Free Republic

State Farm Built The Harvey Dent Of Camaros, Can You Tell Its Good Side From Its Bad? Meet Two Face the Camaro. Can you tell which is the good half and which is the bad on this '68 convertible? State Farm had it built to serve as a gimmicky training tool for classic car insurance appraisers, so that they'd know the difference between a factory spec restoration and a cobbled together resto-mod. The driver's side of the car was refinished exactly as it came from the Chevrolet assembly line, while the passenger side was the recipient of sloppy welds and...

Chicago Breaking News State Farm to offer same-sex benefits 6:37 AM CDT, May 14, 2011 BLOOMINGTON (AP) - State Farm Insurance Cos. said Friday it will begin offering health care and other benefits to legally recognized same-sex partners of its employees, a response to an Illinois law that will soon let gay and lesbian couples enter into civil unions. The eligibility changes for the Bloomington-based insurer's group health and welfare plans affect all employees, retirees, agents and agent staff. They would be able to enroll a "legally recognized" same-sex spouse, civil union partner, or domestic partner in benefits for the...

The largest homeowners insurer in Florida is canceling the policies of 125,000 of its most vulnerable customers beginning Aug. 1, halfway through the 2010 hurricane season. The company, State Farm Florida, began sending out cancellation notices this week to nearly a fifth of its 714,000 customers, most of them in the state’s hurricane-prone coastal regions. A spokesman for State Farm said the decision was the direct result of its failure to win a 47.1 percent rate increase from state regulators. State Farm stopped writing new policies and sought the increase a year ago, saying severe losses from a series of...

As State Farm Insurance Co. prepares to leave Florida's homeowners insurance market, the state and the insurance industry say they're doing all possible to keep the insurance giant's 1.2 million policies out of the state-run pool. Florida Insurance "Commissioner [Kevin] McCarty has said there is an appetite in the private market for this business," said Tom Zutell, deputy director of communications for the Florida Office of Insurance Regulations. "If this is all done in waves, [it] will be a lot easier to integrate cancelled policies than if State Farm says it's canceling them all in the next six months." The...

After contacting State Farm Insurance and letting them know I was a policy holder I asked them about the pulling of their ad from the Glenn Beck show. This is what I received. Thank you for your recent e-mail concerning State Farm’s advertising on the Fox network. We have a policy of not advertising on political or opinion programming regardless of the network. These ads were mistakenly aired, we have corrected this issue and have taken steps to make sure it does not happen again. Understanding our millions of customers and thousands of associates hold a full spectrum of views...

Mind you, this is a guy who beat Hannity — a show that airs in primetime — in both total viewers and the demo last Friday at 5 p.m. Every last one of these advertisers is simply biding their time, wondering how long they have to wait until nutroots wrath is appeased and they can start advertising on Beck’s show again. I give it six months. Less if Greta gets dumped and GB ends up moved to 10 p.m. Twenty companies have pulled their ads from Beck’s show in just the last two weeks. The moves come after the Fox...

<p>Glenn Beck fans are fighting back against a campaign led by a black activist organization prompting major advertisers to withdraw from Beck's top-rated Fox News Channel program.</p> <p>Now a husband and wife team of Beck fans has launched a website – DefendGlenn.com – that lists the contact information for advertisers for Beck's and other Fox News programs and provides users with information and suggestions to contact those companies to urge their continued sponsorship. The site also asks users to contact Beck's current patrons to thank them for their loyalty to the Fox News star's program.</p>

Bloomington, Illinois, June 1, 2009 – State Farm® has been named one of the Best Companies for Multicultural Women by Working Mother. State Farm is joined by a cross-section of companies who share a common bond: placing diversity and inclusion firmly at the top of their workplace agenda each and every day. Companies across the country were evaluated on representation, training, development and advancement of multicultural women. “Leveraging the unique talents, thoughts and experiences of our associates helps us better serve our customers,” said Laura Haas, assistant vice president, Diversity/Human Resources. “That’s why State Farm is committed to creating a...

Saying its finances are weakened, State Farm's Florida unit wants to get out of the business of property insurance in the state. The company, Florida's largest private insurer of homes and condos with 1.2 million policies, wants to keep only auto insurance, it said in a statement. Other State Farm units would still sell life, health and other financial services, it said in a statement. Under State Farm's proposal, it would phase out of the property insurance business over two years, giving existing customers time to find new coverage. If State Farm's plan is approved by state insurance regulators, that...

State Farm Florida is pulling out of the homeowner insurance business in Florida, the company said this morning, in a surprise move that will leave more than 800,000 policyholders without coverage and will cause almost certain turmoil in the Florida insurance marketplace. "Faced with steeply declining resources to cover future claims and expenses, State Farm Florida has little choice," said Jim Thompson, president, of State Farm Florida. ''This is not an action we wanted to take, but one we must take given the realities of the Florida property insurance market. "We regret the impact this will have on our customers,...

With an eye on the fast-growing Hispanic market, State Farm Insurance Cos. will announce Thursday that it will be the lead sponsor of the largest national campaign thus far to encourage Latinos to become U.S. citizens and register to vote. That will make it the first mainstream U.S. corporation to put money behind the massive mobilization effort ahead of the November presidential vote. State Farm, one of the country's top home and auto insurers, will inject $1 million into the "Ya Es Hora" (It's About Time) campaign. The drive -- backed by the largest Spanish-language broadcast and print media in...

JACKSON, Miss. - Plaintiffs attorney Richard "Dickie" Scruggs, facing corruption and contempt charges in unrelated cases, will invoke the Fifth Amendment if forced to testify in a federal lawsuit involving Mississippi's attorney general, according to court records. Scruggs is scheduled for a deposition Friday in a lawsuit filed by State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. The insurer accuses Attorney General Jim Hood of using the threat of a criminal investigation to force settlements in civil litigation over Hurricane Katrina damages.

Honest, I'm not looking for trouble. Just hanging out on Christmas afternoon, watching the Heat vs. the Cavs on ABC, when a State Farm Insurance commercial comes on. Funny stuff. A guy on a treadmill gets so distracted by a shapely young woman on a hamstring machine that he slips and falls off. A trim man, identified by a screen graphic as Dr. Ian Smith, comes by to help him to his feet, and says this: Go on, laugh. But it's not easy getting back in shape. That's why we created the 50-Million Pound Challenge. It's a new way to...

One big question when Democrats took over Congress was which industry would be first to feel the new majority's populist rage. Oil? Pharma? Banks? Corporate America just got its answer, direct from the angriest man to have been empowered in the past election: Republican Sen. Trent Lott. Like many Gulf Coast residents, Mr. Lott was soon reminded by his insurer, State Farm, that his policy only covered wind damage--not flood damage.

JACKSON, Miss. - Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood said Friday he will seek legislation aimed at blocking State Farm Insurance Cos. from refusing to write new homeowners and commercial policies in the hurricane-battered state. He said the plan was modeled after actions taken by Florida and would require any company that writes automobile insurance to write homeowners policies as well. "We're looking at a robber baron in the face that is trying to make an example of Mississippi," Hood said of State Farm. State Farm, Mississippi's largest home insurer, said Wednesday it has had enough of the "untenable" legal and...

File this one under "MSM condemns ee-vil corporations." As you'll note from the screencap, ABC's Good Morning America today branded State Farm Insurance "not a good neighbor." What is State Farm's sin? Its decision not to write new homeowners and commercial policies in the state of Mississippi. Did you note that? State Farm has decided not to write any new policies. This in no way affects the insurer's liability for existing policies. State Farm has made a simple business decision: given the legal environment there, Mississippi is not a good place for an insurer like it do to business....

State Farm Insurance Cos. is suspending sales of any new commercial or homeowner policies in Mississippi starting Friday, citing in part a wave of litigation it has faced after Hurricane Katrina, a company official said Wednesday. Mike Fernandez, vice president of public affairs for State Farm, said Mississippi's "current legal and political environment is simply untenable. We're just not in a position to accept any additional risk in this homeowners' market."

NEW ORLEANS — A federal judge in Mississippi on Friday refused to endorse part of a proposed settlement that calls for insurance payments to thousands of Mississippi policyholders whose homes were destroyed or damaged by Hurricane Katrina. U.S. District Judge L.T. Senter Jr. would not sign off on a deal between State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. and Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood for at least $50 million in payments to policyholders whose claims were denied but didn't sue the company. The Bloomington, Ill.-based insurer also had agreed to pay about $80 million to more than 600 policyholders who sued...

GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) -- A federal judge ruled against an insurance company Thursday in a Hurricane Katrina damage case that may have implications for hundreds of other homeowner lawsuits against insurers who refused to cover billions of dollars in damage from the storm's surge. U.S. District Judge L.T. Senter Jr. ruled that State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. is liable for $223,292 in damage caused by Hurricane Katrina to a Biloxi couple's home, but said a jury must decide whether to award millions of dollars more in punitive damages. The jury was expected to start weighing punitive damages on Thursday...

Thousands of State Farm Lloyds customers along the coast will lose their property insurance starting next year. The state's largest insurer said Thursday it plans to not renew 6,000 personal and commercial policies on properties within 2,500 feet of coastal waters or bays, on a barrier island or peninsula. That means nonrenewals for about 780 policies in Harris County and 3,200 policies in Galveston County, according to company spokeswoman Sophie Harbert. "Reducing our waterfront exposure will allow State Farm to meet the needs of more customers elsewhere in the coastal market that we might not otherwise be able to write...