State Farm Insurance

Corporate Address:
State Farm Insurance
1 State Farm Plaza,
Bloomington, IL 61710-0001
Phone number 309-766-2311
Fax number 309-766-3621
Website Address www.statefarm.com

A.M. Best’s Rating for the State Farm Group is: A++ (Superior)

Summary of State Farm Insurance:

The State Farm Insurance Group is the largest personal lines property and casualty insurer in the United States with 79,000 employees, 17,000 agents and more than 71 million policies in the U.S. and Canada. Since 1942, State Farm has been the number one insurer of cars in the United States. It is fourth in Canada. One in five cars in the United States is covered by State Farm Insurance.

The agents are exclusive to State Farm. The company selects and trains the agents and works closely with them on underwriting, claims, and related matters, but State Farm does not supervise them. They work as independent contractors.

State Farm is the leading insurer of homes in the U.S. since 1964. One fifth of U.S. homes are insured by State Farm.

State Farm operates through a group of more than 15 companies that provide not only property and casualty insurance but also life and health insurance, annuities, mutual funds and banking products – including deposit accounts, checking accounts, credit cards and auto and home loans.

History of State Farm Insurance:
The State Farm Group of insurance companies, headquartered in Bloomington Illinois, started in 1922 with the founding of State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company by a retired farmer who had become an insurance salesman and wanted to provide low cost auto insurance for farmers in Illinois. It became the lead company of what is now a fleet of wholly owned subsidiaries marketing property and casualty and life insurance as well as other financial services. Among the other companies are:

• State Farm Life Insurance Company, founded in 1929, and State Farm Life and Accident Assurance which began operations in 1961 to provide life insurance in New York, Connecticut and Wisconsin. State Farm’s life companies rank fifth among U.S. life insurance groups. State Farm Life Insurance Company and State Farm Life and Accident Assurance also sell variable life insurance products State Farm VP Management Corporation.
• State Farm Fire and Casualty Company, started in 1935, has been the largest homeowner’s insurer in the U.S. since 1964. It is also the largest insurer of pleasure boats and sells many commercial lines of insurance.
• State Farm County Mutual Insurance Company of Texas insures high risk drivers in Texas. It became part of the State Farm Group in 1961.
• State Farm General Insurance Company is a property insurer that was started in 1962.
• State Farm Florida Insurance Company, which began in 1999, sells homeowner’s, renter’s and condominium policies in Florida.
• State Farm Federal Savings Bank, chartered in 1998 as State Farm Bank, F.S.B., has no branch offices and operates through agents, telephone, mail and the Internet.

Today at State Farm Insurance:

As of the end of 2004, State Farm Bank is one of the 100 largest thrift institutions; the mutual funds have $6.6 billion in assets under management and the health insurance premiums written by State Farm companies for 2004 ranked 13^th among companies selling individual health insurance policies.

In terms of number of policies and accounts as of the end of 2004, auto insurance accounted for 53.1%, homeowners for 20.9%, life 9.9%, other property and casualty accounts 11.7%, and health, banking, business insurance, and mutual funds accounted for the other 4.4%. Assets totaled $84.4 billion on December 31, 2004. Property and casualty earned premiums totaled $47.8 billion for 2004, of which 65.4% was from auto and 25.1% from homeowners’ insurance.

State Farm’s website provides online quotes for auto insurance. Currently, online sales may be available to “qualifying residents” in 34 states listed on the site after they obtain an online quote. State Farm’s website notes that coverages and availability may vary by state or province.

Renter’s Insurance quotes are also available on the website. Currently, online sales may be available to “qualifying residents” in 34 states listed on the site – not the same 34 states as for auto insurance – after they obtain an online quote. State Farm’s website notes that all policies may not be available in all states or provinces.

Condominium Insurance quotes are available online and the applicant is advised to “visit your State Farm agent to complete the purchase process.” Qualifying residents in 34 listed states – the same states as listed for auto insurance – are advised that they may have the option to purchase after obtaining an online quote with the caveat that all policies may not be available in all states or provinces.

Medicare Supplement Insurance quotes are available on the State Farm website. Qualifying residents in 10 listed states may have the option to complete an application online at the end of the quote process. The application can then be printed, signed and mailed to State Farm. State Farm will then review the application to determine eligibility.

Homeowners in Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan can currently get online quotes for homeowner’s insurance.

Long-term Care Insurance coverage quotes are available online.

Life Insurance quotes for term life and some other types of life insurance are available online with an online policy advisor to help decide what coverage amounts are appropriate.

Sources:

The writer reviewed information from the following sources to prepare this review, including: A.M. Best's insurance book, Yahoo, and State Farm's Annual Report, State Farm's "2004 Year in Review" and State Farm's website

State Farm Links of Interest:

Homepage www.statefarm.com
Online Quoting Availability http://www.statefarm.com/quote/quote.htm
State Farm Agent Locator http://www.statefarm.com/jscript/easysrch.htm