HOW TO HANDLE ALLSTATE AUTO ACCIDENT CLAIMS

This page will look at how to handle auto accident claims with Allstate. Allstate is one of the largest insurance companies in the world. They are the 5^th largest auto insurance carrier in the U.S. and the 3^rd largest auto insurer in Maryland. Allstate was originally founded by Sears Roebuck & Co. back in the early 1930s. Today Allstate is the second largest personal lines insurer in the country. The company is headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois but it has regional claims offices across the U.S.

Allstate is certainly one of the most well-known and respected insurance companies in the U.S. They also hold themselves out in a very positive light with their “in good hands” slogan. This good guy persona goes out the window when dealing with Allstate on accident claims.

Allstate can be very tiresome and difficult to deal with on auto accident claims in Maryland. One of the most frustrating things about the Allstate claims process is their over reliance on the well known insurance claims software called Colossus.

Colossus is a sophisticated software program that tracks certain information about a claim and uses an algorithm to calculate a settlement value. The system looks at things such as injury type, victim age and treatment records. Based on these data points the software gives the claims adjuster a value for the claim. This tends to make the Allstate claims process very robotic in many ways. Colossus takes out of the equation both the subjective qualities of the claimant and the fact that people respond differently to injuries.

Allstate Makes Reasonable 1st Offers

Compared to other insurers like GEICO or State Farm, Allstate typically makes higher initial settlement offers to 3^rd party injury claimants. The graph on the right shows an analysis of Allstate’s 1st settlement offer in 10 randomly selected auto accident claims.

The graph compares the average amount of the medical bills involved in the claim (blue bar) vs. the amount of Allstate’s initial offer (orange bar). As the chart indicates, Allstate’s average initial offers were about 25% above the medical bills. This is admittedly a small sample size, but it suggests that Allstate’s initial settlement offer is usually 10-25% more than the medical expenses.

Allstate’s initial settlement offers are consistently higher and more reasonable when compared to other insurance companies. But if this initial settlement offer is rejected, Allstate claims adjusters will make a deliberate effort to stall, stonewall and frustrate in an attempted to bully you into accepting their offer.

AVERAGE ALLSTATE INITIAL OFFER vs. MEDICAL BILLS

Allstate’s Lawyers for Maryland Claims

Allstate has its own team of in-house attorneys that defend auto tort cases in Maryland. Allstate has 2 in house counsel offices. One is located in Baltimore and the other is in Greenbelt. The in house attorneys at Allstate may be company employees, but they have some autonomy and the authority to overrule the adjuster. For bigger cases, when there is a possibility that a judgment could exceed policy limits, Allstate will appoint outside counsel to defend their insured. Allstate uses a panel of several different small or mid-sized insurance defense firms, including:

Anderson, Coe & King, LLP (Baltimore)
Rollins, Smalkin, Richards & Mackie (Baltimore)
McCarthy Wilson (Rockville)