Canadian Underwriter
News

State Farm’s brand name to disappear in Canada


November 21, 2017   by David Gambrill, Editor-in-Chief


Print this page Share

Say goodbye to the State Farm brand name in Canada.

Desjardins announced Tuesday that the former State Farm Canadian business will gradually be rebranded Desjardins Insurance. The brand transition will officially begin on May 1, 2018, and will be completed by Dec. 31, 2019.

“This is an exciting step in the evolution of Desjardins,” said Guy Cormier, president and CEO of Desjardins Group. “Our vision is rooted in a cooperative mission which highlights community involvement and customer-focused values. Desjardins Insurance encompasses these shared values and commitments. We have a well-known and very strong brand, this will contribute to strengthening it across Canada.”

The historic brand name switch is part of the initial purchase agreement between Desjardins Group, a cooperative financial group in Canada with over $276 billion in assets, and State Farm’s Canadian property and casualty and life insurance operations.

In January 2015, Desjardins Group completed the purchase of State Farm’s Canadian property and casualty and life insurance operations, as well as its mutual fund, loan and living benefits companies. The agreement contained a sunset clause on the use of the State Farm brand name.

“Part of the agreement was that Desjardins was only allowed to use the brand name until the end of 2019, so we had to make the name change at some point anyway,” Desjardins media spokesperson John Bordignon told Canadian Underwriter. “The only question was, what was it going to be, and now we’ve announced that it’s going to be Desjardins Insurance.”

State Farm clients in Canada will be served by their current agents, who will transition to the Desjardins Insurance brand under the new Desjardins agent network.

“We are committed to the exclusive agent network, which provides clients and consumers the added value of personal service and advice from a trusted insurance professional in their community,” said Denis Dubois, president and chief operating officer of Desjardins General Insurance Group. “Our clients will continue to benefit from the established relationships they’re used to, with full access to the insurance and financial products that fit their unique needs and goals.”


Print this page Share

5 Comments » for State Farm’s brand name to disappear in Canada
  1. Claude Rochefort says:

    A tremendous 80 Years of Good Neighbor sevice to Canadian policyholders comes to and end. To Desjardins the torch has been passed. Hold it high!

  2. Wendy Lock says:

    I wonder how many Canadians would purchase Desjardins products if they knew that Desjardins is only interested in pulling jobs from outside Quebec?? They only care about their French employees but, they absolutely love English money.. They have a very minimal English workforce, especially after the last restructure.. As a customer, be prepared to have miscommunication, on a constant basis..

  3. Mark Citsay says:

    The name is historic so this would be a big move to change the name. Perhaps they have their reasons and decided it’s for the best to do the rebranding. This is informative, thanks for sharing.

  4. Sean Willan says:

    Brutal. One of the most respected insurance companies in North America being taken over by one of the worst.

  5. Tim says:

    Always welcome the change

Have your say:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*