Insurance Claims and Settlements

Allstate is one of the largest insurance companies in the world, receiving six million automobile, property and bodily injury claims a year, totaling approximately $15 billion in payments to customers and claimants. As in the rest of the country, Allstate has a great deal of market share in Maryland in automobile insurance and other third party personal injury claims insurance.

Allstate’s handling of personal injury accident claims in Maryland has led to the conclusion by some Maryland accident lawyers that Allstate is the “worst” insurance company to deal with in handling accident claims.

Allstate’s reputation is based on a number of factors. First was the infamous advice from McKinsey & Co to overhaul its claims practices, symbolized by the use of "boxing gloves" to allstatecharacterize how Allstate should treat third party claims victims and even their own policyholders who balk at settlement offers Allstate made. Another piece of advice McKinsey gave, which really resonated with claimants after the advice was implemented, is stalling those claims where the victim did not rollover on settlement. This advice was given 15 years ago – as Allstate readily points out. But, certainly, some of this advice is still being used today by some Allstate adjusters.

Another complaint against Allstate is its use of Colossus, a computer system that takes human beings out of the equation and calculates injury settlements based on factors such as the severity of the injury, the age of the victim, and the victim’s accident lawyers’ record of filing suit and taking cases to trial. Reliance on Colossus took out of the equation both the subjective qualities of the claimant (judges and juries give more to victims that appear to be quality people), and the fact that not everyone responds the same to the same accident or the same injuries.

Still, in spite of Allstate’s reputation, our Maryland accident lawyers do not see Allstate as the most difficult car insurance company to deal with in Maryland. In fact, their settlement offers are typically better, in ouaccidentallstater experience, than what you would receive in the same case from Progressive, GEICO, MAIF (Maryland Automobile Insurance Fund), or State Farm (particularly if you are dealing with State Farm Team 21 or Team 22). And while our accident lawyers certainly do have to bring Allstate accident cases to trial, many cases are able to settle either before or after a lawsuit has been filed. For cases that are in suit, Allstate's lawyers in Maryland are house counsel that typcially do not share their Allstate adjusters' view of the case.

If you have been injured in an automobile accident in Maryland where the at-fault driver is insured by Allstate or if you are filing an uninsured motorist claim against Allstate, and you have a question about your claim, call us at 800-553-8082 or click here for a free consultation.