In my mail recently, I received a colorful postcard from State Farm, the agency which insures my car, house, and several rental properties. I was “sorting” it directly into the trash when I noticed the word “dividend” peeking up at me.
Dividend. That’s right, my insurance company has declared a dividend for its New Jersey policyholders for the second year in a row. I’m so unused to this that last year I almost tossed out a $240 check they’d sent me for my dividend payment. Once I took another look at it, I called the company to make sure they hadn’t cancelled one of my policies, as I was worried the check might be a refund of monies paid.
It is a refund of sorts, but not due to a cancelled policy, the representative explained. “When we have a year where we profit, our policyholders profit too, since they’re also our owners.”
It was a nice surprise last year, especially since insurance rates in new jersey are so high, and now I’m looking forward to seeing how much I’ll get back this year. An internet search regarding the dividend yielded only 2006 information, so it seems I’ll have to wait for the company’s next correspondence or year-end financials to get more details.
Could it be they’ve avoided posting this among the news releases on their web site so other states don’t get jealous? Apparently the dividend payout is state-specific, so not everyone will be eligible.
Does your insurance company pay dividends?
Updated February 10, 2011 and originally published December 3, 2007. If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to the RSS feed or receive daily emails. Follow @flexo on Twitter and visit our Facebook page for more updates.
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Luke Landes founded Consumerism Commentary in 2003 and has been building online communities since 1990. Luke, also known as Flexo, has contributed to PC World Magazine, US News, Forbes, and other publications. 
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Mine does. Liberty Mutual is, as one would guess, a mutual company… the policyholders are basically the shareholders. So if they announce a dividend (and they usually do, or at least they have in the past), I receive a check.
I’ve got USAA for my car insurance and they’ve been doing this for years.
I am insured with Amica–and they have regularly paid dividends on their homeowner’s and automobile policies. Ususally reduces the premium costs by an effective 20%.
I’m also with USAA, and last year instead of sending a check, they applied the dividend to my outstanding bills, which was nice. It’s fun to get a check, but nicer to not have to worry about throwing it out or losing it.
Not here in MA. Our insurance is so heavily regulated that all of the companies that do business here in MA don’t do business anywhere else.
I have New Jersey Manufacturers for both auto and homeowners. It’s a coop of sorts which has always paid dividends to policy holders. You have to meet certain criteria to be eligible for coverage – mainly work for a company or the gov’t. who are a member of the organization.
Also, our rates are about the cheapest you can possibly get in NJ. They go down each year too!
Glad to hear about your good fortune!
Glad to hear about all the dividend recipients out there. Good stuff!
I received a dividend from my car insurance company too. I use New Jersey Manufactor’s Insurance and received a dividend check for $199.65. Not bad.