State Farm to Drop Auto And Homeowners Rates Nearly $500 Million for California Customers

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Jan. 3, 2007 -- State Farm's 3 million auto and 1.4 million homeowners, renters and condo owners in California will see nearly $500 million in savings in their annual premiums when the company's recent auto and homeowners rate decreases are granted formal approval by the Department of Insurance. The combination of auto rate reductions and home, condo and renters policy decreases is the largest rate cut in the company's history in California.

Auto insurance rates, scheduled to take effect in early March, are proposed to decrease 10.1 percent, totaling some $259 million. Homeowners, including condo owners and renters, will see a drop of 20 percent, for $230 million in savings, when the plan is approved. Currently, the homeowner rates are proposed to take effect in late April.

While virtually all of State Farm's customers will see some savings, most of the significant decreases will go to policyholders with both auto and home insurance. Discounts will increase depending on how many years the policyholder has been insured by State Farm, what types of policies they have and other factors.

State Farm also reduced homeowner rates by 6.2 percent in 2005 and cut auto rates 7.6 percent in 2004 and 4.2 percent in 2005.