Allstate Insurance Review – Are You in Good Hands?

Allstate is an American institution. It competes against national, full-service insurance companies, including Progressive, Geico, State Farm, Liberty Mutual, Nationwide, and a host of regional insurers.

Like State Farm, it still relies heavily on local agents at a time when other companies have cut costs and premiums with a direct sales model that leans heavily on their online assets.

If you want personal attention from a local agent, or you have complex needs that a self-serve online system can’t adequately address, Allstate’s approach is great. If you’re a working stiff who cares about finding the cheapest possible insurance, it may not be for you.

Allstate Insurance: Products Offered

Allstate got its start as an auto insurer, but that’s just one component of its business today.

The company offers a slew of insurance coverage options, plus other financial products, in all 50 states, although terms and policies may vary between them.

You can either get a quote and directly buy an Allstate policy online or use the website to get in touch with an agent in your area.

Automotive Insurance (Traditional and Pay-As-You-Go)

Allstate auto insurance policies meet mandatory state minimum car insurance coverage levels.

Allstate offers common coverage types including:

• Collision
• Comprehensive
• Liability
• Uninsured motorist coverage
• Personal injury protection (which covers injured drivers’ medical payments)

It also offers optional add-ons, such as:

• Coverage for stolen sound systems
• Rental car reimbursement (rental reimbursement)
• Towing and labor coverage
• New car replacement (for newer vehicles considered total losses)

In addition, Allstate offers pay-as-you-go auto insurance, known as Milewise. With Milewise, your total premium is calculated on a per-mile basis, so you pay less if you drive less. Your per-mile premium is based on traditional assessments of your relative risk, such as your age and prior driving record.

Homeowners Insurance

Allstate homeowners insurance policies provide coverage for your main house, any outbuildings or other structures on your property, your house’s contents (with possible exceptions for valuable items, such as jewelry), and expenses you may incur if your home becomes uninhabitable, such as hotel fees or rent at a temporary residence.

You can add liability protection to cover the cost of a lawsuit brought by a guest, and medical protection to cover injured guests’ medical bills. Allstate home insurance policies cap these benefits at specific dollar amounts, which vary depending on the coverage type and your preference.

Renters Insurance

Allstate offers renters insurance policies that include many of the same coverages as homeowners insurance, including your rental’s contents, expenses incurred if the home becomes uninhabitable, liability protection, and guest medical coverage.

Condo Insurance

Allstate’s condo insurance is similar to its homeowners and renters insurance, with condo-specific coverages such as reimbursement for loss assessments — a thorough inspection your condo association may require after an incident like a fire or burst pipe.

Motorcycle Insurance

Allstate’s motorcycle insurance policies include the same coverages, at or above state-mandated minimums, as its auto insurance policies.

It also includes biker-friendly perks like new motorcycle replacement, which swaps totaled or stolen bikes for new models, additional payments for mechanics to use genuine parts in all repairs, and cash benefits to your family if you’re seriously injured in an accident.

Business Insurance

Allstate offers a wide range of insurance policies for business owners, including commercial auto, property, and liability policies.

Life Insurance

You can buy term, universal, and whole life insurance policies through Allstate.

Boat Insurance

Allstate’s boat insurance policies cover structural damage to your boat, damage to gear and equipment (including fishing lines and water skis), and costs incurred during and after collisions with uninsured boaters.

If you’re at fault in an accident, it also covers your obligations for other parties’ medical expenses and boat and property repairs. These protections apply to U.S. territorial waters within 100 miles of shore.

Motor Home and RV Insurance

Motor home and RV insurance covers loss or damage to the contents and physical structure of your motor home or RV, as well as liability costs if you’re at fault in an accident.

Snowmobile, ATV, and 4×4 Insurance

Allstate offers insurance policies for motorized recreational vehicles, including snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), and four-wheel-drive vehicles (4x4s).

Similar to Allstate’s auto insurance policies, it provides collision coverage, comprehensive coverage, property damage liability, and bodily injury liability.

Landlord Insurance

Similar to homeowners insurance, landlord insurance offers protection for a rental property’s main building, attached structural elements like porches and decks, and outbuildings on the property like garages and sheds.

If the covered building is rendered uninhabitable by a fire or other disaster, Allstate’s landlord insurance policies may pay up to 12 months’ worth of lost rent, depending on your coverage choices.

Pet Health Insurance

Allstate offers pet health insurance policies in partnership with Embrace Pet Insurance Agency.

These pet health insurance policies come in two forms: accident-only and accident and illness.

Accident-only covers treatments and procedures related to accidental occurrences only, such as vehicle collisions and foreign body ingestion.

Accident and illness covers treatments and procedures related to most illnesses, including cancer and many hereditary conditions.

Cats and dogs under age 14 are eligible for new accident and illness policies. Those over age 14 and those with certain chronic conditions like diabetes and FIV are limited to accident-only policies.

Retirement and Savings Products

Allstate offers a range of retirement and savings products, including annuities (traditional, fixed, variable, and index- or equity-linked).

It also offers individual retirement accounts (IRAs) including traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, and rollover IRAs, all of which may hold mutual funds, stocks, bonds, CDs, and Allstate annuities.

In addition, it offers 529 college savings plans and mutual funds.

Allstate is a member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), which provides up to $500,000 in coverage for the cash and securities you hold in these accounts should the company declare bankruptcy and liquidate its assets.

Supplemental Health Insurance

Allstate’s supplemental health insurance policies cover expenses typical policies don’t.

This includes ambulance bills, transportation to the hospital for ongoing treatments, major surgeries that require significant out-of-pocket expenses, and long-term disability payments that offset lost wages.

Personal Umbrella Protection

Personal umbrella protection (PUP) may provide additional protection if you hit your homeowners or auto insurance policy’s coverage limits.

For instance, if you’re at fault for an accident that seriously injures a highly paid driver — say, a surgeon or C-level executive — who sues you for months’ or years’ worth of lost wages, your PUP plan may cover the cost of the resulting settlement or judgment.

Additional Features

In addition to these products, Allstate’s most noteworthy features include:

Drivewise

Drivewise® From Allstate is a cost-reduction feature that benefits cautious drivers with Allstate auto insurance. After signing up, you’ll need to install a monitoring device in your car that measures your driving habits.

The device pays particular attention to how fast, how often, and when you drive, as well as your braking time, to get a sense of how risky you are behind the wheel. Based on this information, Allstate may reduce your premiums by 40% or more each billing cycle, according to Allstate.

Drivewise also comes with a free crash detection feature. When the app suspects you’ve been involved in a crash as a driver or passenger, it sends a notification to your phone offering help.

Your premiums can’t go up as a result of Drivewise. In the worst-case scenario, you don’t see any savings. You can access your Drivewise data anytime through your online Allstate car insurance account.

Accident Forgiveness

In exchange for an additional premium payment, this optional auto insurance add-on prevents your rates from going up after an accident that results in a claim, even if you’re found to be at fault.

Insurance Discounts

Allstate policyholders may qualify for dozens of additional policy discounts, many of which only apply to Allstate car insurance policies. Popular discounts include:

• Deductible Rewards, which reduces your deductible by $100 for every claim-free year (up to $500)
• Premium discounts of up to 10% for completing a defensive driving course
• A 35% premium discount after five years without any violations or accidents
• A good student discount that reduces premiums up to 20% for students who maintain a B- grade average or better
• Early signing discount, which reduces your premiums when you sign your policy renewal at least seven days before it becomes effective
• Paperless discount (ePolicy), which reduces your premiums when you agree to receive all policy documents and communications electronically

These insurance premium discounts are subject to change at Allstate’s discretion and may not be available to all policy applicants.

Policy Bundles

Allstate offers specific policy bundles (multipolicy discounts) that may convey additional savings.

For instance, bundling your auto insurance and homeowners insurance reduces your insurance rate by up to 25% — although this figure is subject to change at Allstate’s sole discretion.

An auto-plus-life insurance bundle also offers savings, but Allstate doesn’t say how much. Other bundles, such as auto-plus-renters insurance, may be available in your area too.

Allstate Motor Club

Similar to AAA, Allstate Motor Club is a wide-ranging motor club that offers two optional levels of service:

• Roadside Advantage. For about $7 to $9 each month, you get 24-hour roadside assistance (up to $100 in incurred expenses), trip interruption coverage (a form of travel insurance) up to $750, arrest bond coverage up to $500, and 25% off any CARFAX history reports you order as an active member.
• Roadside Elite. For about $12 to $14 per month, you get $250 in roadside assistance, $250 in road hazard coverage, $1,500 in trip interruption coverage, $2,000 in arrest bond coverage, 24/7 concierge service, auto repair referrals, and free CARFAX reports. This plan includes coverage for motorcycles and RVs, as well as passenger cars and trucks.

All of these coverage levels may vary by state, so read the fine print before signing up.

In addition to the driving-related benefits, Allstate partners with tens of thousands of auto service shops, restaurants, retail outlets, recreational attractions, and other businesses around the country to offer discounts to Motor Club members.

Online Quotes

You can get an online quote for almost all Allstate insurance policies, except commercial plans.

The quote-building feature walks you through the process, which you can interrupt at any point to speak with an agent. If you don’t complete your application, you receive a call within a day.

Claims Processing and Support

You can file claims online and over the phone. You don’t need an online account to file, but you do need one to track the status of your claim without calling in.

Regardless of how you file a claim, Allstate encourages you to notify your local agent immediately after doing so.

Claim Satisfaction Guarantee

Allstate is so confident in its claims experience that it offers a Claim Satisfaction Guarantee, which eliminates your auto policy’s premium for up to six months if you find the claims process unacceptable for any reason.

Allstate purports to have a “no questions asked” policy here. According to Allstate, the Claim Satisfaction Guarantee is unique among American insurers.

To get the credit, you need to send a snail mail letter to the Allstate office in Roanoke, Virginia, within 180 days of the accident, explaining why you’re not satisfied with the outcome.

The credit only applies to claims Allstate pays, so you can’t complain about a denied claim. Read the fine print, as terms may vary by state.

Local Insurance Agent Network

Allstate has a deep network of local agents who exclusively sell its policies.

Not all agents sell every type of insurance, but each one has a dedicated Web portal with an Allstate root domain and a standardized layout, making it easy to compare capabilities and specialties.

Online Account Management Portal

Even if you prefer to work with an agent, you can access your account online and view details about your insurance products, recent statements, pending claims, and other important information.

Advantages

Allstate’s top advantages include the Drivewise app, a new car discount, Allstate Motor Club (a prime alternative to AAA), and a dense local agent network.

1. Informative and Customer-Friendly Drivewise App

Allstate’s Drivewise feature is similar to Progressive’s Snapshot discount. Both require you to install a monitoring device in your car and provide safe-driving discounts of up to 30%. However, Snapshot is deficient in a couple of ways.

For one, Snapshot only monitors your driving for six months. After that, your savings are locked in permanently.

Because you can use Drivewise as long as you want, you can save even more as you become a more experienced and safer driver — which is statistically likely — over the years.

Also, you can’t see the data Snapshot collects in real time, only projected premium savings based on your driving to date.

With Drivewise, you can log into your account any time and see detailed reports, including if and when you drove too fast, braked too hard, or logged too many miles in a day.

2. Unique New Car Discount

When you insure a new or nearly new car with Allstate, you’re eligible for a discount of up to 30%.

Although other insurance companies, including Progressive and Liberty Mutual, offer discounts for certain safety features that come standard in new cars — such as anti-theft devices and airbags — none offer discounts simply because your vehicle is brand-new.

3. Comprehensive Motor Club

Many insurance companies offer roadside assistance, emergency towing, and other basic services for auto policyholders, but none can match the depth of Allstate Motor Club’s offerings

The trip interruption and arrest bond coverage features are particularly useful for travelers who get stuck far from home. Plus, the myriad discounts at retailers, restaurants, and other businesses rival AAA’s.

4. Unique Claims Satisfaction Guarantee

Although Allstate offers financial incentives for avoiding claims altogether, its Claim Satisfaction Guarantee may save you hundreds of dollars if a claim doesn’t go your way.

While other insurers tout their overall claim satisfaction rates, none is willing to back it up with a significant premium credit.

5. Attentive and Knowledgeable Local Agents

Allstate’s dedicated local agent network is extremely well-developed, and the company takes pains to direct business to individual agents.

If you have complex needs that can’t be handled online, you can visit agency websites and see exactly which services they offer, what sort of expertise they have, and how long they’ve been operating.

That’s especially useful for business owners who may need to protect vehicle fleets, expensive inventory, and multiple properties, all while dealing with complex liability issues.

State Farm and Nationwide have solid agent networks too, but many popular insurers don’t.

For instance, Progressive’s agent network seems like an afterthought. Each participating agency appears responsible for designing and maintaining its own website, and many of them sell insurance from multiple providers, offering no special treatment for Progressive customers.

When you can simply buy a policy and file a claim online, there’s no incentive for you to deal with such an agency. On the other hand, you can always reach out to your local Allstate agent with detailed questions about your policy and be confident you’ll get an answer.

That’s a nice resource to have in an increasingly impersonal world.

Disadvantages

Allstate’s biggest drawbacks include pressure to buy through an agent, an outdated website, no human health insurance, and no on-site insurance rate quote comparison with other insurers.

1. Pressure to Buy Through an Agent

A big drawback of Allstate’s agent network is a website that’s somewhat unfriendly to self-serve customers.

Although you can source a quote and purchase many policy types online, nearly every page on Allstate’s website prompts you to call or email a local agent to learn more or complete a transaction.

In some cases, clicking on a website tab brings you to a page that provides little to no information aside from “Want to learn more? Contact an Allstate agent today.” After a while, this gets annoying, especially if you’re trying to compare policies from multiple providers.

2. Website Isn’t Super Mobile-Friendly

Allstate’s website also has user experience issues, including dense text, wide scrolling, and small link buttons. These issues are especially noticeable on the sales side of the site, which you’d think the company would want to be as user-friendly and intuitive as possible.

That stands in stark contrast to both Nationwide and Esurance, whose sites feature large-font text, big images and buttons, and a quote-building interface that’s easy to use on a mobile device.

3. No Primary Health Insurance

Allstate offers a lot of insurance options, including familiar options like car insurance policies and slightly less common types like pet health insurance.

However, for such a large, apparently comprehensive company, it has a glaring omission: no primary health insurance plans for humans. Allstate’s supplemental health insurance policies don’t meet the minimum coverage requirements of the Affordable Care Act.

If you don’t have or can’t get health insurance through your employer, you need to look elsewhere, even if you have other coverage through Allstate.

Some major insurers, including State Farm, offer direct access to individual health insurance plans and health savings accounts.

Others, such as Progressive, have online portals that let you search for plans from other providers. For example, Progressive’s eHealth insurance claims to offer 13,000 different policies across 180 insurers.

4. Some Minor Insurance Types Missing

Aside from health plans, Allstate covers all the major insurance bases — in particular, auto, life, and homeowners plans.

However, it’s missing some types of coverage that many people find important, including flood insurance and classic car insurance. Progressive offers these, plus Segway insurance if that’s your thing.

5. No On-Site Quote Comparison

Allstate’s website doesn’t let you compare its quotes to other auto insurance companies’. By contrast, Esurance and Progressive both do. You can also use a third-party quote-finder like Netquote, although their results may be less accurate.

Final Word

The American insurance industry is a competitive business. As long as you’re willing to source multiple quotes and carefully read each provider’s fine print, that’s good news.

Allstate might have a storied history, a great marketing campaign, and a comprehensive suite of services, but it can’t be everything to everyone.

It lacks some plans that other insurance providers readily offer, doesn’t let you compare its quotes to others’, and its website is often frustrating. As in any competitive marketplace, it pays to shop around for insurance.