State Farm™

State Farm™ Insurance is the largest property and auto insurance company in the world. It has a large operation in three Canadian provinces. It does not have any operations outside the United States and Canada.

State Farm™ Canadian Presence

State Farm™ only operates in three Canadian provinces New Brunswick, Ontario and Alberta. It does not conduct business in any other provinces or territories. State Life started business in Ontario in 1938 with a branch office opening in Toronto, where it still operates. State Farm’s Canadian operations centre is in Aurora near Toronto, which is reasonably close to their American and international headquarters in Bloomington, Illinois. State Farm™ has been named one of Greater Toronto’s best employers.

State Farm™ Services offered

As well as auto insurance State Farm™ provides life insurance and home insurance to the Canadian market. These products are usually derivative of its products in the United States, with variations to fit in with local Canadian laws. Due to a policy of keeping variations down, it does not offer insurance in most Canadian provinces.

State Farm™ Financial Services

State Farm™ offers financial services particularly in vehicle financing, tying in with its specialty in car insurance. State Farm™ can offer mutual funds through Invesco Trimark Ltd, however State Farm™ itself cannot sell mutual funds directly in Canada (although it does in the United States).

The Parent Company

As well as its customary role as the leading auto insurer in the United States, State Farm™ is now also the leading home insurer in the United State. In the United States State Farm™ is involved in a wide variety of financial products. It has 17,000 agents and 67,000 employees in both the United States and Canada with 77 million policies. The State Farm™ Federal Credit Union is one of the largest work place based credit unions in the world.

State Farm™ History

State Farm™ was founded in 1922 in Bloomington, Illinois., where its head office is still located. State Farm™ was set up to give lower insurance rates to rural drivers who tended to be safer and have lower accident rates than urban drivers. It has been a mutual insurer since it was set up. It has been the largest auto-insurance company in the United States since 1942. In 1971 the then obscure songwriter Barry Manilow produced State Farm’s™ theme song in its advertising, “Like a good neighbour™”.

State Farm™ Mutual Insurance

Although State Farm™ is a mutually owned company, only policy holders in New Brunswick are able to get policies under the mutual insurer terms. Customers in Ontario and Alberta are only able to get insurance on an arm’s length basis, in the same way as they would from a publicly quoted company.