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Reviewed By Micah Pratt
on October 26, 2016

Obrella.com allstate Ranking Allstate

Overall 3.5 / 5

Cost:

Discounts Offered:

Company Satisfaction:

Customer Service:

Claims Process:

Searching for reliable information about car insurance companies? This page contains our expert review on Allstate car insurance. This aggregated review is based on our research and data including online expert ratings, industry rankings, and hundreds of customer reviews. The result is Obrella’s star rating—honest information meant to help you choose the best insurance for your needs.

Allstate is one of the largest auto insurance providers in America—third, to be exact—when looking at the number of policies written. Because of their size, we made sure to include them in our review of car insurance companies. Here you’ll find the results of our research, from pros and cons to customer reviews and industry rankings. In this review, find out why—in our opinion—Allstate is an excellent choice for young drivers and those with clean driving records.

What is Obrella’s rating and recommendation for Allstate car insurance?

Combining industry rankings with our review of cost, discounts, and customer satisfaction with service and claims, Allstate got an overall 3.5 out of 5 stars. This above-average score comprises high ratings for cost and customer overall satisfaction with lower reviews for offered discounts, customer service, and claims process.

But there’s more to this story. Based on our analysis, here’s the bottom line on Allstate car insurance: Allstate is best for teen drivers and those with clean driving records. The company offers drivers plenty of pros and one major drawback.

What Do You Want to Know More About?

What are Allstate’s benefits?

  • Allstate Rewards. This program rewards you for your safe driving with gift cards, merchandise, and more. It does require you to install Allstate’s surveillance device Drivewise® to qualify, but it’s one incentive to be safer behind the wheel—and make money while you’re at it.
  • Accident Forgiveness. You get a free pass for your first accident or incident and assurance that your rate won’t go up for a one-time event.
  • Safe Driving Bonus®. Allstate Insurance gives checks to accident- and incident-free drivers twice a year. You can also get $100 off your deductible every year you drive without filing a claim—but there is a $500 cap.
  • Care for Teen Drivers. Since 1952, the Allstate Foundation has made a conscious effort to help teens become safer drivers. With more than $43 million invested in resources and a 48 percent decrease in teen traffic fatality rates, you can say the efforts have paid off. In addition to teen driver campaigns such as #GetThereSafe, Allstate has Star Driver an app that helps teens and their parents learn to safer driving techniques. Allstate also produces The Lines, a web series dedicated to teens behind the wheel.

What are Allstate’s drawbacks?

Tricky Deductible Process. If you file a claim but are not at-fault in an accident, you have to pay your deductible up front. Once Allstate proves you weren’t at-fault and gets paid by the other driver’s insurance, you’ll be reimbursed. While this isn’t unique to Allstate Insurance, it’s important to know so you don’t get caught by surprise.

What are the best features?

Are you looking for an insurance company that offers plenty of bells and whistles? Allstate’s added features and easy-to-use tools suggest that it scores well for the consumers who want to feel in control of their policy. Here are some standout features we found in our research:

  • Innovative Technology.Use Allstate’s mobile app to access insurance cards, pay your premium, and connect with a claims specialist. Allstate also designed an app specifically for teens, Star Driver, to encourage safer driving.
  • The Allstate “Customer Satisfaction Guarantee.” The company refunds unhappy customers with up to six months worth of premium payments if they’re unsatisfied with their auto claim—even if Allstate paid it. You may never need it, but it’s something you should ask about and see if you qualify.
  • Helpful Tools and Resources. Allstate’s Good Hands Network helps you search for reliable repair shops and mechanics. Bumper To Bumper Basics® is a web tool that walks you through how to find the proper coverage for your needs.
  • Flexible Roadside Assistance.Choose from a yearly membership like Allstate Motor Club, which gives policyholders 25 percent off their next year’s membership if help doesn’t arrive within 30 minutes of the promised time. You can also opt for a roadside coverage per-use membership, called Good Hands RescueSM, for a more á la carte service.

How is Allstate’s customer satisfaction?

When we talk about an auto insurance company’s “overall satisfaction,” we really mean, “Would you recommend Allstate car insurance to a friend?” Knowing whether a company comes with positive word-of-mouth reviews can help you make a decision in your own car insurance shopping.

Allstate fared about average in this measure 3.8 out of 5 but below many big-name companies like USAA, Safeco, and Nationwide. We found many customers who reviewed their overall satisfaction as a positive one, for example:

“Allstate has always worked with me and made sure I felt like my needs mattered.” —Monica

How do customers review the cost of Allstate car insurance?

Quotes for car insurance vary widely, depending on your state, your vehicle, and your demographic. Even still, customers want the most appropriate cost for the level of service they receive. That’s why we crunched the numbers on insurance companies’ customer reviews of cost.

Allstate customers review the company fairly well, earning an average rating of 3.7 out of 5, and tied with Travelers, The Hanover, and Progressive. Allstate is a good value especially so for driver with clean records, which we’ll dive into on this page later.

What do Allstate auto insurance reviews say about its customer service?

How customers perceive the customer service they receive from a company was another key factor in our review. We scoured the web for Allstate customer reviews and conducted our own internal survey asking customers to talk about their experiences. So how did Allstate do? Here’s a typical example of what we heard:

“Allstate is easy and convenient.” —Marques, Obrella Survey


“I am currently insured with Allstate and another Allstate person ran into my car while it was parked. The claims processor was really easy to work with, got me in right away and I had a check in my hand that same day. It was a great experience and super easy. —John, Car Insurance Credio

Marques’ review was pretty typical of the reviews that we found, but they weren’t positive across the board. For example,

”Requested an auto insurance quote back in spring 2013 (they were by far the worst quote so I declined). Every 3-4 months someone from Allstate would email, call or mail me despite repeated requests to remove me from their lists. They even made 2-3 credit inquires; neither of which that I had authorized.” —Jenny, Car Insurance Credio

Comparing all the companies that we reviewed, Allstate got a 3.4 out of 5, which was just a notch above average. Although Allstate customers generally had a good customer experience, it looks like a few other companies— USAA, Geico, and Farmers, to name a few— offered just a little bit better.

What do Allstate’s car insurance reviews say about its claims process?

Claims is another place where Allstate does above average. We ranked the company with 3.7 out 5 stars in the measure of customer reviews of claims process.

Because how a car insurance company processes your claims is such an important facet of the overall experience, we wanted to give a few more details that we uncovered.

In a 2015 JD Power survey, Allstate earned an overall 3 out of 5 stars for “Claims Satisfaction,” similar to our own review. But the JD Power rankings go a bit deeper, revealing two areas where Allstate performed the best. For both the repair process and rental car categories, the company got 4 stars.

How is Allstate car insurance ranked in the industry?

Actors have the Oscars, athletes have the ESPYs. There are a number of ways to measure how insurance companies perform, but two big ones are JD Power’s reviews and Weiss Ratings. These rankings, shown below, indicate Allstate’s financial stability and overall satisfaction with customers.

Weiss Ratings
Weiss reports on the financial strength of over 11,000 companies. If being confident in the financial stability of an insurance company is important to you, then these grades are of value. The higher the grade, the more financially stable and profitable the company is.

In a 2015 Weiss Rating, Allstate got a B+ for financial strength. In Weiss terms, this means they’re doing “good.”

JD Power
JD Power surveys customers to learn how companies compare in terms of customer service, claims, and more. This data is a useful representation of how customers feel about a company as a whole—and how you might, too.

If customer satisfaction is at the top of your list for what you’re looking for in care insurance, Allstate is a good choice. Here’s how it ranked in JD Power’s 2015 studies:

Claims Satisfaction

3

3

3

4

4

3

Source: www.jdpower.com

Insurance Shopping Results

3

3

3

3

2

3

Source: www.jdpower.com

How much are the average Allstate car insurance quotes?

We pulled rates from insurance companies in every state and analyzed them to help give you an idea of how much you might expect to pay based on your driver profile.

Our research shows that when compared to four of the other biggest insurance companies, Allstate quotes come in at competitive prices for drivers off all ages. For example, it is only $38 more expensive than the most affordable for teen drivers.

18-YEAR OLD FEMALE18-YEAR OLD MALE25-YEAR OLD FEMALE25-YEAR OLD MALE60-YEAR OLD FEMALE60-YEAR OLD MALE
ALLSTATE$2,300.53$2,500.58$1,525.23$1,177.18$939.60$910.52
AMERICAN FAMILY$2,335.85$2,678.43$680.11$782.67$785.57$579.88
Geico$2,525.89$2,979.87$1,385.35$1,160.79$1,006.10$964.54
NATIONWIDE$2,262.28$2,623.48$1,647.23$1,787.71$1,088.20$1,150.89
PROGRESSIVE$3,070.44$3,185.93$2,567.17$2,357.95$1,086.59N/A

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What are Allstate’s average annual rates by driver profile?

To show how Allstate’s premiums change by driver type, we analyzed rates for teen drivers and drivers 55 and older. We found that drivers over 55 pay the least for car insurance.

Our research also revealed that the biggest difference in premiums comes between ages 20 and 30 when rates drop by nearly 40 percent.

While married drivers do get a price advantage over those who are single, the difference is less than most other insurance companies..

Average Annual Rates
Married Drivers$1,207.76
Single Drivers$1,449.39
Teen Drivers$2,411.74
Drivers in their 20's$1,801.65
Drivers in their 30's$1,294.07
Drivers 55 and Over$1,094.12

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*These are real numbers from 2014 and 2015, but are subject to change in the coming months or years. They are only here to show you how insurance providers stack up against each other. Rates will differ by state.

What auto insurance discounts are available from Allstate?

It’s no surprise that saving money is often the number one factor in choosing a car insurance company. Allstate offers a variety of discounts to help you save on your policy. Here’s a list of Allstate discounts to see if you qualify for:

  • Multi-policy Discount – Up to 10 percent savings when you bundle with home or renters insurance
  • Premier Discount – Up to 22 percent off for driving three years without any violations or accidents
  • Premier Plus Discount – Up to 35 percent savings for driving 60 months without any violations or accidents
  • Safe Drivers Discount – Up to 45 percent off for responsible driving
    teenSMART Discount – Up to 10 percent off when your teen successfully completes the teenSMART driver education program
  • Defensive Driver Discount – Up to 10 percent off when you take a driving course
  • Senior Adult Discount – Up to 10 percent off
  • 55 and Retired Discount – Up to 10 percent off
  • Resident Student Discount – Up to 35 percent off for children who attend school 100 miles or more from home
  • Smart Student Discount – Up to 20 percent off for full-time students under age 25 who maintain good grades (students can also get a discount for taking the teenSMART driver education program)
  • Passive Restraint Discount – Up to 30 percent savings
  • Anti-lock Brake Discount – Up to 10 percent off
  • Anti-theft Device Discount – Up to 10 percent off
  • New Car Discount – Up to 30 percent savings
  • Eco-friendly Car Discount – Up to a 10 percent off
  • Utility Discount – Up to 15 percent off for utility vehicles 2002 and older
  • Farm Vehicle Discount – Up to 10 percent off
  • EZ Pay Plan Discount – Up to 5 percent off for setting up automatic bill pay
  • eSmart® Discount – Up to 10 percent off for paperless policies
  • FullPay® Discount – Up to 10 percent off when you pay your policy in full
  • Early Signing Discount® – Up to 10 percent off
  • Good Payer Discount – Up to 5 percent off for paying on time

See a complete list of Allstate discounts.

Read More: Rhode Island Renters Insurance

What is Allstate Insurance Company’s history?

Since 1931 Allstate has provided more than insurance to its customers. The company has stood up against domestic abuse, lobbied to pass seat belt and air bag legislation, and developed a response team for natural disasters. Today, Allstate is a leader in providing top quality auto, home and other insurance coverage to people all over the nation with a wide range of discounts, safety initiatives, and fair pricing.

Where can you get Allstate coverage?

With its sheer size (it’s the third largest auto insurer in the U.S.) and high-quality coverage options, it’s no surprise that Allstate auto insurance is available across the country. To see how Allstate auto insurance measures up where you live, compare it to other companies in your state. This can give you an idea of what quote to expect before you call in.

Most Popular States to Buy Allstate Insurance
We found that Allstate offers coverage in all 50 states, but its popularity soars in certain regions. In fact, Allstate ranked as a top 10 insurance company in 47 states and Washington, D.C. (For more information, read our “Key Factors To Consider When Searching For Affordable Auto Insurance In Washington“).

Here are the top five states where drivers choose Allstate most often:

  • New York: 15.1 percent of all insured drivers in New York have an Allstate auto insurance policy
  • South Carolina: 14.39 percent of all auto insurance policies in South Carolina are from Allstate
  • Alaska: Allstate provides auto insurance policies for 14.21 percent of Alaskan drivers
  • New Jersey: If you live in New Jersey, 12.98 percent of your fellow drivers are insured by Allstate
  • Rhode Island: 12.65 percent of the state’s auto insurance policies were provided by Allstate

States Where Allstate Sells the Most Policies
Compared to other insurance companies, Allstate also ranked in the top 10 insurance companies for most policies sold in 47 states and Washington, D.C. In 39 states and D.C., it was in the top five for most policies sold. Here’s where Allstate sells the most policies, looking at sheer volume:

  • California: 1,942,772 policies
  • Texas: 1,875,832 policies
  • New York: 1,734,146 policies
  • Florida: 1,707,052 policies
  • New Jersey: 902,770 policies

What is the bottom line?

If you or your teen driver has a clean record, Allstate is a great auto insurance option. You’ll cash in on a number of rewards, discounts, and accident-forgiveness incentives that could save you money. Allstate’s above-average scores for cost, claims, and overall company satisfaction based on customer reviews means you can trust you’ll get quality service with your car insurance.

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