Review: Allstate Insurance Company. Are You in "Good Hands"?

After my husband moved out, Geico, my auto insurance company raised my rates. Desperate to find something more affordable, I chose Allstate. Their rates were competitive and my grandfather had been all Allstate Agent for over 30 years. I decided to trust them.

After having them as my insurance company for almost a year, my car was stolen. I immediately filed a police report. After, I filed a claim with Allstate. I had rental reimbursement and would need a rental. Within minutes, an Allstate representative called me. She reviewed my claim and set up a rental for me. Before I could fully hang up the phone, Enterprise was calling me to see when I wanted to pick the rental up. After setting up the details for the rental, I continued waiting for the police. After approximately 45 minutes, they came out to my home and took a report. I called Enterprise, they picked me up, and I secured my rental.

Later in the day, I left my house to go run errands. As I was driving, I spotted my vehicle. I could barely tell it was mine, except for the license plate. It was burned up badly. The police were contacted and while I sat and waited for them, I took pictures of the vehicle. The police arrived, took another report, and told me to contact my insurance company. I spoke to my claims adjuster. He took my recorded statement. he asked for a location of the vehicle, asked for my permission to tow it, and told me to leave the location if I didn't feel it was safe. Around the same time, I was contacted by another representative of Allstate. He turned out to be a Special Investigations Unit (SIU) Investigator. He took a statement from me and told me he would be investigating. A letter was sent out confirming the details.

Approximately two weeks later, I received a call from the car rental company. They asked me several questions, including how long I expected the rental to last. I couldn't really answer those questions. I called my claims adjuster. He was unavailable, so I left a message. A few hours later, the SIU Investigator called me back. I explained the reason for my call. In a curt and short tone, he told me that he was conducting an ongoing investigation and that is all he could tell me. I began to get the impression that he was pointing his finger at me. I wasn't sure what I had done, but I didn't like the feeling behind the situation.

A month after initially filing my claim, I called the SIU investigator to check the status of my claim. He put me on hold. After picking the line up, he told me that his investigation had been completed. He also said he would submit the file to his supervisor for approval. If approved, the file would go back to the claims adjuster. If it was denied, it would be returned to him for further investigation.

Later that day, I was speaking to a friend, but decided to take a nap. She called me back about three minutes after ending the conversation. She had received a call from a phone number that had the same area code as mine, but the next seven digits were nines. She said that the person on the other end claimed to be a representative of Allstate. They asked her if I would set my car of fire and what my current financial situation was. She asked the person for a name and phone number. They continued"rattling" off questions and since she refused to answer any of them, the person hung up on her. It was weird because friend lives several states away, but we speak to each other several hours a day.

Two days later, I got a letter explaining that my claim would require additional investigation. Part of the additional investigation was to be an Examination Under Oath (EUO). Unfamiliar with the term and process, I researched it. I found out that an EUO is similar to a deposition in a legal preceding. Almost all information I found about the process suggested hiring a lawyer. I found a lawyer through the local bar association, went for a consultation and hired him on the spot.

He represented me during the EUO and knew the attorney conducting it. The attorney working for Allstate asked me several questions pertaining to my current financial state, employment and marriage history, and so on. The process took about an hour. The court reported said it would take two to three weeks to get a copy of the EUO to the insurance company. My lawyer waived my right to review and sign.

Fast forward to a month after the EUO and about three months after filing the initial claim and I am still waiting on a decision. Since the EUO, they have asked for a copy of my home telephone records. They deny calling my friend and asking her questions, but it couldn't have been anyone else. Who else has an interest in the situation besides Allstate and me?

I believe they are acting in bad faith. A quick Google search of Allstate and their bad faith practices gave me thousands of results about how Allstate has used hard ball tactics with their customers to deny claims and increase profits. Former Allstate employees mention the three D's: deny, delay, and defend. They will deny your claim for any reason they can conjure up, they will delay processing your claim in hopes that you will give up, and they will defend their practices until the consumer can prove otherwise.

This kind of ill treatment has left me feeling angry and irritated. I have (and still do) faithfully paid my insurance premiums for them to treat me like an evil, red-headed step child.

POLICY CANCELLATIONS THROUGH LOOPHOLES IN THE LAW

In another instance, I had Allstate as my homeowners insurance carrier for almost five years when they offered to rewrite my policy in an effort to lower my rates.

When I first purchased my home, I had some credit issues and my homeowner's insurance premiums were high. After five years, my credit had improved. I decided to shop the market for lower homeowner's insurance rates.

I called my Allstate agent to see if they could offer me lower rates. The person on the other end took a look at my policy and said that he could lower my rates substantially if he rewrote my policy. I agreed. The savings were a $1,000 a year. Who wouldn't want to save that money?

A few days later, I received a new bill in the mail. My old policy was canceled and I was to begin paying my new policy immediately.

A few weeks later, I received a letter from Allstate saying that my policy was being canceled because the home next to me was abandoned. Funny, they didn't have a problem with that when I was paying $1,000 more per year.

I wrote to the insurance commission of my state. When I received a response, I was told that in my state, an insurer has the right to cancel any NEW policy within 60 days for any reason they see fit.

Coincidence? I think not. Just another way you are NOT in "good hands" with Allstate.

YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR

I've done a lot of research on Allstate in these past few months. In a document compiled by the American Association for Justice, Allstate ranks as the number one worst insurance company in America! According to the document, Allstate uses tactics to deceive its customers and rewards claims adjusters for denying claims in any way possible. Are you really in good hands?