State Farm Insurance had an operating loss of $1.2 Billion last year.
But, net income was $400 million in the black according to annual company financial results.
Dave Phillips is a spokesman for the Bloomington-based company. Phillips said among the reasons for the operating loss is a $5.5 billion underwriting loss in property and casualty lines. Phillips said that was mainly in the auto area because of five events that were among the top 25 costly catastrophe's in company history.
"It's several things. You were looking at hail and wind issues and storm issues that had impacts in places such as Texas. And in the South there were consistent issues throughout the year. In California, you were looking at wildfires. But, it was mainly the hail and storm weather," said Phillips.
Phillips said claims also became costlier, injuries were more frequent, and there were more claims because of accidents as fuel prices remained low and more people drove more miles in 2016.
State Farm's net worth increased by $4.9 billion to $87.6 billion. The company said that related to growth in the unaffiliated stock portfolio.
