BUSINESS
March 1, 2003 | From Bloomberg News
State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., the biggest U.S. auto and home insurer, posted a loss of $2.8 billion in 2002 as claims outstripped premiums and the company lost money in its stock portfolio. State Farm narrowed its loss from a record $5 billion in 2001 after it cut losses in its homeowner and auto units.
BUSINESS
July 17, 2002 | Bloomberg News
State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. said it is consolidating its claims and business operations in California to help save $69 million annually. The plan affects operation centers in Westlake Village and Costa Mesa, which employ 1,227 people. Although no immediate job cuts are planned, the Bloomington, Ill.-based insurer said 1,200 people may be offered relocation, reassignment or severance options.
BUSINESS
June 4, 2002 | Bloomberg News
The U.S. Supreme Court will use a $145-million award assessed against State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. to consider putting new limits on punitive damages. The case gives businesses a chance to extend a 1996 Supreme Court decision that struck down a $2-million punitive damage award concerning a BMW paint flaw. That case marked the first--and only--time the high court has declared an award to be so large that it violates the U.S. Constitution.
BUSINESS
March 2, 2002 | LIZ PULLIAM WESTON, TIMES STAFF WRITER
State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. lost a record $5 billion last year as the company was pummeled by huge increases in homeowner and auto claims as well as declines in investment returns, company officials said Friday. The massive loss on revenue of $40 billion was the insurer's largest ever and could lead to additional premium increases nationwide, analysts said.
BUSINESS
April 7, 2001 | Associated Press
An Illinois state appellate court has upheld most of a lower court's verdict in a nationwide class-action lawsuit against State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., ruling that the country's largest auto insurer acted with "calculated deception of its policyholders" in supplying them with auto body parts that critics claimed were substandard. The verdict, handed down in the 5th Circuit Illinois Court of Appeals in Mount Vernon, upheld most of the $1.2-billion awarded by a Marion, Ill.
BUSINESS
August 17, 2000 | TERRIL YUE JONES and EDMUND SANDERS, TIMES STAFF WRITERS
Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. said Wednesday that it has doubled production to meet demand in the wake of its massive tire recall and that all replacements should be completed by spring instead of next summer. The tire maker has replaced 200,000 tires so far and boosted production to about 350,000 tires a month, up from a typical month's production of 180,000, Executive Vice President John Lampe said. The company will continue to increase output until it reaches about 500,000 a month in January.