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Our Summary

State Farm keeps commercial insurance underwriting old school. You’ll need to have an application taken by one of their 19,000 nationwide agents and go through the business underwriting process to firm up the policy. State Farm boasts serving over 300 professions, but if your business has certain types of risks, it may be ineligible with State Farm. 

Company Overview

State Farm was founded in 1922 in Bloomington, Illinois where it still maintains its headquarters. It has an army of 19,000 independent contractors that own and operate State Farm offices in all 50 states to serve you. This State Farm insurance review will focus on the commercial insurance aspect of the company’s offerings. 

Geographic Representation

State Farm offices are found in all 50 states with agents owning small local offices that may employ their own staff who can help you.

Lines of Coverage

State Farm offers most basic types of commercial insurance for clients. 

The types of commercial insurance policies that you can get with State Farm include:

  • General Liability: Covers third-party claims of bodily injury, property damage, or advertising injury
  • Professional Liability: Covers service providers when accused of not doing job properly thus leading to property damage or injury
  • Business Owners Policy (BOP): A combination policy of general liability and commercial property insurance 
  • Workers’ Compensation: Pays for workers’ injuries and lost wages when hurt while performing their job duties
  • Commercial Auto: Covers commercial vehicles for liability as well as comprehensive and collision damage if elected

Top Industries Served

State Farm tends to be very conservative in how it underwrites business insurance. While it will underwrite service contractors, it doesn’t underwrite general contractors. It has a large appetite for restaurants as long as there is no alcohol being served. Those who are in Main Street businesses, such as accountants and lawyers, will find State Farm competitive. 

Its website has featured businesses, such as:

  • Retail, shops, and stores
  • Contractors and trades
  • Specialized professions
  • Sales, service, and distributors 

A quick conversation with a State Farm agent will be able to help you determine if the company is capable of underwriting your business. 

Premium Costs

State Farm’s business owners policies are competitively priced, with policies starting at $250 per year in premium. Your actual rate will depend on where your business is located, how much in revenues you generate, and whether or not you have any prior claims. You may be eligible for discounts if your business has security systems and sprinklers. 

Underwriting Process

While you may be able to start a quote online, your information will be sent to an agent in your area who will contact you to firm up the details of your quote. Once a quote is finished, you can bind a policy, but all business insurance does go through State Farm’s business underwriters to make sure that the business meets all underwriting standards. Most businesses can get a policy bound the same day with final issuance being a few days later. 

AM Best Ratings

AM Best is an insurance rating company that looks at the financial solvency of a company and gives it a score. It is used as industry standards to determine the financial strength of insurance companies. State Farm has an A++, the highest rating you can get from AM Best. This suggests that the company has ample reserves to handle catastrophic losses and pay claims. 

Complaint Index

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) has what it refers to as the complaint index. This is a ratio of how many complaints a company has received in relation to its market share. An average score is determined at 1.0. Scores above 1.0 suggest that a company has work to do with more claims than expected. When scores are below 1.0, the company has a favorable complaint rating. 

The State Farm commercial insurance complaint ratios are:

  • General liability: 1.02
  • Commercial property: 1.16
  • Commercial auto: 3.06

For the most part, State Farm is near the average though its commercial auto division appears to need some work. 

Reputation

State Farm, the corporation has 92 reviews on Trustpilot with a 1.7 rating. It’s important to remember that all State Farm agencies are independently owned and thus, your experience may change from agent to agent and many have their own Trustpilot ratings. Most of the ratings on Trustpilot have to do with personal auto insurance and are not indicative of what you can expect with commercial insurance. 

Concluding Thoughts

State Farm’s foundation is in relationship building among agents and customers. This model means that you won’t be able to get a policy within minutes online and will instead want to find an agent who understands your business and goals. Rates are competitive, so it’s worth a look to see if you can get the service you want from an agent. 

Learn more about State Farm 

Methodology

CommericalInsurance.net employs its own independent research to come up with the details for reviews. We do this so that you can have as many insights as possible about a company so that you can make the best decision for your commercial insurance. We take into consideration the company’s history and where they serve. We want to highlight the appetite that a company has as this suggests where business owners can get the most competitive rates. Where possible, we include premium data. From there, we take into account formal complaints, and financial strength ratings along with public reviews painting a broad picture of the company’s reputation. 

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I recommend the prices! They have great customer service!
Five Star Rating
Susan Ellison
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Insurance I needed, explained simply.
Five Star Rating
Kimberly Zimnoski
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5 STAR. Matched our company with the perfect insurance company! Customer Service OUTSTANDING!
Five Star Rating
Kim Reisch
Affordable Towing
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