Personal Injury Law

Allstate Named America's Worst Insurance Company

By Mark Siesel, Esq.

The American Association of Justice recently released their report named "The Ten Worst Insurance Companies in America: How They Raise Premiums, Deny Claims, and Refuse Insurance To Those Who Need It Most." In the report, Allstate is cited as the worst insurance company in the U.S. The methods by which Allstate obtained its "award" are essentially the tactics that this writer has been seeing more insurance companies adopt each year. That is, they deny claims, delay payment as much as possible, even in the most clear cut cases, and defend cases to trial that ought to be settled out of court. To give a classic example of Allstate and State Farm's tactics, (State Farm was ranked as 4th worst, but in my opinion, they should be ranked a very close second behind Allstate) in a Brooklyn car accident case about four years ago, my client was in a car that was rear ended by a driver who was later convicted of DWI. He suffered a severely injured shoulder which required surgery, as well as 4 herniated discs. Allstate's driver had a minimal insurance policy. Rather than settle the case, when their driver was 100% at fault and the injuries he caused were severe, Allstate delayed, fought, and defended an indefensible case, all in an effort to try to get our office to accept a slightly lower offer, which we ultimately refused to do and Allstate had to pay the policy anyway. I would love for someone to explain to me exactly how my client, or Allstate's insured, were "in good hands with Allstate."

Allstate began the strategy that resulted in its status as worst insurance company in the mid 1990's when it hired the ?efficiency? consulting firm McKinsey & Company, who specialize in redesigning product delivery systems for Fortune 100 companies to maximize profits. McKinsey created a plan for Allstate's claims operations known as the ?Claims Core Process Redesign? or simply CCPR. According to the author of "From Good Hands To Boxing Gloves", David Berardinelli, CCPR has generated between $15 to $25 billion in excess profits for Allstate's stockholders.

The ranking of the 10 worst insurance companies by the AAOJ is as follows: 1) Allstate, 2) Unum, 3) AIG, 4) State Farm, 5) Conseco, 6) WellPoint, 7) Farmers, 8) United Health, 9) Torchmark, and 10) Liberty Mutual.

For a free consultation with an aggressive, experienced lawyer who has obtained numerous verdicts and settlements for his clients, and in the process defeated the insurance company tactics described above, contact The Law Office of Mark A. Siesel online or at 888-761-7633.

Full post as published by New York Legal Blog on September 05, 2008 (boomark / email).