STFC State Auto Financial Corporation

State Auto Financial Corporation (Nasdaq:STFC) announced today that the company will host a simultaneous Web cast of its 2005 Annual Shareholders Meeting on Wednesday, May 11, 2005, beginning at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). The meeting will last approximately one hour and the PowerPoint presentation that is used during the meeting will be available on the company's Web site on the morning of the meeting. To attend the simultaneous Web cast, visit the company's Web site at http://www.STFC.com. The Web cast will be archived and available for several months after the meeting has concluded on the same site. State Auto Financial Corporation, headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, is a regional property and casualty insurance holding company engaged primarily in writing both personal and commercial lines of insurance. The company markets its policies through more than 22,200 independent insurance agents associated with over 3,200 agencies in 26 central and eastern states, excluding New York, New Jersey and the New England states. The company is included in the 2005 Forbes Magazine's Platinum 400 list of the best-managed companies in America and the State Auto Insurance Companies carry an A+ (Superior) rating from A.M. Best Company.