Insurance rates for homes and cars have been soaring since the pandemic, but one insurance company is refunding some customers for those high premiums. State Farm announced recently that it will be giving money back to auto insurance customers later this year. It comes on the heels of record profits for the insurer, and while people are grateful to get anything back, this refund still feels like a drop in the bucket. Here’s what the State Farm refund is all about.
Why Is State Farm Sending Out Checks?
In February, State Farm announced that it was paying back auto insurance customers a total of $5 billion in dividends. It’ll be the largest dividend payout to customers in the mutual insurance company’s history.
“This dividend is possible due to State Farm Mutual’s financial strength and a stronger than expected underwriting performance,” said the company in a statement. That underwriting gain in 2025 was to the tune of $1.5 billion, according to Kiplinger, and it came almost exclusively from car insurance policies, not home policies.
The statement goes on to explain that “as a mutual company, State Farm is uniquely positioned to provide value directly to customers rather than shareholders.” That means that the $5 billion in dividends goes back to auto policy holders.
How Do I Know If I’m Getting a Refund?
If you had a personal auto insurance policy with State Farm last year, chances are you’ll be getting a dividend check from the company. There are more than 49 million autos that qualify for the refund, according to the company.
State Farm says that the amount will average about $100 per qualified vehicle, which, well, isn’t that much considering we’re talking $5 billion total here. The actual amounts will vary depending on what state you live in and how much you paid in premiums. There’s no exact timeline on when the refunds will go out, but the company says it should be this summer.
While this all sounds like a pretty sweet deal, let’s not forget that this is an insurance company we’re talking about. They make more money when they don’t pay out on claims and charge more for premiums. That fact is not lost on many of its customers, who took to social media to complain.
“So they almost double my rates over 4 years but I get almost $100?!,” said one commenter on Reddit in a thread about the dividend payout. “Wow!! What a deal!!!”
“$100? That’s it?” said another Redditor, incredulously.
Others pointed out the fact that it’s been a long time since they got any dividend back from State Farm. “I don’t think I’ve received a dividend check in 25 years,” said one long-time policyholder.
Another Redditor chimed in and summed up the situation pretty well: “It is about time to get something back.”
