Complaint Review: Allstate Insurance - Mesa Arizona

Charles, Sorry to hear what happened, just thought I'd share some info for future reference. This kind of thing happens with every major carrier, not just Allstate. (and no I don't work for Allstate, I'm with another carrier) What happened is this: When you ask for a quote from an insurance carrier, they actually have a couple of companies they use to underwrite their policies. These companies are all owned by, and part of the carrier, they are merely used to maintain some order in the chaos that is the insurance industry. (more on this to follow) Anyway, they'll assign what they believe to be preferred risk drivers to one company, average to another, and prime risk drivers to a third, the consumer doesn't know the difference, it's just so that the company can keep track of it's own demographics... This is why when you call a major carrier to get a quote they say "In order to provide a quote from a Progressive company, we will use information such as...." or "in order to provide a quote from a state farm company..." etc etc. There are a number of factors used in determining which company the carrier would underwrite the policy with, they all use driving history, and I know that Geico uses your occupation, Progressive and State Farm use credit for the most part (As far as I can tell), not sure about Allstate though. So, what happened is, 20 years ago you bought your policy, you were younger, you probably had a different job, your credit might not have been as good and it's possible you had a traffic ticket or two. So when they wrote your policy, it was underwritten by the average, or prime risk company. Over time, things have certainly changed. You're older and more responsible. You've established a 20 year clean driving record (Way to go!) And you're considered a significantly lower risk. However, you've been loyally keeping your policy active, and switching to another underwriter would require it to be cancelled and rewritten. It sounds like your agent was ignorant at best here, that's not always the carrier's fault, many agents are independent brokers and don't actually work for the company. (Most of these don't know their head from their behind, but that's besides the point) In the future remember that it's a good idea to shop around for better quotes from time to time, even from your own carrier (especially after life changes such as buying a home or getting a better job). Think of it like re-financing your home, if interest rates drop sharply, your bank isn't going to call you to come re-negotiate, but if you walk in there, they're sure to strike a deal to keep your business. That's all for the advice, if you're interested, here's why we do this (I'll give an example) We'll use the state of New Jersey. (this is one place where carriers really REALLY need to track of their demographics) State legislation has determined that insurance companies are not allowed to rate policies based on where the driver lives (soo.. rates in rural areas are the same as in metro areas) Also, they put limits on the amount that we can raise the rates on drivers that cause multiple accidents. And, this state does not allow us to cancel policies of drivers that cause so many accidents that they should not be driving. So as the amount of claims rises, we have to do generic rate adjustments. However, why should good drivers have to pay for a few bad apples? So we look at the demographics and we say "Hmmn, the preferred risk is just fine, actually, we can lower their rates because they are below our combined ratio. But the prime risk drivers are causing a disproportionate amount of property damage and bodily injury. Currently, this demographic is not profitable." So we do a rate adjustment: Preferred risk gets lower premiums (yay!) Prime risk is adjusted, to coincide with the amount that we are paying out on their policies. Most auto insurers operate on a 100/96 combined ratio, which means that they pay out $96 in operating costs and claims for every $100 they bring in in premiums. (only 4 cents on the dollar profit) This can easily be offset by a disaster (9-11, california earthquake, hurricane andrew etc..) so it's important to maintain this accurately. The real profit is made in investments (We put your premiums in the stock market, insurance companies are a vital part of our economy) At any rate, if you've read this far, sorry to hear you slipped through the cracks. But good to know you're happy with your new carrier. Hopefully you've got a better understanding of what went on though. Regards,

Charles, Sorry to hear what happened, just thought I'd share some info for future reference. This kind of thing happens with every major carrier, not just Allstate. (and no I don't work for Allstate, I'm with another carrier) What happened is this: When you ask for a quote from an insurance carrier, they actually have a couple of companies they use to underwrite their policies. These companies are all owned by, and part of the carrier, they are merely used to maintain some order in the chaos that is the insurance industry. (more on this to follow) Anyway, they'll assign what they believe to be preferred risk drivers to one company, average to another, and prime risk drivers to a third, the consumer doesn't know the difference, it's just so that the company can keep track of it's own demographics... This is why when you call a major carrier to get a quote they say "In order to provide a quote from a Progressive company, we will use information such as...." or "in order to provide a quote from a state farm company..." etc etc. There are a number of factors used in determining which company the carrier would underwrite the policy with, they all use driving history, and I know that Geico uses your occupation, Progressive and State Farm use credit for the most part (As far as I can tell), not sure about Allstate though. So, what happened is, 20 years ago you bought your policy, you were younger, you probably had a different job, your credit might not have been as good and it's possible you had a traffic ticket or two. So when they wrote your policy, it was underwritten by the average, or prime risk company. Over time, things have certainly changed. You're older and more responsible. You've established a 20 year clean driving record (Way to go!) And you're considered a significantly lower risk. However, you've been loyally keeping your policy active, and switching to another underwriter would require it to be cancelled and rewritten. It sounds like your agent was ignorant at best here, that's not always the carrier's fault, many agents are independent brokers and don't actually work for the company. (Most of these don't know their head from their behind, but that's besides the point) In the future remember that it's a good idea to shop around for better quotes from time to time, even from your own carrier (especially after life changes such as buying a home or getting a better job). Think of it like re-financing your home, if interest rates drop sharply, your bank isn't going to call you to come re-negotiate, but if you walk in there, they're sure to strike a deal to keep your business. That's all for the advice, if you're interested, here's why we do this (I'll give an example) We'll use the state of New Jersey. (this is one place where carriers really REALLY need to track of their demographics) State legislation has determined that insurance companies are not allowed to rate policies based on where the driver lives (soo.. rates in rural areas are the same as in metro areas) Also, they put limits on the amount that we can raise the rates on drivers that cause multiple accidents. And, this state does not allow us to cancel policies of drivers that cause so many accidents that they should not be driving. So as the amount of claims rises, we have to do generic rate adjustments. However, why should good drivers have to pay for a few bad apples? So we look at the demographics and we say "Hmmn, the preferred risk is just fine, actually, we can lower their rates because they are below our combined ratio. But the prime risk drivers are causing a disproportionate amount of property damage and bodily injury. Currently, this demographic is not profitable." So we do a rate adjustment: Preferred risk gets lower premiums (yay!) Prime risk is adjusted, to coincide with the amount that we are paying out on their policies. Most auto insurers operate on a 100/96 combined ratio, which means that they pay out $96 in operating costs and claims for every $100 they bring in in premiums. (only 4 cents on the dollar profit) This can easily be offset by a disaster (9-11, california earthquake, hurricane andrew etc..) so it's important to maintain this accurately. The real profit is made in investments (We put your premiums in the stock market, insurance companies are a vital part of our economy) At any rate, if you've read this far, sorry to hear you slipped through the cracks. But good to know you're happy with your new carrier. Hopefully you've got a better understanding of what went on though. Regards,

Charles, Sorry to hear what happened, just thought I'd share some info for future reference. This kind of thing happens with every major carrier, not just Allstate. (and no I don't work for Allstate, I'm with another carrier) What happened is this: When you ask for a quote from an insurance carrier, they actually have a couple of companies they use to underwrite their policies. These companies are all owned by, and part of the carrier, they are merely used to maintain some order in the chaos that is the insurance industry. (more on this to follow) Anyway, they'll assign what they believe to be preferred risk drivers to one company, average to another, and prime risk drivers to a third, the consumer doesn't know the difference, it's just so that the company can keep track of it's own demographics... This is why when you call a major carrier to get a quote they say "In order to provide a quote from a Progressive company, we will use information such as...." or "in order to provide a quote from a state farm company..." etc etc. There are a number of factors used in determining which company the carrier would underwrite the policy with, they all use driving history, and I know that Geico uses your occupation, Progressive and State Farm use credit for the most part (As far as I can tell), not sure about Allstate though. So, what happened is, 20 years ago you bought your policy, you were younger, you probably had a different job, your credit might not have been as good and it's possible you had a traffic ticket or two. So when they wrote your policy, it was underwritten by the average, or prime risk company. Over time, things have certainly changed. You're older and more responsible. You've established a 20 year clean driving record (Way to go!) And you're considered a significantly lower risk. However, you've been loyally keeping your policy active, and switching to another underwriter would require it to be cancelled and rewritten. It sounds like your agent was ignorant at best here, that's not always the carrier's fault, many agents are independent brokers and don't actually work for the company. (Most of these don't know their head from their behind, but that's besides the point) In the future remember that it's a good idea to shop around for better quotes from time to time, even from your own carrier (especially after life changes such as buying a home or getting a better job). Think of it like re-financing your home, if interest rates drop sharply, your bank isn't going to call you to come re-negotiate, but if you walk in there, they're sure to strike a deal to keep your business. That's all for the advice, if you're interested, here's why we do this (I'll give an example) We'll use the state of New Jersey. (this is one place where carriers really REALLY need to track of their demographics) State legislation has determined that insurance companies are not allowed to rate policies based on where the driver lives (soo.. rates in rural areas are the same as in metro areas) Also, they put limits on the amount that we can raise the rates on drivers that cause multiple accidents. And, this state does not allow us to cancel policies of drivers that cause so many accidents that they should not be driving. So as the amount of claims rises, we have to do generic rate adjustments. However, why should good drivers have to pay for a few bad apples? So we look at the demographics and we say "Hmmn, the preferred risk is just fine, actually, we can lower their rates because they are below our combined ratio. But the prime risk drivers are causing a disproportionate amount of property damage and bodily injury. Currently, this demographic is not profitable." So we do a rate adjustment: Preferred risk gets lower premiums (yay!) Prime risk is adjusted, to coincide with the amount that we are paying out on their policies. Most auto insurers operate on a 100/96 combined ratio, which means that they pay out $96 in operating costs and claims for every $100 they bring in in premiums. (only 4 cents on the dollar profit) This can easily be offset by a disaster (9-11, california earthquake, hurricane andrew etc..) so it's important to maintain this accurately. The real profit is made in investments (We put your premiums in the stock market, insurance companies are a vital part of our economy) At any rate, if you've read this far, sorry to hear you slipped through the cracks. But good to know you're happy with your new carrier. Hopefully you've got a better understanding of what went on though. Regards,