Farmers Mutual of Nebraska (FMNE) homeowners insurance

Overview

FMNE Insurance Company, still widely known as Farmers Mutual of Nebraska, is a Lincoln-based property and casualty insurer that sells homeowners, farm and ranch, auto and umbrella coverage in Nebraska, South Dakota and North Dakota. It sells only through independent agents, more than 1,500 of them by its count. FMNE ranked #98 among U.S. homeowners insurance groups by 2025 direct premiums written, with $182.2 million (0.10% of the national market), according to NAIC market share data.

That national rank understates its weight at home. In 2025 FMNE was the 4th-largest homeowners insurer in Nebraska, with $149.5 million and 9.30% of the state market, behind only State Farm, Allstate and American Family Insurance, and the 7th-largest in South Dakota with $24.0 million (4.33%). The company describes itself as the largest Nebraska-based property and casualty insurer and the largest insurer of farms in Nebraska and South Dakota.

Homeowners is one leg of a three-part book. Of FMNE's $726.8 million of 2025 direct premiums written, auto made up 35.8%, farm 35.2% and home 25.1%. Since April 2025 the insurer has been a stock company owned by a mutual holding company, so policyholders' ownership interest now sits in FMNE Mutual Holding Company.

History

Twenty-two Nebraska farmers formed Farmers Mutual of Nebraska in 1891; AM Best records its incorporation on September 1, 1891, and the start of business on November 1. It has held an AM Best rating since 1922 and says it has been rated A (Excellent) or better continuously since then, a record it says only six property and casualty insurers exceed.

For most of its history the company wrote only in Nebraska and South Dakota. It added North Dakota in 2020, which AM Best said made up 4.8% of writings in its June 2026 report. On April 15, 2025, Farmers Mutual Insurance Company of Nebraska reorganized into a mutual holding company structure: it converted from a mutual to a stock insurer, became a subsidiary of a new intermediate holding company, FMNE, Inc., owned by FMNE Mutual Holding Company, and changed its name to FMNE Insurance Company. A mutual holding company structure lets an insurer raise capital or acquire companies more easily than a pure mutual can.

The past few years tested the company. AM Best calls 2022 the worst year in its history, driven by frequent and severe storms, derechos and high-severity losses on center pivot irrigation systems, with a $151.9 million net underwriting loss. FMNE issued a $100 million surplus note in May 2024 to rebuild capital. Mark T. Walz, who joined the company in 1991, is chairman and chief executive officer; Gayle M. Page is president.

Homeowners coverage

FMNE writes three dwelling programs, and which one a house qualifies for matters:

• Homeowners. The main program, for owner-occupied homes insured to value. FMNE says its base forms include credit card and fund transfer card fraud, freezer contents, business property on and off premises, hidden water damage, debris removal, ordinance or law coverage, and sump pump overflow and sewer or drain backup. Optional coverages include increased dwelling replacement cost, replacement cost and special form coverage on personal property, higher special limits, identity theft expense, earthquake, enhanced equipment breakdown and service line coverage, higher sump and sewer backup limits, and scheduled personal property. Liability options include additional premises, watercraft liability, incidental business pursuits and home daycares, and expanded personal injury.
• Dwelling Owners. An actual cash value policy for owner-occupied homes that do not meet the homeowners program's insurance-to-value requirements. Claims are paid net of depreciation, so a 20-year-old roof destroyed by hail pays far less than its replacement cost.
• Dwelling Property. For rental dwellings with up to four units, seasonal homes and primary homes that fit neither program, with forms ranging from basic perils to special coverage and optional dwelling replacement cost, ordinance or law and builders risk.

Farm and ranch customers get the house, outbuildings, grain bins, fences, machinery and livestock on one package policy, with replacement cost available on qualified dwellings and buildings. FMNE also sells a personal umbrella. Coverage details vary by state and form; your policy controls.

Discounts and savings

For homeowners, FMNE lists an impact-resistant roof discount for class 3 or class 4 roofing, a new home discount (under 15 years old and insured for full replacement cost), protective device credits for alarms, extinguishers and deadbolts, a mortgage-free discount, a roof surface rating discount when the roof is 14 years old or newer, an increased deductible option and a multi-policy discount for combining home and auto. In a hail belt, the roof discounts are the ones worth pricing out: a class 4 roof earns a credit and is also more likely to come through moderate hail without damage (see Impact-resistant (Class 4) roofs and hail discounts).

Where it sells and recent market moves

FMNE writes only in Nebraska, South Dakota and North Dakota, through independent agencies. AM Best lists it as licensed in Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Utah, and says it reviews expansion into states that pair well with its book.

The important change for policyholders has been price and terms. After the 2022 losses, AM Best says FMNE raised rates and deductibles, refined its pricing data and built more granular risk criteria into its rating, and set up a task force on rising homeowners loss trends. The results turned around: a $93.3 million underwriting gain and $97.3 million of net income in 2025, after underwriting losses of $16.8 million in 2024 and $30.8 million in 2023, with further gains in the first quarter of 2026. Its reinsurance covers losses above a 1-in-500-year all-peril event. Expect deductible and rating changes to show up at renewal, and ask your agent how your roof's age affects the premium.

Claims

Property claims can be reported to your agent, online through the MyFMNE account, or by phone at 800-742-7433. After hours, the same number connects to an emergency phone service for losses that need immediate attention, and you can leave a voicemail for an existing adjuster, who will try to call back within one business day. FMNE handles claims with its own adjusters from 17 district claims offices spread across Nebraska and the Dakotas.

FMNE asks you not to get a repair estimate or sign a repair contract before the adjuster inspects the loss, and its FAQ warns homeowners to read contractor paperwork after a hailstorm carefully, because some work orders contain an assignment of benefits that hands your claim rights to the contractor. Take photos before temporary repairs and keep receipts.

Ratings and reputation

AM Best affirmed FMNE Insurance Company's financial strength rating of A (Excellent) and its long-term issuer credit rating of "a+" on June 2, 2026, with stable outlooks; the issuer credit rating outlook had been negative in the May 2024 and June 2025 reviews. AM Best rates FMNE's balance sheet strength as strongest, its operating performance as adequate and its business profile as neutral, noting that its concentration in two states exposes it to weather.

FMNE reported a 2025 policy renewal rate of 89.7%. It is not ranked in J.D. Power's home insurance or property claims studies, which mostly cover national carriers.

Who it suits

FMNE suits homeowners, farmers and ranchers in Nebraska and the Dakotas who want an independent agent who can compare it with other carriers, a regional company whose own adjusters work out of nearby district offices, and one policy for the house and the farm. It suits less well anyone outside those three states, older homes that only qualify for the actual cash value Dwelling Owners program, or buyers who want to quote and buy online.

• Strengths: A (Excellent) from AM Best, affirmed June 2026, and rated since 1922; 4th-largest homeowners insurer in Nebraska; broad base homeowners form that includes sewer backup and ordinance or law; roof, new home and mortgage-free discounts.
• Weaknesses: sold only in Nebraska, South Dakota and North Dakota; agent-only, no online purchase; homes that fail insurance-to-value requirements move to an actual cash value policy; heavy storm exposure led to rate and deductible increases after 2022.

How to contact Farmers Mutual of Nebraska (FMNE)