State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co

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.

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. said profit climbed 64% in 2006 as the Gulf Coast escaped hurricane damage. Net income rose to $5.32 billion from $3.24 billion in 2005, the Bloomington, Ill.-based company said. The company, which is owned by its policyholders, will pay a record $1.25-billion dividend to its auto customers, including $195 million in California.

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.

California's largest automobile insurance company said Wednesday that it planned to cut premiums an average of 8% for almost all of its 3 million customers and begin setting rates mostly based on a motorist's driving record. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., which has 12.8% of the market, said it would abandon its opposition to new state rules outlawing the use of ZIP Codes and would comply today.

Thanks to lower-than-anticipated costs, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. will pay a $692.3-million dividend to policyholders in 30 states and the District of Columbia. California policyholders will get $93.3 million, or about 8.3% per each policyholder's semiannual premium. That translates into an average rebate of $32 per California policyholder. State Farm, as a mutual insurance company with no stockholders, returns dividends when claims are less costly than expected.

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. said profit climbed 64% in 2006 as the Gulf Coast escaped hurricane damage. Net income rose to $5.32 billion from $3.24 billion in 2005, the Bloomington, Ill.-based company said. The company, which is owned by its policyholders, will pay a record $1.25-billion dividend to its auto customers, including $195 million in California.

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. said it will temporarily stop requiring the use of generic parts after a jury deciding an Illinois class action ordered it to pay customers $456 million, saying State Farm broke a pledge to pay for replacement parts of "like kind and quality." State Farm has defended the less-costly replacements as a way to cut insurance premiums. But it said Thursday that it wants to avoid "customer confusion" that could result from "misinformation" linked to the suit.

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.

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.

Checks Still Not in the Mail: Drawn-out administrative hearings resume at 10 a.m. Monday at the state Insurance Department's San Francisco offices over Proposition 103 rebates owed by State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. The firm, the largest property-casualty insurer in the nation and in Southern California, was ordered in 1991 to pay $234 million to Californians who were policyholders in 1989, the year after voters passed the insurance rate-rollback initiative.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The nation's largest auto insurer said Tuesday that it began complaining three years ago to Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. about an unusually high accident rate involving its Firestone brand tires and took its concerns to the government last year but never got a response.

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., already reeling from a $456-million jury verdict earlier this week--the largest single award ever against an insurance firm--was hit Friday with an additional $730-million award by an Illinois judge who found that the company deliberately defrauded policyholders by requiring body shops to use inferior crash parts to repair their wrecked vehicles. The combined award totals $1.18 billion.