State Farm Insurance
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225657571
2008-07-14T19:40:04Z
THD3
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[[WP:UNDO|Undid]] revision 225509376 by [[Special:Contributions/74.170.35.45|74.170.35.45]] ([[User talk:74.170.35.45|talk]])rv vandalism
{{Infobox Company
| name = State Farm
| logo = [[Image:State-farm-logo.svg|160px]]
| type = [[Mutual insurance|Mutual]] (main company)
| genre =
| foundation = [[1922]]-[[06-07]]<ref name="companie">{{cite web
| url = http://www.statefarm.com/about/companie.asp
| title = "State Farm Companies"
| publisher = State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company
| accessdate = 2008-05-28
}}</ref>
| founder = [[George J. Mecherle]]
| location_city = [[Bloomington, Illinois]]
| location_country = [[USA]]
| location =
| locations = 17,000 agents<br/>391 [[insurance claim|claim]] offices<br/>24 operations centers<ref name="fastfact">{{cite web
| url = http://www.statefarm.com/about/media/fastfact.asp
| title = "Fast facts about State Farm"
| publisher = State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company
| accessdate = 2008-05-28
}}</ref>
| area_served = [[USA]] and [[Canada]]
| key_people = [[Edward B. Rust, Jr.]] <small>([[Chairman of the board|Chairman]]/[[Chief executive officer|CEO]])</small>
| industry = Finance and Insurance
| products =
| services = Insurance, Banking, Investing
| revenue = [[United States dollars|US$]]61,611 million (2007) {{increase}}1.8%<ref name="f500-2008">{{cite web
| url = http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2008/snapshots/10199.html
| title = State Farm Insurance Cos.
| work = [[Fortune 500]], 2008
| date = 2008-05-05
| accessdate = 2008-04-24
}} (Note: Based on 2006 accounting figures.)</ref>
| operating_income =
| net_income = [[United States dollars|US$]]3,664 million (2007) {{increase}}US$687 million<ref name="2007ar">{{cite web
| url = http://www.statefarm.com/_pdf/2007annualreport.pdf
| type = PDF
| title = 2007 Annual Report to State Farm Mutual Policyholders
| publisher = State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company
| date = 2008-03-04
| accessdate = 2008-03-27
}}</ref>
| assets = [[United States dollar|US$]]104,842 million (2007) {{increase}}US$6,494 million<ref name="2007ar"/>
| equity = [[United States dollar|US$]]58,142 million (2006)<ref name="g500-2007">{{cite web
| url = http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/global500/2007/snapshots/10199.html
| title = State Farm Insurance Cos.
| work = [[Fortune Global 500]], 2007
| date = 2007-07-23
| accessdate = 2007-03-27
}} (Note: Based on 2006 accounting figures.)</ref>
| owner =
| num_employees = 68,000<ref name="fastfact"/>
| parent =
| divisions = [[Insurance]]; [[mutual funds]]; State Farm Bank
| subsid = ''see [[#Companies|Companies]] below''
| slogan = Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.
| homepage = [http://www.statefarm.com/ www.statefarm.com]
| footnotes =
| intl =
}}
[[Image:Bloomington Il State Farm Bldg1.JPG|thumb|State Farm Insurance "Fire Building" in downtown Bloomington, Illinois.]]
'''State Farm''' is a group of [[insurance]] and [[financial services]] companies. State Farm has remained the largest [[automobile insurance|automobile insurer]] in the United States continuously since 1942<ref name="companie"/> and insures more cars and homes in the United States than any other insurer.<ref name="fastfact"/>
The group's main company is '''State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company''', a [[mutual insurance]] firm that also owns the other State Farm companies. The corporate headquarters are in [[Bloomington, Illinois|Bloomington]], [[Illinois]].
State Farm is ranked 32nd in the 2008 [[Fortune 500]], which lists American companies by revenue.<ref name="f500-2008"/> According to the [[Fortune Global 500]], State Farm is also the world's largest mutual "P&C" ([[property insurance|property]] & [[casualty insurance]]) firm; the only other P&C mutual in the Global 500 is [[Groupama]] in Europe.<ref name="g500-2007"/>
==History==
State Farm was founded in [[1922]] as a [[mutual organization|mutual]] automobile insurance company owned by its policyholders. Despite the company's name, State Farm did not initially begin as a crop insurance company. Specifically, State Farm specialized in auto insurance for farmers. Founder [[George J. Mecherle]] believed that since farmers drove less and had fewer losses than city drivers, they should pay less for insurance. His idea was popular with farmers and made his new company successful. Since its inception, State Farm has expanded its services into other popular types of insurance, such as homeowners and life insurance, in addition to banking and financial services.<ref name="companie"/>
State Farm has grown to include 67,000 employees and 17,000 agents servicing 77 million policies in the United States and Canada, and serving more than 1.9 million bank accounts.<ref name="fastfact"/>
[[Edward B. Rust, Jr.]] is [[chairman of the board]] and [[chief executive officer]] of State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, and president and chief executive officer of State Farm Fire and Casualty Company, State Farm Life Insurance Company, and other principal State Farm affiliates.
On March 1, 2007, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company announced it will pay $1.25 billion in dividends to its mutual auto insurance policyholders in 46 states, the District of Columbia and the Canadian province of New Brunswick.<ref>http://www.statefarm.com/about/media/media_releases/auto_dividends.asp</ref>
==Companies==
State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company also owns the other State Farm Companies:<ref name="companie"/>
* State Farm Fire and Casualty Company
* State Farm Life Insurance Company
* State Farm Life and Accident Assurance Company <small>([[New York state|NY]]/[[Connecticut|CT]]/[[Wisconsin|WI]])</small>
* State Farm County Mutual Insurance Company of Texas <small>([[Texas|TX]] auto)</small>
* State Farm Indemnity Company / State Farm Guaranty Insurance Company <small>([[New Jersey|NJ]] auto)</small>
* State Farm General Insurance Company <small>([[California|CA]] home)</small>
* State Farm Florida Insurance Company <small>([[Florida|FL]] home)</small>
* State Farm Lloyds <small>([[Texas|TX]] home/commercial)</small>
* State Farm Bank, F.S.B.
* State Farm Investment Management Corp. (SFIMC)
* State Farm VP Management Corp. (SFVPMC)
{{Expand-section|date=June 2008}}
==CEOs==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!CEO !! Years Served
|-
|[[George J. Mecherle]] || [[1922]] - [[1937]]
|-
|[[Raymond Mecherle]] || [[1937]] - [[1954]]
|-
|[[Adlai Rust]] || [[1954]] - [[1970]]
|-
|[[Edward B. Rust, Sr.]] || [[1970]] - [[1985]]
|-
|[[Edward B. Rust, Jr.]] || [[1985]] - Present
|}
==Financial services==
In recent years, State Farm has expanded into the financial services arena, such as banking and mutual funds. These are separate from its insurance products. This has expanded its competition beyond the traditional P&C insurance companies like [[GEICO]], [[Progressive Corporation|Progressive]], [[Farmers Insurance Group]], and [[USAA]] to include competition with leading banks and investment companies like [[Bank of America]], [[Citi]], [[JP Morgan Chase]], [[Wells Fargo]], [[Fidelity Investments]], [[Charles Schwab]], and [[E*TRADE]].{{Fact|date=March 2008}}
==Criticism==
A recent investigation by CNN reported that major car insurance companies, including State Farm and Allstate Insurance, are increasingly fighting claims from those injured by their insured members. In some cases the settlement proposed amounts to just $50 or the threat that any lawsuit would be made so expensive and time-consuming that it wouldn't be worth the victim's time. State Farm and Allstate have denied these allegations.<ref>http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/02/09/insurance.hardball/index.html</ref>
==Competition==
Major insurance competitors include [[Allstate]], [[American Family Insurance]], [[Farmers Insurance Group]], [[Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company|Nationwide]], [[Progressive Corporation|Progressive]], [[GEICO]], and [[USAA]].{{Fact|date=March 2008}}
==Trivia==
{{trivia|date=March 2008}}
* State Farm's well-known jingle ("Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there") is just the tag ending on a full-length song. The song was written by then-soon-to-be-famous American songwriter [[Barry Manilow]] in 1971.<ref>http://www.statefarm.com/about/sf_1960.asp</ref>
*The narrator for the State Farm advertisements is [[Patrick Dempsey]]
* State Farm's internal newsletter is called the ''ALFI'', which stands for "Auto, Life, Fire Insurance"
* As of the year 2005, State Farm is insuring about 40 million vehicles.<ref>http://www.statefarm.com/_pdf/2005_yearinreview.pdf</ref> Relatively speaking, the vehicles lined up bumper-to-bumper would encircle the planet Earth four and a half times. That is also roughly 112,500 miles.
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
* [http://www.statefarm.com/ State Farm] — main official website
** [http://www.statefarmbank.com/ State Farm Bank] — official website
** [http://www.statefarmyab.com/ State Farm's Youth Advisory Board] — official website
* [http://sfresearchcenter.com/ State Farm's University of Illinois Research Center]
[[Category:Companies established in 1922]]
[[Category:Banks of the United States]]
[[Category:Financial services companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Insurance companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Insurance companies of Canada]]
[[Category:Mutual insurance companies]]
[[Category:Companies based in Bloomington-Normal, Illinois]]
[[Category:Illinois Insurance Companies]]
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