
ConsSupervisors regularly absent, no receptionist, difficult to give the most prompt/efficient service
The pressure is usually cyclical but consistently moving toward having to do more in less time. Overtime is limited but given when needed (however not enough). Claims is pressured to write files for QA with judgement and common sense tossed to the wayside. Basically someone sitting behind a desk will pick a file a part and won’t care if an appropriate explanation is given (it has to be CLEARLY supported with photos - even a few hundred will never be enough to cover every decision). Writing a file for someone to grade it instead of for the best interest of the customer and by application of the policy is ethically questionable at best. This company has become very good at driving away good talent to meet upper management’s impossible expectations. Over a dozen walked away last year to work hurricane claims independently - adjusters and supervisors both. The job used to be rewarding but is once again too focused on the bottom line to realize they are screwing their employees and customers.
Replace a roof for wind damage? Not likely- you should be prepared to spend a good time up their marking every damaged shingle to prove beyond any doubt that more than half of each slope is damaged. 49% wont cut it. Good luck finding a roofer to change hundreds or more individual shingles, much less warranty it. You may be given a good amount of settlement authority but that does not mean you have the authority to use your judgment. The “art of adjusting” is dead.
Superv
Bristol West Wilmington liability claims has unreasonable expectations for their representatives. Company is always hiring to be ahead of the expected new claims, however, they cannot keep people so it is a revolving door.
The initial training is first class. After this it depends on who you report to. Many supervisors were promoted without the experience needed to properly do their job. Recommendation is to try going outside the office for supervisors, you may actually find people who know how to handle parts of the claim they are expected to manage (injury).
Favorites are protected. No work/life balance. If you expect to survive be prepared to work regular overtime to make the numbers and this job is all about the numbers.
You are expected to handle everything on case, Coverage, liability investigation, collision, property damage and total losses . Be available for phone calls all day, do not miss a call, follow on your diary and close files. Try doing this in 8 hours.
Adjusters are given no authority. Everything needs to be coached by a supervisor. Any coverage issues (and remember you are dealing with a substandard book of business so significant amount of files have coverage issues) or injury evaluation or change to it will need supervisor approval. You will be lucky if your supervisor comes to you two times a day for these discussions and it is always when they have time with no respect for the adjusters schedules.
There is no consi
Prosinitial training is first class, benefits are decent. Find any excuse you can work from home as often as needed.
This will not be a petty /venting review, more so a forewarning. I and many others hated this position. However, some actually loved it. It depends on your personality, I think.
I do want to first point out, Farmers Insurance is a pretty good company. I honestly believe that. For example, the pay was decent (although they lowered the pay compared to previous new hires), they match 401k contributions up to 6%, and they do spend a lot of money towards your training and even the working atmosphere (i.e. building).
I worked in Farmers Direct Services (FDS), a call center position in personal home, auto, and a little bit of umbrella insurance. I personally suffer social anxiety and this was not a position for me. However, over the past year, I had to force myself to get over it (and Xanex became my new friend). Also, a lot of people on my team, including myself, were on anti-depressants, if that does not say enough.
Not only does FDS require, of course, constant speaking to customers and agents, but you are always under a timer. From the point of logging in until logging out, you always need to be an "AUX code." This is how they record how long you are on a call, take after a call, are on your break, and even how long you are in the bathroom. You get 10 minutes per day of "personal time" (bathroom time). Drink a lot of water? Too bad, your bi-weekly review will have a report on if you went over your daily limit. You must always follow your scheduled AUX setting.
Yo
ProsFive free sessions of mental therapy in a 12-month period.
ConsYou may never feel good enough.
Questions And Answers about Farmers Insurance Group
Why did you leave your job at Farmers Insurance Group?
Asked Mar 15, 2017
I was harshly discriminated against for a mental health issue I faced during my employment. Management did everything they could to cover their tracks. I returned from a short term disability leave and 2 months later was terminated for the exact things my mental disability directly affects. Management doesn't care about anything but numbers and will beat you over the head with one bad call and completely disregard any positive customer feedback. This place doesn't care for it's employees and doesn't care about moral or ethical standards. Just get it done, no matter what.
Answered Jan 29, 2020
If you are a person who doesn't mind being told what to do and not asking any questions, then this job is for you. Boat-rocking is not encouraged. Management has no idea how to work claims but has no problem instituting inefficient, nonsensical claims procedures. It's all a bout the bottom line and not employee satisfaction. If your workers are happy, your customers will get excellent customer service.
Pros: pay, time off
Cons: can't use pto when you want, management says the encourage new ideas but really don't, time off needs to be scheduled a year in advance
Answered Dec 18, 2019
What is the best part of working at Farmers Insurance Group?
Asked Oct 22, 2020
Everything, the bosses are great, advanced training, time off paid, health insurance is great and lots of options , overall great experience!
Answered Jul 27, 2022
Coworkers. They are the only thing that made it decent.
Answered May 8, 2022
What tips or advice would you give to someone interviewing at Farmers Insurance Group?
Asked Feb 2, 2018
Ask yourself if you are self motivated, like talking to people over the phone, and can do both those things continually.
Answered Mar 23, 2022
STAR based interview style for most departments. More calculated than free-flowing, typically interviewing with 2 or more people.
Answered Jul 1, 2020
What questions did they ask during your interview at Farmers Insurance Group?
Asked Feb 25, 2016
Why do you want to work for us.
What is important to you
Past work.
You interview for 2 hours with all the supervisors. Who repeat the same things over and over.
Answered Jun 6, 2022
Skillset and Personality related
Answered Oct 14, 2020
How often do you get a raise at Farmers Insurance Group?
