Insurer Review: State Farm

As the largest insurance company in the nation, State Farm holds a great deal of clout in the industry. Providing insurance lines for Home, life, auto, businesses, disability, supplemental, etc. they aim to be your one-stop shop for all of your insurance needs outside of health insurance. State farm insures more autos than any other company in North America, and they are the leading U.S. home insurer as well. With more than 17,000 agents, nearly 70,000 employees and over 75 million policies in the United States and Canada, they are rightly sitting at the top of their game. But does being the number one company in size mean that they are necessarily number one in ways that may matter most to you? Our research says possibly so, but only if you have the right priorities.

For nearly 90 years, State Farm has been providing insurance to consumers with the motto and ideal of being fair. In fact, the company was started when its owner left an insurance company because they didn’t think it made sense to give farmers lower rates, even though they drove fewer miles and had fewer accidents. Today, with a rating among the best for a customer’s ability to contact them and being rated better than most for their claims service, customer service, billing and pricing, State Farm is managing to stay ahead of the competition in most aspects.

Financial Outlook

State Farm currently holds a Standard & Poor’s Financial Strength rating of AA, which is exceptional in the insurance industry. This high rating is due to the company’s claims paying ability and the fact that they do not tend to shirk or shrug off the need to pay their legitimate insurance claims as some insurance companies tend to do.

Claims Service

When it comes to claims service, finding complaints against State Farm requires some diligence and hard searching. Of course the company is not perfect, and does not enjoy a 100% satisfaction rating - they do need to defend against fraud or being taken advantage of - but they come about as close as you can expect from any large insurance operation. Whether you are a customer of theirs or you have had an accident with one of State Farm’s customers and have to deal with the insurance company in settling a claim, State Farm generally seems to treat people well and fairly.

Customer Service

With more agents around the country than any other insurer offers, 24/7 support through both the phone and Internet, fast response times and their excellent claims service, State Farm rates very highly in the realm of customer service. Usually when a company is exceptionally large, as State Farm is, it also means that they have an exceptionally large target painted on their back, or that they begin to ignore their customers in their desire to reach more for profits. This does not seem to be the case with State Farm.

After having reviewed several insurance companies based on their claims ability, financial strength and their customer service levels, there doesn’t seem to be much that holds a candle to State Farm. Our rating is a solid A+.