Personal Injury Law

Allstate Claims

If you polled personal injury lawyers who handle car accident cases, most would chose Allstate as the "worst of the worst" among insurance companies to deal with on accident claims.

Personally, while I would not put Allstate at the top of my list of insurance companies I want to draw, I certainly would not put them last either. First, I think Allstate claims adjusters respect good lawyers and good law firms and I think their offers reflect the quality of the lawyers involved in the case. Second, if you are patient and willing to go back and forth, I think Allstate will give you less of a low ball final offer than many other insurance companies do. I also think Allstate claims adjusters, to their credit, are less likely to fold just because a lawsuit is filed. Allstate is going to pay more - as any insurance company is - as the case gets closer to trial but Allstate does not have the reflexive "settlement failed, suit has been filed, let's now make a decent offer" response that is becoming the new SOP. This trend seems to be in vogue. A number of insurance companies, most notably GEICO, Progressive, and State Farm (if you are dealing with Team 22 or Team 23 in Maryland), make accident attorneys file a lawsuit in order to receive a reasonable offer. Allstate claims adjusters are more likely to come up with something reasonable to settle the claim before suit is filed. That does not mean our lawyers don't have to file a lot of lawsuits in Allstate cases. But Allstate typically makes it a little tougher call for our clients to make.

The bad rap on Allstate is in part because they are big. Insurance companies are inherently reviled and there is more of Allstate to hate than many other insurance companies: Allstate claims adjusters receive six million - six million! - car accident, property and bodily injury claims a year, paying out $15 billion in claims. Allstate has a strong market share in Maryland in car insurance and other third party personal injury claims insurance. 

As a result of being big, Allstate also get the press. Famously, Allstate claims practices infamously changed in the 90s when Allstate hired the consulting giant McKinsey & Co. to overhaul its claims practices. In a PR screw-up that I bet has cost Allstate millions of dollars, McKinsey used boxing gloves in a slide presentation to Allstate claims representatives to symbolize the Allstate philosophy.  Another piece of advice McKinsey gave, which really resonated with claimants after the advice was implemented, is stalling those claims where the victim did not rollover on settlement. This advice was given 15 years ago but Allstate still uses it in far too many cases today. Allstate claims adjusters commonly continue to stall and delay to hope to wear down third party claims and often uninsured motorist claims made by its' own insureds. But, let's be realistic: every insurance company does this. You just notice Allstate a little more because they are the elephant in the room.  

Full post as published by Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog on June 15, 2010 (boomark / email).