Posts Tagged ‘allstate’

Allstate Requests Rate Hike on Louisiana Homeowners Policies

January 25th, 2012 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in homeowners insurance, hurricane insurance, rate watch

Allstate Corp., the second-largest home insurer in Louisiana, has asked for an insurance rate increase for 144,000 homeowners who get their coverage from two of the corporations local subsidiaries.

According to the Louisiana state insurance department, Allstate wants an average increase of 5.9 percent for 73,000 homeowners with policies from Allstate Indemnity Co, and an 11.3 percent rate increase for 71,000 homeowners with coverage from Allstate Insurance Co. Added together, these rate hikes represent $17 million.

If Jim Donelon, the Louisiana Insurance Commissioner, approves the rate increases, they would go into effect with new and renewal policies effective March 1st.

Allison Hatcher, speaking on behalf of Allstate, explained that this rate increase is meant to cover the corporations cost of reinsurance, which is basically the coverage that Allstate takes from other companies in order to help cover damages caused by catastrophic events like hurricanes and floods. Such reinsurance charges are usually built into homeowner’s policy premiums, and are generally higher for homeowners in coastal areas.

Allstate’s last rate increase in Louisiana was in August, 2010, when the higher rates ranged from 2.9 percent to 11.6 percent depending on the specific Allstate branch writing the coverage.

State Farm, the state’s largest insurer of private homes, has already asked for and received a rate hike of it’s own this year.

Commissioner Donelon has 30-45 days to consider Allstate’s request before making his decision.

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Allstate Launches Identity Theft Coverage in California

September 2nd, 2011 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in auto insurance, insurance specialists

According to several sources, there are roughly nine million Americans who are victims of identity theft every year, resulting in millions of hours spent trying to resolve the issues associated with having your identity stolen.

As a measure of protection, Allstate Insurance Company is offering its customers in California coverage to help mitigate the expense of identity theft, and reduce the time spent recovering their identities, as well.

The program, which is referred to as “identity theft expenses coverage” went into affect in late August, and is available to new and renewing Allstate auto insurance policyholders in California. With a starting premium of $30/year, the coverage will give customers access to “professional identity restoration assistance.”

It also provides a maximum of $25,000 in reimbursement coverage for attorney fees, loan reapplication fees, credit fees, police report fees, lost wages, and any other reasonable expenses associated with the restoration of identity.

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State Farm, Allstate Offering Benefits to Same-Sex Partners

May 25th, 2011 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in alternative health plans, insurance news

Last week, State Farm insurance announced a significant change in their corporate policy. The company will be extending health care coverage and other benefits to the same-sex partners of its agents, agency staff members, employees, and retirees, so long as they’re in legally recognized relationships.

Such benefits are already offered to employees and their partners in ten jurisdictions where the company operates, but State Farm spokesperson Phil Supple said that the programs will go nationwide as of June 1st, 2011. Supple added that if existing ratios are accurate, the cost of doing so won’t be at all significant.

What brought on this decision? It stems from a change in the laws in State Farm’s home state of Illinois which requires benefits be extended to partners who have civil unions. Even though only two of the insurer’s plans would be subject to the new law, Suppler said, it was decided to extend benefits to all plans and employees (etc.) nationwide in order to be “fair and consistent.” Across the United States, the company has about 68,000 employees and 18,000 agents.

Employees and their partners must be in legally recognized relationships under the laws of the states where they reside, including civil unions, same-sex marriages, and domestic partnerships, in order for the partners to receive benefits, which include medical, dental, vision, life, long-term care, and accidental death and dismemberment coverage.

Another major insurer, Allstate Corp, also offers benefits to same-sex partners (as well as some non-traditional opposite-sex partners who are in document-able exclusive, committed relationships), with such caveats as a demonstrated co-responsibility for each other’s welfare and financial obligations, a shared primary residence, legal adulthood, and no relationships or marriages outside the partnership.

Benefits for Allstate employees include medical, dental, vision, and long-term care coverage, as well as flexible spending accounts.

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Ratewatch: Allstate to Raise Rates in Mississippi

April 12th, 2011 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in homeowners insurance, rate watch

According to the Mississippi Insurance Commissioner, Mike Chaney, Allstate customers in that state will be seeing a 19.4 percent increase in their homeowners insurance rates. The increase is likely to happen in June, and apply to both renewals and new policies.

For nearly two years, Chaney has been in negotiations with Allstate about the size of this increase, which, when filed, was a ridiculously high 65 percent. That increase, along with the reduced request for a 44% rate hike, was rejected.

In 2006, after Hurricane Katrina, then-Insurance Commissioner George Dale approved Allstate’s request for a 29.5 percent increase which also came with a 90% increase in the state’s three coastal counties. That rate-raising was followed by a 14 percent hike approved by Chaney in 2008, though that was an average, and coastal homeowners actually saw their insurance go up by about 40 percent at that time.

Then, in late 2009, Chaney declared that he would only accept rate increases that were proposed statewide, rather than those broken down by property zone (i.e. inland vs. coastal locations).

In the most recent negotiations, Allstate threatened to drop 18,000 policyholders from their book of business unless the 44% increase was allowed, but after more back-and-forth, the insurer agreed to drop only 5,000 policies in Mississippi, no more than 150 of which are in coastal locations, and then only after a year passes.

A representative of Allstate said that any homeowners insurance customers who also have (or move) their auto policies to Allstate will not be dropped, and will also receive a 25% discount, which is ten percent more than the previous discount of 15%.

In a statement to the press, Chaney said, “This has been a painstaking process, and as commissioner, I worked diligently to negotiate the requested rate down to a 19.4 percent increase to the policyholder. I earnestly believe I have arrived at the most equitable solution possible, while carefully balancing the percentage of increase granted with the number of non-renewals by Allstate throughout the state.”

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