Allstate Insurance Overview: Allstate Insurance was founded in 1931 and is based in Northbrook, IL. Allstate Insurance has these main lines of business:
- Auto Insurance
- Property Insurance
- Life Insurance
- Commercial Insurance
- Retirement and Investment Products
- Banking Services
Size: Allstate Insurance reported these figures as of September, 2008:
- Employees = 70,000
- Exclusive Agencies = 14,900
- Total Assets = $156.4 billion
- Policyholders = 17 million households
- The largest publicly-held personal lines insurer in the U.S.
Positives: Allstate Insurance is one of the best-known companies and brands in the U.S., across all industries. This is a great aid to its sales effort. Originally a subsidiary of Sears, Allstate Insurance was spun off in 1993.
Allstate Insurance is rated A+ by A.M. Best, AA by Standard & Poor’s, and Aa2 by Moody’s.
Negatives: Allstate Insurance has longstanding image problems regarding customer service and claims resolution, with a reputation for aggressively disputing and delaying the payment of claims. According to The Wall Street Journal ("Allstate Thins Ranks," September 28, 2011), the company has been losing market share for years, although it remains number two in the United States among home and auto insurers as measured by premiums. The number of customers for Allstate's standard auto policy has fallen by 4% in three years, while its home insurance policies have dropped by 12% over the same period. Note, however, that Allstate has been actively trying to rid itself of homeowners in areas with high exposure to natural disasters.
Allstate organizes its insurance sales agents as independent contractors, rather than as employees, to avoid paying them benefits. Moreover, under this structure, agents also absorb all the costs of their office support staff, rent, utilities, office equipment, etc. In 2011, Allstate announced that it would reduce base pay for all agents by 20%, in order to redistribute the savings as additional bonuses for its top producers. The change is supposed to be phased in over two years. According to the same WSJ article, the number of Allstate agencies is currently 11,500 (versus 14,900 in 2008, as noted above).
