Allstate Car Insurance Review for 2023

Trying to determine whether Allstate, or any other insurer, is right for you can be difficult. Without rate comparisons, thorough coverage options, solid data and financial assessments, gaining knowledge about car insurance coverage is nearly impossible. But don’t worry. We’re here to help.

In fact, that’s why we’ve created this guide: to help you gain the knowledge you need to make a smart car insurance decision for you and your family. You’ve come to the right place if you’re looking for an easy-to-follow, inclusive review of Allstate car insurance. So, if you’re ready to learn as much as you can about Allstate, keep reading. And our FREE online tool can help you find rates in your area.

Together, let’s take an in-depth look at one of the nation’s largest car insurance providers.

The table below offers an overview of the various ratings top agencies give Allstate car insurance. In the following sections, we’ll dig more deeply into these ratings.

Allstate’s Ratings and Reviews

Allstate is one of the United States’ biggest insurance companies.

The company includes several brands — Allstate, Esurance, Encompass, SquareTrade and Answer Financial — and serves over 16 million American households through 11,600 Allstate agents and financial advisors.

For nearly a century, the company has claimed “you’re in good hands” with Allstate.

But you need to know that you’re in more than good hands when choosing a car insurance provider. You need to know if a car insurance provider can meet all your needs.

When shopping for car insurance, the key issues you need to prioritize include:

• the level of insurance coverage you need.
• the amount of money you can afford to pay for your car insurance premium.
• the type of insurance company you want to do business with.

A.M. Best

AM Best reports itself as “the oldest and most widely recognized” agency providing ratings and financial data exclusive to the insurance industry. They rank a company’s financial strength by assigning ratings from an A++ to a D.

Currently, AM Best gives Allstate their second-highest ranking, a superior A+.

But you might be wondering: what does that mean for the insurance giant?

An A+ rating means AM Best believes Allstate has a superior ability to meet the ongoing insurance policy and contract obligations of their customers. That’s great news if you’re doing business with the insurance juggernaut.

In this way, you are definitely in good hands if you’re an Allstate customer.

Better Business Bureau

The Better Business Bureau (BBB) awards Allstate Insurance an A+, their highest rating, on the national level.

But what is the BBB to begin with? The BBB is a private, nonprofit organization that analyses how a business interacts with its customers, awarding businesses a grade from A+ (highest) to F (lowest). These grades are based upon a number of factors, including:

• Business’s complaint history with BBB
• Type of business
• Time in business
• Transparent Business Practices
• Failure to honor commitments to BBB
• Licensing and government actions that are known to BBB

On the BBB homepage, you can find local ratings for most companies by simply entering your location.

Moody’s Rating

You probably know that your credit rating matters when it comes to any number of things, from buying a home to, in some cases, even getting a job.

But did you know that companies have credit ratings, too? That’s where Moody’s steps in.

Moody’s is considered one of the “Big Three” credit-rating agencies, providing ratings and analysis tracking debt in more than 135 nations.

Moody’s rankings range from Aaa (the highest quality) to C (the lowest quality).

They currently give Allstate a Aa3 rating, and explain that “obligations rated Aa are judged to be of high quality and are subject to very low credit risk.”

S&P Rating

Another of the “Big Three” credit-rating agencies, S&P offers ratings ranging from AAA (the best) to D (the worst). According to S&P, Allstate Insurance recently earned an AA-, meaning the company has a “very strong capacity to meet financial commitments.”

Check out the video below to see how S&P ratings should be taken into account when considering doing business with a company.

NAIC Complaint Index

For 2018, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) assessed that Allstate had a complaint ratio of 2.31, far higher than the national complaint ratio for all insurers of 1.16.

JD Power

So now that you know how many complaints Allstate gets, you might want to know how satisfied customers say they are with the Northbrook, Illinois-based company.

That’s where JD Power steps in: to provide you with customer satisfaction scores.

JD Power’s 2019 U.S. Auto Insurance Study ranks auto-insurance companies by region and measures customer satisfaction in five areas (in order of importance):

1. Interaction
2. Policy offerings
3. Price
4. Billing process and policy information
5. Claims

For 2019, JD Power reports that Allstate had an overall customer satisfaction rating of 3 out of 5 points.

Consumer Reports

Whereas JD Power provides a great overview of a company’s overall customer satisfaction, Consumer Reports offers a closer look at the day-to-day relationship between a car insurance provider and its customers.

Consumer Reports is an independent nonprofit that utilizes consistent and up-to-date customer feedback to help inform the purchasing decisions of us all. They recently gave Allstate Insurance a score of 88 out of 100.

Now that we know how Allstate rates — consistently pretty high to average across rating agencies — let’s take a look at the company’s history.

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Allstate History

In the fall of 1930, Sears, Roebuck & Co. President and Board Chairman, General Robert E. Wood, started Allstate as a mail-order auto insurance provider.

In the 1950s, Allstate expanded to offer customers not only auto insurance, but also personal liability, health, life and commercial insurance. Today the company continues to both expand and strengthen its core business components. A completely publicly owned company, Allstate has a. bright future.

In the sections below, we’ll look at the company’s growth and potential.

Allstate Market Share

According to Investopedia, a company’s market share “represents the percentage of an industry, or a market’s total sales, that is earned by a particular company over a specified time period.”

In 2017, Allstate slipped from its position as the nation’s third largest auto insurance provider to the fourth spot. But all things considered, they still insure a lot of Americans.

The table below offers you Allstate’s total market share, loss ratio and share of direct premiums writte from 2015 to 2018.

Allstate’s Position for the Future

As we’ve already discussed, Allstate is one of the biggest car insurance companies in the United States. And though they face more and more competition from companies like Geico and USAA, we believe the future is still bright for the company.

Allstate’s Online Presence

Allstate makes it incredibly easy to find a local agent through their online search tool. They also have active YouTube, Instagram and LinkedIn channels. These avenues can help you learn more about the company’s culture.

Allstate Commercials

Allstate has some great advertisements. With a healthy dose of funny, many of them feature celebrities, such as Tina Fey.

But we’ve also found that Allstate’s commercials are about much more than just making you laugh. As exemplary pieces of marketing, they’re both memorable and informative, helping potential customers know what the company has to offer.

Finally, the company delivers some great videos explaining the different types of insurance coverage they offer, such as this one on personal injury protection (PIP) insurance.

Allstate in the Community

With a motto like “you’re in good hands,” you would expect a company like Allstate to positively engage the communities in which they do business. And you’d be right in this expectation.

Allstate has a wide-reaching culture of service. For more than 40 years, their Helping Hands initiative has connected Allstate agents and employees with community service opportunities, from planting and upkeeping community gardens to serving on nonprofit boards.

Since 2011, Allstate workers have volunteered over one million hours in their communities. In 2015, these employees also gave $6.48 million to nonprofit causes.

The video below highlights Allstate’s work with Girls4Science, an organization that encourages young women across the globe to get involved in science, engineering, technology and mathematics fields.

Allstate’s Employees

So how do Allstate employees like their company?

Our research shows that Allstate employees have had their fair share of both positive and negative experiences, though it is not evident those experiences have impacted the overall product the company continues to offer consumers.

Here’s a look at what popular job tracking sites have to say about working at Allstate.

Glassdoor reports that:

• The average employee review for Allstate is 3.4 out of fve stars
• For five years running, Allstate has been ranked one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies by the Ethisphere Institute

In 2014, CareerBliss named Allstate one of the 50 Happiest Companies in America. In 2013, ConnectEDU named the insurance provider one of the Best Places to Work for Recent Grads. And in 2017, MilitaryFriendly.com recognized Allstate as a Military Friendly Employer Gold Award winner and also designated the company a Military Spouse Friendly Employer.

It’s also good to know that, as the video below shows, Allstate is committed to workplace diversity and inclusion.

Cheap Car Insurance Rates

If you’re like us, you love a good deal.

And that desire doesn’t disappear when you shop for car insurance. That is in large part why we’ve created this guide: to help you navigate not only the particulars of car insurance quality, but also cost of the insurance you need.

Read on to find out more about finding the most affordable rates for car insurance.

Allstate Availability and Rates by State

Is Allstate available where you live? If you’re in the United States, the answer is yes. Allstate car insurance policies are available for purchase in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Click here to find an insurance agent near you.

In our research of Allstate rates nationwide, we found that the drivers paying the highest average premium live in Michigan, paying an average of a whopping $22,902.59 a year, way more than any other state. The states with the next highest premiums were Florida and Kentucky, with average rates between $7,000 and $7,500.

Conversely, we found the lowest average rates in the beautiful state of Hawaii, where the average premium is $2,173.49. Hawaii is followed by Massachusetts and Iowa, both with annual rates averaging just under $3,000.

Check out the table below to see how Allstate premiums in your state stack up compared to the other fifty (and the District of Columbia), and if they’re higher or lower than your state’s average with other companies.

Comparing the Top 10 Companies by Market Share

So how much of the market does each car insurance company account for?

Good question. As we’ve already discussed, Allstate is one of the largest car insurance providers in the United States. Currently, they’re the fourth-largest by market share, in fact. But that doesn’t mean you don’t want to know more about what companies fall in line ahead of and behind them.

In the table below, we offer the top 10 companies by market share, also including their amount of direct premiums written and loss ratios.

Average Allstate Male vs Female Car Insurance Rates

Do men and women pay different amounts for car insurance? Often, they do.

In most places, men will pay more than women, especially teenage men, who can pay substantially more than their female peers.

Six states — California, Hawaii, Massachusetts,  Montana, North Carolina and Pennsylvania — have banned gender discrimination in car insurance premiums, and we imagine more states will follow suit.

The video below gives some information on California’s gender discrimination ban.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZj2y4W-xNg&feature=youtu.be

So how does gender bias look for Allstate car insurance consumers?

Though rates are different for single men and women at ages 17 and 25, married men and women at ages 35 and 60 are averaging about the same when it comes to their Allstate premiums.

The table below shows average Allstate rates for folks of various genders, ages, and marital statuses.

But how does your typical commute affect your Allstate insurance rates?

Average Allstate Commute Rates

When it comes to Allstate Insurance, your commute distance only has a minimal effect on your car insurance premium.

Drivers with an average 10-mile commute (6,000 miles per year), can expect to pay about $4,841.71 in annual premiums. Drivers with an average 25-mile commute (12,000 miles per year), can expect to pay about $4,934.20.

Average Allstate Coverage Level Rates

Perhaps it goes without saying, but the more car insurance you need, the higher your premium will likely be. When it comes to this trend, Allstate is no exception.

The table below illustrates how rates steadily decrease as they move from high to low.

Average Allstate Credit History Rates

As we mentioned earlier, credit history plays a significant role in many aspects of our lives. This includes what we pay for car insurance premiums.

This short video offers a great explanation as to how and why credit scores help determine what we pay for car insurance.

The table below provides average premiums for Allstate drivers of various credit histories.

But what will affect your car insurance premiums even more than your credit history? It’s a factor that worries a lot of folks: your driving record.

Average Allstate Driving Record Rates

Most of us don’t have spotless driving records.

The fact that drivers with a clean record are paying the least in premiums doesn’t surprise us. But how do drivers with one speeding violation, one accident, or one DUI compare?

The table below reflects this data for Allstate consumers.

Coverages Offered

When you’re shopping for car insurance, you need to know about more than just rates and rankings. You need to know what different levels of coverage a company offers and which factors can affect your rate for that specific company.

Types of Coverage Offered

Allstate Insurance offers multiple types of insurance coverage including:

• Home
• Renters
• Condominium
• Landlord property insurance
• Life
• Retirement
• Supplemental health
• College savings
• Business
• Motorcycle
• ATV
• Snowmobile
• Motorhome
• Car insurance

Allstate Discounts

Allstate offers a lot of substantial discounts to its customers.

From military to good student, make sure to ask your local Allstate agent if you qualify for any of the 29 distinct discounts listed below:

• Anti-Lock Brakes
• Anti-Theft
• Claim Free
• Continuous Coverage
• Daytime Running Lights
• Defensive Driver
• Distant Student
• Driver’s Ed
• Driving Device/App
• Early Signing
• Electronic Stability Control
• Farm Vehicle
• Full Payment
• Good Student
• Green Vehicle
• Life Insurance
• Low Mileage
• Military
• Multiple Policies
• Newly Licensed
• Occupation
• On-Time Payments
• Paperless Documents
• Paperless/Auto Billing
• Passive Restraint
• Safe Driver
• Senior Driver
• Utility Vehicle
• Vehicle Recovery

What Stands Out

Our research shows that Allstate offers a variety of great discounts that appeal to drivers of all ages and experience levels. There are, however, some noticeable omissions: discounts for federal employees and other specific occupational discounts.

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Canceling Your Policy

Need to cancel your policy? Allstate makes it pretty easy, but you’ll need to call your Allstate agent in order to cancel.

And remember: in most states, you must have continuous car insurance coverage. So don’t cancel one policy until you have another in place.

Cancellation Fee

Allstate does not generally charge a cancellation fee for its customers, and you can cancel at almost any time.

How to Make a Claim

Unfortunately, accidents happen, both major and minor. So how do you make a claim with Allstate Insurance?

Allstate makes filing a claim fairly straightforward and simple. Claims can be filed:

• Online
• With the mobile app
• By calling 1-800-ALLSTATE (1-800-255-7828)
• By contacting your agent

This video shows what you can expect when filing a claim with Allstate (plus a brief primer on what info you need to gather in the case of an accident).

In the case of an accident, you’ll need some information to file your claim. Here’s what Allstate requires:

• Date and time of the incident
• Vehicles involved
• Description of the incident
• Description of damages
• Location of incident

Premiums Written

When you’re dealing with the nation’s fourth-largest car insurance provider — way to go, Allstate — it’s probably not surprising to read that the company writes a lot of premiums: $22.66 billion in premiums for 2018, in fact.

Loss Ratio

To assess the financial health of an insurance company, you should look at its loss ratios. Loss ratios tell us how much insurance companies pay out on claims compared to the money they take in on premiums.

For example, if an auto insurer collects $1,000 in premiums and pays out $550 in claims, the company’s loss ratio is 55 percent.

The video below explains loss ratios quite well.

Allstate’s current loss ratio is 56.38 percent.

How to Get a Quote Online

As more and more consumers are turning to the web to meet their car insurance needs, providers are paying attention. Drivers looking to get an Allstate quote online can follow our step-by-step guide:

First, head to Allstate.com. Then:

• Step 1: Click the button labeled “Get a Quote” in the top left of your screen.
• Step 2: Allstate will have already determined your location. Click on “Auto” and then “Get a Quote.”
• Step 3: Click the “Get Started” button.
• Step 4: Enter the basic information requested.
• Step 5: Enter your vehicle information, household information, and coverage that you want. You will then be given your Allstate quote.

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Design of Website and App

Conveniently, Allstate has both a website and a mobile app to make your insurance process — from getting a quote to filing a claim — easy as pie. The mobile app offers the following features:

• Drivewise® – Earn rewards for safe driving.
• Insurance ID cards – The glovebox digging ends now.
• View auto coverage – Know how you’re protected.
• QuickFoto Claim® – File claims in a flash.
• My Agent – Access your agent’s info.
• Gas Finder – Locate and compare prices of nearby gas stations.

Pros and Cons

So now that we’ve learned a lot about Allstate, let’s look at some of the specific pros and cons of taking out a car insurance policy with them.

Here are some pros:

• Allstate offers 29 distinct discounts and allows you to bundle auto, home, and life insurance policies.
• Allstate puts a big focus on community engagement, particularly related to environmental sustainability.
• Allstate makes everything pretty easy, from getting a quote to canceling your insurance to filing a claim.

Here are some cons:

• In their 2018 Auto Claims Satisfaction Study, J.D. Power found Allstate was “Above Average,” falling below their rankings of several of the company’s main competitors.
• The Allstate mobile website can be clunky and difficult to use. Additionally, their mobile app is prone to draining a phone battery and freezing.

The Bottom Line

Allstate is likely to be the best company for you if you are a safe driver and you want more supplemental coverage options. Allstate offers coverage in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

They also offer multiple discounts — 29 in fact — which can be good if you’re looking to save money.

If you want an insurance company with ethics and values, Allstate is heavily involved in communities, community initiatives, sustainability, and the environment.

Bottom line? In spite of some shortcomings, Allstate is clearly a consistent and reliable company — one we are sure will continue to see growth for many decades to come. It is definitely worth getting an auto insurance quote from Allstate.

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Allstate Car Insurance FAQs

Now that we’ve covered the basics of doing business with Allstate Insurance, you might still have some lingering — even pressing — questions. We’ve created this FAQ to address them.

Can I get copies of my Allstate ID card online?

Absolutely. You can view, print, and email a new insurance card, or request a mailed ID card through both the Allstate website and mobile app.

Can I make payments to Allstate online?

Yes, you are able to make payments through the Allstate website. You can also make a payment by phone (1-800-901-1732) or mail your payment to:

Allstate Payments
2012 Corporate Lane Suite 108
PO Box 4310
Naperville, Illinois 60563

Oh, and you can certainly stop in at your local Allstate agency to make a payment.

What is required for the Allstate’s Smart Student discount?

To receive the Smart Student discount, you must be a high school or college student with:

• Grades averaging a B- or above, and/or a GPA of 2.7 or above.
• Successful completion of the teenSMART driver education program.
• Attendance at an eligible school at least 100 miles away from where your car is normally parked.

What is Allstate’s Drivewise program?

Drivewise gives you personalized feedback to help make you a safer driver. In turn, it gives you discounts and cashback. It is available through the Allstate mobile app.

  What is Allstate’s Claims Satisfaction Guarantee?

Allstate promises a fast, fair, and hassle-free claims experience or you get a six-month premium credit. No questions asked.

How does Allstate Accident Forgiveness work?

With most insurance policies, your rates increase after an accident. If you carry accident forgiveness, however, your rates will typically not be affected by a collision. In Allstate’s case, there were two different types of accident forgiveness plan when we reviewed their policy at the time of this article: Gold and Platinum. There is a price difference between them, and they work in slightly different ways.

The Gold plan offers accident forgiveness for the first accident reported under your policy

This means that once you’ve been involved in an accident, you lose the protection. Subsequent accidents may cause your rates to increase. Some agents will move you from Gold protection Platinum protection after an accident so that you can get accident forgiveness for subsequent collisions.

The Platinum plan provides accident forgiveness for as long as you carry the Platinum protection

In other words, you can have multiple accidents without your rates increasing. After a certain number of collisions, you may no longer qualify for Platinum protection, but your rates will not increase for any accident up to that point.

No matter which type of Your Choice Auto policy you carry, you will also get the benefit of a deductible reduction program. This causes your deductible amount to decrease by $100 each year that you go accident-free after you purchase the Your Choice Auto policy. For example, if you have a $500 deductible, your deductible will be waived after five years of safe driving.

Some states do not allow a complete waiver of deductible. In these areas, your deductible will be reduced to $100 and stay there. Additionally, remember that the waiver only applies to collision and uninsured motorist coverages. Your comprehensive deductible is not affected by the deductible reduction amount.

Once you’ve been involved in an accident, the deductible returns to its original amount and will stay there for one year.

You would then need to earn reduction awards again through more years of safe driving. You will only lose the deductible rewards if you file a collision or uninsured motorist claim; comprehensive claims do not affect the deductible reduction amount.

Bear in mind that just because your rates cannot increase as a result of a collision does not mean that your rates won’t go up while you have the policy. For example, traffic violations can still cause a rate increase. If you’re involved in an accident and get a citation for causing the collision, that citation will still affect your rates even though the accident will not.

Is Allstate the Only Company that offers this program?

Although Allstate pioneered the notion of accident forgiveness and deductible reductions, other insurance companies offer similar programs. Depending on your situation, it may be a better deal to obtain coverage through these competitors, or the Allstate policy may be the most affordable.

Nationwide offers a program called Vanishing Deductible which works in a similar fashion to Allstate’s deductible reduction. Through the Vanishing Deductible program, your rates decrease by $100 each year that you go without a collision. Other companies, such as The Hartford, offer similar programs.

Accident forgiveness is also available through companies like Nationwide, Liberty Mutual and Geico.

Each insurance company handles this differently, so be sure to speak with the agent or customer service representative to understand exactly how Allstate’s accident forgiveness is applied to your policy.

Now that you’ve read through this comprehensive review of Allstate Insurance, it’s time to hit the road. But before you go, we’d like to know, did we miss anything in this guide? Which section was most helpful to you? Enter your ZIP code below to get a FREE car insurance quote comparison and start saving money today.

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