Do you know who your car insurance company is?

I know, that sounds like such a simple question. Obviously you know who your insurance company is. It’s the company you signed a contract with, right? Unless, of course, you signed a contract with…

21st Century. Then it might be a little harder to figure out who your insurance company is.

I took a look at my client’s policy so I could help him with a claim. His declaration page (the page with all the limits and deductibles) said 21st Century North America Insurance Company. And his policy said 21st Century Casualty Company. But the correspondence from 21st Century was on Farmers Insurance letterhead. Okay, so Farmers bought 21st Century a couple of years ago. Still seems fairly straightforward. Until I learn that Farmers is some sort of group of insurance companies, one of the largest in the United States, owned by Swiss insurance giant Zurich Financial Services. Now I understand. 21st Century is owned by Farmers who is owned by Zurich. A little more complex, but now I get it. At least until I read the Wikipedia article on Farmers, reproduced in part:

The Farmers Exchanges, headquartered in Los Angeles, CA, are three reciprocal insurers or inter-insurance exchanges (Farmers Insurance Exchange, Fire Insurance Exchange and Truck Insurance Exchange) owned by their policyholders. The Farmers Exchanges, directly or through their subsidiaries and affiliates, offer homeowners insurance, auto insurance, commercial insurance, and financial services throughout the United States. Farmers Group, Inc. (dba Farmers Underwriters Association) and its subsidiaries, Truck Underwriters Association and Fire Underwriters Association, provide certain non-claims administrative services for the Farmers Exchanges as their attorneys-in-fact. The Farmers Exchanges do not hold an ownership interest in Farmers Group, Inc., and neither Farmers Group, Inc. nor its ultimate parent, Zurich Financial Services Ltd., a Swiss company, holds an ownership interest in any of the Farmers Exchanges. (My italics.) The 21st Century Insurance companies are subsidiaries of the Farmers Exchanges.

Now I’m not sure I get it. My client’s insurance company is owned by the policyholders of the Farmers Exchanges? And not by Zurich Financial Services? It seems like that could be a problem when he has a question about his policy. I can hear it now:

"Excuse me, can I speak with the owner?"

"You are speaking to one of them. And there are millions more. What can I do for you?"

So, when my client has a policy question, and he wants to speak to the owner, he may just end up giving you a call. After all, if you are reading this post, there is a good chance you are insured by Farmers. Or something like that.