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With their image of trustworthiness and strength thanks to authoritative-looking spokesperson Dennis Haysbert (who once played the President on prime time television) Allstate is one of the best-known insurance companies in the nation.
The largest publicly owned personal lines insurance company in the U.S., in fact, with many subsidiaries and a large product range. A memorable slogan, a strong advertising presence, and sponsorship of multiple sports events make Allstate difficult to miss, and their market share is as strong as their image.
Whether or not their service lives up to that image, we’ll see below in this review.
Allstate Insurance Overview
One of the most recognizable names in insurance was born from another well-known company; Allstate was originally a part of Sears, Roebuck, & Co., and has been around since 1931. In fact, the company is named after Sears’ own brand of tires.
Today Dennis Haysbert asks “Are you in good hands?” at the end of Allstate commercials, but the “You’re in Good Hands” promise goes all the way back to 1950.
With a 9.93% share of the auto insurance market, Allstate stands in third position behind only State Farm and GEICO (listed in the rankings under their parent group, Berkshire Hathaway). GEICO very recently pushed Allstate down to third place, but they remain very close by the numbers.
Allstate policies are primarily sold through captive agents – that means that most Allstate agents sell only products from Allstate and it’s subsidiaries. That usually results in higher premiums because those agents take a commission, which is why you’ll see companies like Allstate using better customer service versus direct sales to convince insurance customers the higher rates are worth paying.
Allstate has a long list of subsidiary companies, which even includes online insurance pioneer Esurance. Allstate bought out Esurance in 2011, giving them a strong foothold in the direct-buy market. Other companies under Allstate’s banner are:
- Encompass Insurance Company
- Allstate Fire and Casualty Insurance Company
- Allstate Insurance Company
- Allstate Life Insurance Company
- Allstate Property and Casualty Insurance Company
- Allstate New Jersey Property and Casualty Insurance Company
- Allstate New Jersey Insurance Company
- Allstate Life Insurance Company of New York
- Castle Key Insurance Company
- Castle Key Indemnity Company
- Allstate Texas Lloyd’s
- Allstate County Mutual Insurance Company
- American Heritage Life Insurance Company
- Allstate Insurance Company of Canada
Products and Services
Although they are known primarily as an auto insurance company, Allstate actually sells nearly every type of personal lines policy as well as a good range of commercial products. This allows them to cover all the needs of a single individual under one banner, which adds a convenience factor as well as the selling point of multi-policy discounts.
- Auto Insurance – Allstate’s flagship product and the majority of their policy sales, auto insurance policies come with all the standard features as well as a long list of add-ons and discounts. Among the options is the Your Choice upgrade options, which gives you several trendy add-ons including Accident Forgiveness and Deductible Rewards for an extra cost. The Platinum option comes with the most options, and it costs more as a result.
- Homeowner’s Insurance – Homeowner’s policies from Allstate provide standard structure and personal property coverage. They also write landlord policies, renter’s insurance, and condo insurance, covering a range of home types.
- Motorcycle Insurance – Allstate isn’t well known for motorcycle coverage, mainly because they don’t advertise it as heavily as main competitor GEICO. They do in fact write comprehensive policies and offer a list of available discounts and add-ons like New Motorcycle Replacement, similar to what’s available from their auto policies.
- Life Insurance – Several of Allstate’s subsidiaries, depending on where you live, write life insurance in the usual forms: term, whole, and universal.
- Recreational, Off-road, and Boat Insurance – Allstate writes policies for a wide variety of different toys, from RVs to ATVs and including boats, snowmobiles, and more.
- Business Insurance – Among the businesses Allstate covers are retail, service, contractors, medical, and wholesale. They provide a range of coverage including business property, liability, and commercial auto.
- Financial Products – Financial products include annuities, IRAs, mutual funds, and college savings plans provided through several of Allstate’s subsidiaries.
- Supplemental Health Insurance – Although Allstate doesn’t write full health insurance plans, they do offer a variety of products to provide extended coverage. These include disability, critical illness, cancer care, and accident protection.
This incredibly diverse list of coverage makes Allstate a convenient location for one-stop insurance shopping. Multi-policy discounts are one of the most attractive features of large companies with multiple product lines as well, which is a major draw for a lot of insurance shoppers.
A Closer Look at Allstate Auto
Since auto insurance is the number one product offering from Allstate, I’ll take the time to give it a closer look. Allstate is by no means the most affordable auto insurance company on the market, but they sell their higher rates as being accompanied by superior service and a list of features, discounts, and add-ons that are intended to add value to the policy.
A Look at Accident Forgiveness
Allstate was the first company to offer one of the biggest trends in recent years – accident forgiveness. Accident forgiveness ushered in an age of somewhat gimmicky add-ons, allowing car insurance companies to charge higher premiums for endorsements that sound good, but offer questionable value to drivers.
Accident forgiveness basically allows you to have one accident covered within a three-year period for which the insurance company won’t charge you – that means no rate increase because of the accident. Instead, the insurance company is charging you an extra premium whether or not you have an accident.
Accident forgiveness is essentially an extra charge that is likely to cost you more over a lifetime of insurance than the surcharge for a single accident would. Of course, it could be well worth it to those drivers who do get to make use of it, but overall it’s not the benevolent offering it seems on the part of insurance companies – it’s designed to make them money based on the likelihood that most people will pay for it and never use it.
Do Good Drivers Need Add-Ons?
Allstate also has other add-ons that are designed to add value to their policies, such as Deductible Rewards, for which they reduce the deductible on the policy by $100 for each year accident-free.
As with accident forgiveness, this is the type of add-on that is only helpful when you use it – meaning you would need to have an accident for the lower deductible to save you anything on your premiums.
Good drivers are Allstate’s main market. The company has a number of perks offered to good drivers, including Bonus Rewards, which pay customers back for good driving. Drivers with good records are those least likely to need add-ons such as Deductible Rewards and Accident Forgiveness, which means they don’t really add much value to the policy, just cost more.
Drivewise – Usage-Based Insurance
One more trend Allstate has been quick to jump on is usage-based insurance.
Allstate’s version is called Drivewise, and like most usage based systems it involves a monitoring device in the car that records how far you drive, when you drive, how fast you drive and your braking habits.
Information gathered can be used to earn drivers a discount. Drivewise is an option drivers can choose to help earn lower rates.
Usage-based insurance systems are still new to the insurance market, so it’s difficult to say how well they will work long-term. Drivewise is not yet available in all states, but it does show Allstate’s typical willingness to move on new concepts in auto insurance.
Here’s my longer review of Drivewise with more information on how it works.
Allstate Rewards and Safe Driver Bonuses
Allstate offers a couple of programs that promise to pay good drivers back for driving safely.
Allstate Rewards
First, let’s look at the Allstate Rewards program, which allows drivers to earn point redeemable for a variety of products and services – sort of like an airline rewards program, but based on your good driving habits.
Although anyone can enroll, the most points are earned by using the Drivewise system. Joining is free, so although this is another one of those gimmicky things, I can’t see a down side to joining, except that you’ll have to get Drivewise if you hope to gather enough points to be really useful.
Safe Driver Bonus
Now let’s look at the Safe Driver Bonus. Allstate promises a check in the mail every 6 months for those who keep a good driving record. Unfortunately, word from those insured by Allstate is that the program doesn’t quite work that way.
This Allstate customer took to his blog to complain that he lost his safe driver bonus because his car was struck in a parking lot by a hit and run driver. As it turns out, the bonus check isn’t for keeping a safe record, but rather for having no claims at all – even those for which you’re not at fault.
The biggest argument against the Safe Driver Bonus isn’t how you get the checks, but whether they are worth it. Like Accident Forgiveness and Deductible Rewards, the Safe Driver Bonus is part of the upgraded Your Choice plan – which means you pay an extra premium to get it. Essentially, if you’re claim-free, Allstate will give you back some of the extra money you paid on your premiums – even if you get the check, you’re not coming out on top in the end.
Allstate Premiums and Discounts
Allstate offers online quoting for auto insurance to allow drivers to obtain and compare rates without needing to call an agent, which makes it easier to obtain numbers – although you will still be directed to an agent to complete the policy.
The online quoting system requires that you enter some personal information up front, including your full address, something that commonly results in a lot of unwanted mail solicitation in the future.
Interestingly for a company that doesn’t advertise itself as the lowest priced, in our rate comparisons Allstate consistently comes in as one of the more affordable options, often well below the average rate. That is based on our test information, which generally fits Allstate’s target market.
Discounts
Allstate does offer a fairly good range of discounts, but notably absent from their list is a multi-vehicle discount, which is available from every other major insurer, including Allstate’s top competitors.
Also surprisingly not available are loyalty, military, and affinity group discounts. Allstate is one of the few major insurance companies to offer new vehicle discounts for cars less than two years old, but that discount applies to a far smaller segment of the population.
A large number of Allstate’s discount programs are aimed at good drivers and at encouraging safe driving, which is an admirable goal, but means that those most likely to benefit are those who are already receiving the company’s best rates.
Advertising and Media
Allstate has been known to take a serious approach to their advertising in the past, which makes their more recent “Mayhem” commercials something of a surprise. In spite of adding some humor, the character of Mayhem (still quite a bit darker than GEICO’s perky gecko), representing dangers like the distraction of cell phones, is still there to push Allstate’s main message:
It’s worth paying more to get better insurance.
It’s the same message Allstate has been pushing for 60+ years with the “Good Hands” slogan, indicating that paying less for insurance (cut-rate insurance, as Allstate calls it) means you might find yourself in trouble when something goes wrong.
The “you get what you pay for” argument holds some water in the insurance industry, especially when it comes to paying more for higher limits and move coverage. Proving that paying more gets you better customer service is a tougher sell.
A 2104 Insure.com study of customer satisfaction with auto insurance studies ranked direct-insure giant GEICO higher than Allstate overall, although GEICO’s lower overhead means generally lower rates.
More humor has been injected into commercials pushing Allstate’s accident forgiveness, such as this spot, where a minor accident is a cause for laughs, since accident forgiveness means it won’t cost him. As previously discussed, this particular add-on is of dubious value to consumers, but remains a central point in Allstate’s marketing even though most major insurers now offer it as an option.
Allstate frequently pokes at GEICO as being a “cut-rate” insurance company, albeit indirectly. They’re more direct in their advertising for recently acquired Esurance, which competes with GEICO in the online, direct-sales market.
In a somewhat confusing marketing approach, spots have gone after the “15 minutes” promise from GEICO while essentially missing the point – it’s not the swiftness of quotes that brings people to GEICO, but the promise of lower rates. While Esurance might be competitive on that front, Allstate certainly will not.
Allstate Claims
When it comes to insurance companies, the moment of truth is always in the claims department. Since Allstate advertises that their rates are higher to ensure you’ll be covered when something goes wrong, they’ve got a lot to live up to in this area.
Allstate allows claims to be filed in several ways:
- Directly through your Allstate agent
- By phone at 1-800-ALLSTATE
- Via an online claims form
- On a mobile device via the Allstate app for iPhone or Android
Allstate provides a good overview of their claims process on their website.
After the initial report, the claims department will assign an adjustor and begin gathering information. The adjustor will review your coverage to determine what benefits are available, take statements, review police reports if available, and in some cases personally inspect the damage.
For auto insurance claims, Allstate has drive-in inspection centers where adjusters are on hand to take a look and work up an estimate for.
In a straightforward claim, Allstate will pay damages up to the policy limits, minus and applicable deductibles, and close the claim. The process is much the same as most major insurance companies.
As a large company, Allstate has major resources to handle claims and a big team of adjusters and customer service representatives. They have online claim tracking available on their website so that customers can stay on top of the status of their claim.
Allstate also has an 800-member National Catastrophe Team available at a moment’s notice to deal with major events such as earthquakes, hurricanes, or tornadoes. Their fleet of mobile claims centers that can be sent to any location is one of the perks of being insured with such a large company.
So the question now is how all of this actually translates to happy customers who feel their higher premiums were worth it.
Unfortunately, Allstate doesn’t seem to live up to the good hands promise for all of its customers. Many of the reviews of Allstate’s claims processing by customers are negative, citing slow response, refusal to pay claims, and shorting of payments. Customers of other insurance companies involved in accidents with Allstate-insured drivers cite similar complaints.
J.D. Power’s customer claims satisfaction ratings survey gave Allstate a 3 out of 5 overall, a ranking that places the company in the “about average” range. Average is not a good rating for a company that promises superior service in return for admittedly higher rates.
Back in 2008, Allstate was called out on a reported “boxing gloves” approach to handling claims – fighting every step of the way to pay as little as possible on just claims, landing them a rating as the worst insurance company in the nation. This was on the heels of an expositional book called “From Good Hands to Boxing Gloves” by David Berardinelli, JD, Michael Freeman, PhD, DC, MPH; and Aaron DeShaw, DC, JD. The book claimed that Allstate, along with other major insurers, was using the advice of a consulting firm to fight claims and pay out less, purposefully avoiding legitimate claim payments. In the years since there seem to have been changes to some of these policies, and Allstate has denied any wrongdoing; some of the problems seen in the complaints against Allstate’s claims department seem to match up to the allegations.
Customer Feedback
Any company the size of Allstate is going to have some customers who aren’t happy, and Allstate seems to have quite a few of these. A search of customer reviews for the company finds a laundry list of complaints ranging from overcharging to refusing coverage to generally poor customer service.
Since every major insurance company has plenty of complaints, it’s more useful to compare the number of complaints among the top three.
Consumer Affairs reviews of Allstate are 87% one-star, negative reviews. That’s on par with GEICO, also at 87%. By comparison, number one auto insurance company State Farm has an 84% negative review ratio.
It’s important to note that there are fewer reviews overall for Allstate than for either of the other two. It’s also a good idea to take into consideration that more people take to the Internet to review an insurance company when they are angry than when all is well, which can skew these numbers.
Among the 7 negative written reviews on the BBB website are more concerns about poorly handled claims and lack of availability by customer service people at Allstate. Only one positive written review appears. The BBB shows 1380 complaints in the last 3 years, with 391 closed in the last 12 months. For a company as enormous as Allstate, those numbers aren’t terribly high, and they have an A+ rating.
To compare, GEICO has 1980 complaints in the past 3 years, and State Farm has 1988 complaints in the past 3 years. Since GEICO is about the same size in terms of policy count as Allstate, and State Farm much larger, those numbers are more important when comparing the two close competitors than the insurance leader.
Of course, GEICO doesn’t write the range of products that Allstate offers – which means their complaints are all about auto insurance. Not so for Allstate, whose complaint numbers cover all of their product areas. Considered from that angle, Allstate comes out ahead of GEICO.
Overall though, the feeling left by the reviews out there leaves me concerned that not all of their customers think are in good hands.
Bottom Line
Allstate aims their policies at drivers with clean records, and insurance rates are competitive for drivers in that market.
Although Allstate makes no effort to sell their products as being cheap, they do in fact stack up pretty well for rates in their target market. They also have the ability to write nearly any policy you could want, allowing people with diverse insurance needs to keep everything under one roof.
Allstate is the third biggest auto insurer in the country, which means that in spite of negative reviews, a fairly large number of people must be having a good experience with the company.
Ultimately, the large number of negative reviews point to some of the same things that came up in the 2008 book alleging strong-arm tactics to avoid paying claims, to skimp on payments, and to discourage lawsuits. It seems Allstate still has some work to do in the area of claims service.
For a list of companies that we recommend, visit our Best Insurance Companies page.
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Review Information
I am a former insurance agent and banker turned consumer advocate. My priority is to help educate individuals and families about the different types of insurance they need, and assist them in finding the best place to get it.
Lorraine Oreilly says
My husband and I currently have insurance with Allstate (garbage insurance company and should be investigated). We left our old insurance company to save money and we did, but, however; when we needed to use them for the damage to our kitchen floor, we were told that we are not covered. [Redacted]!!! (and I don’t mean Wednesday, Thursday or Friday). When our home was structured in 07 the contractors must have used copper pipes, now it’s 2016 and the kitchen floor has black stains on it about 1 foot wide and 4 feet long. The floor has soften in that area, we called them to send out a rep to look at it, we were told in 3 three business days they would send someone out. Three days passed and we are still waiting on someone to come out. Today we went to a local Allstate agency and showed pictures of the damage. They made a phone call to an adjuster, we talked to him and he was very RUDE. He informed us that they don’t deal with water damage or anything dealing with mold. [Redacted]!!!! What is the purpose of having home insurance, if when its time to use it, you are not covered? I came home, reviewed the policy, nowhere did it say we were not covered with this water damage. The only thing it stated was and I quote: “Did you know you do not have water back-up coverage? Water back-up coverage may provide protection for a covered loss when; Water or any other substance backs up through sewers or drains; or water or any other substance overflows from a sump pump, sump pump well or other system designed for the removal of subsurface water which is drained from a foundation area of a structure”. Well, this is NOT the case with us. This water is NOT from a backed up sewage system, drain, or sump pump well. I will be contacting the News to put ALLSTATE on blast and to show others that you are not in good hands with them.
Jarda says
Bunch of liars tell you one thing and do another. I switched from Geico and they gave me a rate of $74, within of two months raise to $84 told me that they messed up and gave me one extra discount and they’re taking it back of. Four months later raised it to $94 without even telling me and when I called them they said oh they raised our premiums but we did tell you……… No they never did tell me just raised it!!!
Well now I am at 11 months Mark and it went up to $104, so in less than a year they raised my premium $30 and guess what this last time never even told me never sent no emails didn’t say anything I just looked at my bill and it was $104.
I guess I had enough looking for new insurance, I do not like people lying to you straight in your face say they were going to do something and turn around and do something different…..STRAIGHT UP LIARS!!!
Glenn says
I agree just dropped them very unprofessional rude. Ask questions they redirect me to corporate or billing… thought was all one company couldn’t answer simple questions or put the blame on me what happened to customer service.
Rock says
I completly agree with all negative comments…i had the for awhile they were great at first. My home was broken into in the first 2 days of a remodle and everything was taken. I was told it would replace only $500 dollars so i figured not really worth it cause it would raise my rate. Eventually got contacted by the “agent” quotes because she doesnt care it was the assistante that called and could do something and not raise the rates so i said alright lets do that. I recived a check of about 1750, not even half value but ok. The part that is in question is my rates more than doubled…sorry me paid them for three years…..after the third i received my escrow info and allstate had billed me $2500 even after doubling it it was $1500. So i called and called all i got is that what was billed, so wrong, not even worth a piss in a bucket, but eventually they said well we can drop you payment to $700…wait im talking about the year before…eventually just moved on…everything sucks, customer service them finding anything that they sent to resemble my premium even though i had 2 different statements that year..good hands my ass…even after they cut it went with a better carrier and for half of their price after the readjustment…BTW that raised the mortgage almost double just from their antics.
Judy says
I hope to discourage anyone from ever using Allstate as their ins.company,they
Discriminate,they are liars,they are phoneys,they don’t care about people,at all,I have read all these reviews here, and I was done dirty as well.
It doesn’t matter for me to list all the details ,none of us would take the time,to do this,here,if we weren’t all burnt by Allstate,Please don’t go with them,all these reviews,are from people who have been hurt by Allstate,and these are the people that care about you ,reading this,we don’t want others to be hurt by them.
Respect and Trust,are a gift,Allstate will never evet,earn my trust again,they deserve to have their ins. Companies close down.
julie moskal says
I have recently review my agent [Redacted] .I am sorry to say I wasn’t fair they are very hard working agents ,who keep me up dated and my best interest at hand. I have a bad day and the survey was a wrong choice to vent on. I would recommend and have recommend to others. I give them a ten in service and concern. I have been with your company since 1971 and no desire to change. Thank you.
Corey Hartson says
WARNING!!!! You are NOT in good hands with Allstate. I have had Allstate for a little over 3 years. I have never been so insulted by the lack of professionalism and the ignorance portrayed by a recent claim representative. I will summarize my experience and do my best to leave out any biased information. I will give it to you straight. I was involved in a motor vehicle accident last month. I called up to report the claim as required. The claim representative that was in charge of my claim took my recorded statement where I informed him of all the details I could recall of the incident at hand. After the recording was off, he immediately made the assumption that I was at fault. This was before reading the other drivers statement, receiving the police report, or having any other resources to make an accurate assessment. The truthfully informed both the officer at the scene and the claim representative that I had a very vague recollection of the facts. I was on the interstate for approximately 2 miles, driving in control of my vehicle, and noted that there were NO cars within a 1/4 mile vicinity. I attempted to change lanes as I approached the upcoming exit in a 1/2 mile. I looked in my side mirror, and checked my blind spot, put my directional on. As I shifted approximately 3 inches to the left (still in my lane to my recollection) I felt impact to the passenger side rear of my vehicle, I was then spun sideways where the other vehicle struck my passenger door. Upon the arrival of the state police, the other driver hollered and was uncontrollably insisting that “I intentionally ran him off the road due to road rage”. This was completely inaccurate and couldn’t be farther from the truth. I refuted and let the officer handle the scene. Once I gathered all that I could recall, it was apparent that the other vehicle attempted to pass me on the right, was speeding, and impacted my vehicle. Once I received the accident report it was apparent why this driver was accusing me. The operator was 18 years old and driving his parents sports car, thus causing the accident. I am 35 years old, married to a beautiful wife, with a perfect 5 year old at home. My car was less than 4 months new. There is no possible logic as to why I would intentionally damage my vehicle and jeopardize my life and another persons well being. I tried to leave the age discrimination out of the scenario, but when I am falsely accused of a wrongdoing, I can only speak the truth. I escalated the claim to a manager and again stated my side of the incident. The “at fault” was determined before the police report was even submitted and I was found liable. There was no effort on the part of the claims representative to argue on his client (myself) behalf. The claims rep didn’t even know what the state laws were. Never in my life have I been so insulted, frustrated, or place in an uncomfortable position. This is unacceptable and I will be switching to another insurance company for my homeowners, auto, and recreational vehicle policies. To add to the matter, the adjuster tried to short me on the repairs to my brand new vehicle, they attempted to have the autobody cut corners to keep cost down and wrote the check out for the wrong amount. This company is NOT there for their clients and I will NEVER be associated with this dishonest and uneducated company. I highly recommend staying away from Allstate for all your insurance needs.
charrla says
My experience with Allstate is terrible I had an agent [Redacted] she is very unpleasant and rude and can be unprofessional…I dont recommend them at all search around to see if u can find cheaper insurance……
David says
I’ve had Allstate home and auto coverage for 25+ years. Have had a few claims on both. Car accident claims, both at fault and not, were handled quickly, professionally, and paid fairly. Home claims were handled quickly and fairly as well. Most recently we had hail damage to the roof from a storm. Allstate adjuster came out, inspected, estimated the repairs, and printed a check for the full amount (less deductable) on the spot.
Overall, they’re not the cheapest, but my experience with their customer service has been excellent.
A.L says
If you are looking for an insurance company that is out of reality, then choose “ALLSTATE”. I had 2 cars insured with them, then when they started offering home insurance in the State of Massachusetts this year I transferred my home policy with them. Just to add to my surprise, I received a letter from indicating they’ve cancelled the home policy without a notice because there’s some peeling paint in the back of the house that was caused by the zillion storms we had this past winter, and therefore; they couldn’t insure my house.
What?? yes, that is exactly what I said. I called their agent in Quincy, MA who by the way never answers neither emails or calls ( NEVER) and left him several VMs to tell him (which he should already know) that we’ve several snow storms, I can paint the house if they could give me an extension of 2 months or something until I can come up with the money, but the answer ( through his admin) was a big fat NO. They wanted however, keep my auto policies active because my wife and I have a perfect driving record and only use both cars on Weekends, but, in my turn I had to say NO [Redacted} way. Both the cars and house come as a one package, you cancel one, better off cancel both.
To my surprise again, when I transferred everything to a different carrier, I save more than 35% in premiums for the same exact coverage.
I think it was all in good faith and was meant to be****Thank God***.
DO NOT CHOOSE them, you may be in good hands as they say for twice as much.
Marie Christopher says
YOU ARE NOT IN GOOD HAND WITH ALLSTATE!!!! When you have a claim they will not take responsibility for the damages. Their adjusters are completely incompetent and out of touch with the cost of repairing damages. Having Allstate home insurance is like not having any insurance. All they know is how to collect the money. If you have a claim THEY WILL NOT COVER DAMAGES. They did not even have the professional courtesy to send an adjuster to see that damages first hand.
My mother is 92 years old and a heart patient. She cannot go up the stairs and she uses a walker. We have been without bathroom facilities on the first floor for five weeks. Allstate denied my request to send an adjuster down when these damages first occurred. The adjuster tried to minimize the damages. The amount of money Allstate is willing to give does not cover the cost of replacing the damaged items, not to mention the cost of labor.
Diane says
BEWARE: ALLSTATE INSURANCE COMPANY COMPLETE RIP OFF ARTISTS. THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD INVESTIGATE THAT COMPANY AND CLOSE THEM DOWN. THEY ARE SCAM ARTISTS! DON’T DO BUSINESS WITH THEM BECAUSE IF YOU THINK THAT YOUR LIFE, AUTO, AND HOME ARE PRPTECTED, YOU ARE DELUSIONAL! WHEN SOMETHING HAPPENS, THEY WILL NOT TAKE RESPONSIBILITY! IF YOU HAVE ALLSTATE INSURANCE FOR ANYTHING, YOU REALLY NEED TO FIND A DIFFERENT INSURANCE COMPANY BEFORE, GOD FORBID, YOU NEED TO FILE A CLAIM.
TERRIBLE COMPANY TO DO BUSINESS!!!
Rebecca says
I’m currently researching changing my auto policy to allstate and came across this review and the comments. While I’ve not decided on the change to auto policy yet, I felt compelled to provide our POSITIVE experience with an Allstate home insurance claim.
Our home was damaged by hail in October, 2010, but the damage was not all immediately visible and was presumed by us to be minor and not worth contacting the insurance company about. By the time the damage became much more obvious (gradual loss of paint on patio cover at only the locations of hail “dings” that couldn’t even been seen until the paint flecked off, loss of paint on the gable ends at the location of dings that then accelerated until most of the gable was bare, and other such), we assumed it was too late to make a claim, more than two years having passed. Then in September 2014 we had wind damage to the roof and made a claim. The adjuster came out promptly, noted the hail damage and said it would be more cost-efficient for us to file a claim for the older hail damage – that way, not only would the roof be repaired, but also the hail damage to the patio covers and fascia. The only thing he did NOT approve for coverage was damage to the wooden gables because, due to the amount of time that had passed, he said he was unable to tell if the damage was from the hail. He said we would be sent a check for the depreciated cost of the property damaged and, should we choose to have the repairs made, we would then be reimbursed for the repairs up to very reasonable approved amount. Upon calling in to Allstate to check one item, we were told the only caveat regarding reimbursement up to the approved amount was that we had to have the repairs made within six months of initiating the claim.
We had the depreciated value check in a week. Within the next couple of weeks, a team from Allstate came out to review the adjusters work – and approved MORE items for reimbursement (the aforementioned gables, for one) and sent us another check. Using that money to make the down payment for contractors repairs, we had the roof and all remaining damage fixed, faxed Allstate the final receipts and received the rest of reimbursement within less than a week. They covered absolutely every bit of the cost of repair minus improvements (not repair of hail damage) that we had long been desiring and had the contractor make at the same time.
So, in summary – 1. they were prompt; 2. they did not try to avoid paying anything and actually saved us money by advising us to make the claim for the older hail damage; 3. they explained up front that the only way to recoup replacement costs was to actually do the replacement; and 4. they explained shortly thereafter the timeline for doing the replacement.
We were thoroughly pleased, which is the reason we are now researching moving our auto insurance to them as well.
fred mark says
After 20 years with Allstate with no claims, currently 2 houses and 3 cars, Allstate is treating me like garbage.
I just got hit by a hit-and-run driver leaving $3700 worth of damages and Allstate will pay only 2,900 which is below $3800 on the car cash value. I’m paying full coverage premium, Allstate won’t pay for the collision repair.
DO NOT TRUST ALLSTATE. They will screw you over whenever they can.
christian says
I’m sorry to say that I believe this review to be skewed – Allstate frequently has secret new policies they do not inform their policyholders about until the policy holder has a problem and requires the help from Allstate. Claims are fought against the policyholder, and the value of a claim to be paid is 50-90 LOSS to the policyholder. Try repairing roof damage or replacing windows at the cost of Allstate’s low-balling adjusters. It truly is pathetic for an insurance company to rake in the millions from policyholders but deny them coverage when they truly need to file a claim against damage. Hail coverage, wind coverage, tornado coverage, all the acts of nature/God/whatever that the policyholder has no control over, Allstate refuses to pay. Apparently, Allstate doesn’t feel that extensive storm damage to a ROOF and WINDOWS demands a fair adjustment. It would have cost us triple the amount to repair damage, and Allstate gave us 1/4 needed to repair. Thanks, Allstate, for requiring high premiums but refusing to pay when your policyholders need you most. Oh, and don’t even think about claiming more than twice in a 10 year period, you’ll be cancelled just for asking about a claim.
Margie says
My family had a tragic complete loss home fire. The money for the house itself was sent right away as soon as Allstate saw us under contract to rebuild. The contents were a different story. They sent an adjuster out. My mom was the only person present while he came because I had to work. My mom could not remember everything that was in the home and had asked the adjuster if he could come back when I could be present. He agreed. My mom kept calling to try and make another appointment . After leaving several messages the adjuster finally called back and told us he would send a copy of the content list that he and my mom had filled out and I could fill out the rest. I did. Of course after you send the list you remember other items that you forgot to add. They sent a check for some of the items. We bought just what we needed. Shopping for your entire life of items is a very daunting job. Come to find out we were suppose to purchase everything then they would give us the full value of our items. Because the check they sent was a depreciated value for the item. It didn’t even matter if it were only a month or a few months old. We were told we were out of time to submit receipts. Spoke with a supervisor told her what happened. That we were never told about the “policy” that yo have to buy it to get paid for it. They gave us a month to re buy 80,000 thousand dollars worth of items. Needless to so, that is impossible. So we were told that there was nothing that can be done. The case was closed and here we sit saddened by the loss photos of children, memories of family vacations, jewelry that was passed down and loved. And two wonderful pets that can never, ever be replaced. Allstate claims that they are there when you need them most. Hmm. I feel like we were kicked to the curb.