Unless you want a lowball offer for your insurance claim or you want to increase the likelihood of being sued as a defendant in a lawsuit, do not buy insurance from Allstate. Allstate’s slogan, “You’re in good hands,” is anything but the truth. Allstate has catchy commercials with celebrity actors, but it is all puffery. When it comes time to pay a claim in real life, Allstate uses shady tactics and offers less than what it costs to repair vehicles.
Allstate has a terrible reputation among attorneys, insurance adjustors, judges, mediators, and others who have interactions with Allstate on a regular basis. Allstate is known for taking irrational positions in order to not fairly compensate injured victims and increase its own profit. Allstate is a publicly traded company that places profit for shareholders above all else. This article will discuss some of Allstate’s shady tactics.
Refuse to Accept 100% Responsibility
One trick Allstate practices routinely are not accepting 100% responsibility on behalf of its insureds. Often, Allstate will argue that its insured is not 100% responsible for the accident and try to blame the innocent party for at least part of the accident. I have seen this tactic on multiple occasions used by Allstate on clients, friends, and colleagues. Allstate adjustors will not let logic or common sense get in the way of refusing to accept full responsibility on behalf of their negligent insured drivers.
One friend was in an accident with an Allstate driver when the Allstate driver sideswiped her car. The Allstate driver changed lanes without checking and crashed into the side of her car. My friend was in the far-right lane with nowhere to move to avoid the accident. Nonetheless, the Allstate agent took the ridiculous position that my friend should have swerved onto the sidewalk to avoid the accident, so she was 20% at fault. The agent refused to pay more than 80% of the damage to her car.
I represented a client who was broadsided by a driver that ran a red light. The negligent driver was insured by Allstate. Allstate again claimed that its insured was not 100% at fault for the accident and claimed that my client was 20% at fault because she should have checked for someone running a red light. The police officer who filled out the accident report placed all the blame on the driver who ran the red light. The other driver clearly violated the law, but Allstate still refused to pay for 100% of my client’s property damage, medical bills or other damages.
Refuse to Pay 100% of the Medical Bills
Even when Allstate does accept 100% responsibility on behalf of its insured drivers, Allstate often refuses to pay all of the injured person’s medical bills. Allstate adjusters routinely claim that the ER bill or urgent care bill is too high and offer to pay only a portion of the bill. Allstate adjustors also routinely claim that the injured person received too much medical treatment and refuse to pay for all of the treatment (as if an untrained insurance adjustor knows more about the proper amount of medical treatment than a trained medical professional). Allstate leaves injured victims who accept the lowball offers to pay the remainder of their bills if they cannot negotiate the bills down.
Refuse to Pay for Pain and Suffering, Disfigurement or Impairment
Allstate agents are notorious for offering little to nothing for pain and suffering, disfigurement, or impairment. Sometimes people who are injured in car accidents will receive months of physical therapy to try and relieve the pain they are suffering from a motor vehicle collision. A person who takes time off of work several days a week for months obviously is in pain. Nonetheless, Allstate routinely offers close to nothing for the aggravation, inconvenience, and pain the person experiences because of the negligence of its insured driver.
How Does Allstate’s Behavior Affect its Insureds?
Maybe you think it does not matter if Allstate lowballs injured drivers because you only have liability insurance with Allstate. You figure that if you cause an accident, it is the other driver who is dealing with lowball offers, not you. However, Allstate’s behavior still may cause problems for you. If the other driver stands up for himself and refuses to accept the unfair offer, the other driver’s only recourse is to file a lawsuit.
As a result, you, the driver insured by Allstate, will be a defendant in a lawsuit. The defendant insured by Allstate will have to produce documents and provide answers to written questions. The defendant also may have to lose a day of work to appear for a deposition. Lawyers take depositions on weekdays between 9 and 5. They do not take depositions at night or on weekends. If the driver refuses to take time off work and appear for the deposition, he will lose his insurance coverage. If the case does not settle because Allstate continues to be unreasonable, the defendant will have to appear in court and will likely lose more days of work. Allstate will not reimburse its insured for lost wages appearing at a deposition and trial.
When considering what insurance to buy for your car or home, Allstate should be at the bottom of your list. You are not in good hands with Allstate.