- Car Insurance
Allstate is one of the biggest insurers in the United States and has a history that dates back to the 1930s. With a revenue of nearly $40 billion, it is one of the richest corporations in the country and insurers millions of individuals across all 50 states.
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About Allstate Car Insurance Coverage
Allstate offers extensive car insurance and motorcycle insurance, with varied and affordable cover for all. In most states, you are required to have a specific amount of liability cover and everything else is optional. In others, however, you will need several more of these cover options to meet those minimum state requirements.
Liability Coverage
Liability coverage protects you when you are responsible for an accident. If you do harm to another driver’s vehicle, property damage liability insurance will payout; if you have body injury cover, it will payout if the other driver or their passengers suffer any physical injuries.
Collision Coverage
Adding collision coverage to your insurance policy will cover you in the event of an accident with another car, a wall, tree or another object. Whereas liability coverage pays for the other driver’s bodily injury and property damage, collision insurance will pay for yours.
Comprehensive Coverage
Comprehensive insurance covers many of the things not covered by collision or liability insurance. For instance, it will cover you in the event that your car is damaged during a flood or severe winds. It will also cover you for animal collisions, which, surprisingly, are not covered by collision insurance.
Personal Injury Protection
Personal injury protection or “PIP” will cover you for most medical costs in the event of a serious accident. It will also pay out if your injury results in missed work and lost earnings. As a result, it is important for freelancers and other self-employed individuals who aren’t salaried and can’t rely on other forms of insurance or income protection.
Medical Payments Coverage
This type of insurance will cover you or your passengers for certain medical expenses. It’s often a cheaper and more limited insurance than personal injury protection, but it is required in a few states.
Roadside Coverage
Will cover you for common roadside services, including jump-starts and tows. If you’re stranded by the side of the road and need some assistance, this option can help.
Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage
It has been estimated that as many as 13% of all US drivers are not insured. If you’re involved in an accident with an uninsured driver, they won’t have the cover needed to pay your costs. That’s where uninsured/underinsured motorist insurance comes in. This insurance will fill in the gaps and provide cover.
Rental Reimbursement Coverage
A type of insurance that covers the costs of renting a car (along with other transportation expenses) while your main car is being repaired. If your vehicle is undergoing serious repairs, it could be out of action for a while and this insurance will keep you on the road at that time.
Personal Umbrella Policy
The goal of an umbrella policy is to cover you beyond the limits of liability cover, essentially stepping in where other coverage options fail.
Sound System Insurance
If you have an expensive sound system, this insurance could be worth its weight in gold. It will cover you for damage and theft relating to that sound system, as well as all video equipment.
Allstate Car Insurance Cost
Allstate has some very competitive prices and is nearly always amongst the top 10 cheapest providers based on specific demographics and locations. However, GEICO and State Farm typically outperform Allstate when it comes to affordability.
In our research, we found that Allstate often ranks higher for bad credit drivers. Credit scores are a vital component of car insurance claims, but they are often overlooked by many applicants. If you have a low credit score, you may struggle to get the low prices quoted by the likes of GEICO, in which case you should get some insurance quotes from Allstate instead.
We also found that Allstate consistently ranked as one of the cheapest provides for safe/good drivers and good credit drivers in Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, New York, and South Carolina.
Allstate Features
In addition to the usual coverage choices, Allstate offers the following features, benefits, and additional insurance options. Some of these come at an additional cost, others are offered free of charge to most Allstate members. In both cases, however, there are state restrictions and no guarantee that these features are available in your area.
- Accident Forgiveness (extra coverage): Your insurance rates won’t climb just because you have an accident. This is true even if you were at-fault for that accident.
- Car Buying Service (free to members): Learn more about the type of car you want to buy and get a host of discounts. This type of service isn’t unique to Allstate and it’s something you can also get with insurance providers like GEICO, but it definitely has its benefits and can save you a lot of money when buying a new car.
- Classic Car Insurance (extra coverage): Classic cars aren’t cheap to insure. They typically have fewer safety features and anti-theft features, and they also have rarer parts that may be harder to find and more expensive to replace. With classic car insurance, you’ll be covered.
- Deductible Rewards (add for a cost): Every year that you avoid driving violations, you can get a $100 discount on your collision deductible, up to a total of $500.
- Drivewise Program (free to members): The Drivewise app offers a 10% discount in the beginning and this can increase to 35%. The app keeps track of your speed and braking and also notes the times that you drive. The insurer uses this information to plot more accurate data points and make better predictions with regard to the likelihood of you being involved in an accident. If you’re a safe driver, you should consider using the Drivewise app.
- Satisfaction Guarantee (free to members): If you don’t like the way Allstate handled your claim, you can collect a 6-month credit via their Satisfaction Guarantee.
- Safe Driving Check Bonus (add for a cost): Allstate offers all policyholders a small bonus (sent via check) for every six months that they remain accident-free.
- Milewise (free to members): The Milewise add-on is basically a pay-per-mile form of car insurance. It’s worth considering if you don’t drive a lot or have long periods of inactivity. When you spend less time on the road, your risk of being involved in an accident and making a claim drops significantly, and you can start reaping the rewards with programs like this.
- New Car Replacement (extra coverage): If you have a new car, this option may appeal to you. It will give you a new like-for-like vehicle if you wreck your car within two years of the model release. Again, this is not unique, and some other companies offer better new car replacement coverage, but it’s still a good addition to your policy if you’re opting for Allstate auto insurance.
- Roadside Assistance (extra coverage): You can get roadside assistance in several different forms, including pay-per-use and via the Allstate’s Motor Club, which works in the same way as AAA. You can also add it to your policy for an extra cost. However, as we have noted many times before, roadside assistance is not that hard to come by and if you’re part of a membership club or have a premium credit card, there’s a good chance you have it already.
- Rideshare Insurance (extra coverage): Known as Allstate Ride for Hire, this service is designed for Uber and Lyft drivers. It’s an important service if you use these ridesharing apps. However, there are a number of limitations and you need to have the app and be carrying customers to get the full benefits. Still, as long as you have full coverage, your traditional policy will cover you the rest of the time.
Allstate Car Insurance Discounts
Like many other top car insurers, Allstate offers a wide selection of car insurance discounts. These discounts are performance and user-based. Generally, they offer you reduced premiums if you tick boxes that deem you to be a low risk or save the insurer money in other ways.
- Multi-Policy Discount: Allstate offers discounts for policyholders who purchase homeowner’s insurance and other insurance products along with an auto policy. Also known as “bundling”, this discount is offered by the majority of big auto insurance companies and is a great way to shave some dollars off your monthly outgoings.
- Safe Driving Bonus: If you have a safe driving record you can receive some big discounts from Allstate. A safe driving record generally means you have avoided accidents and violations and can prove that you’re competent behind the wheel.
- Good Student Discount: Many states require insurers to offer good student discounts. This discount typically requires at least a B average and is a great way for young drivers (who often pay much more than older drivers) to save money on their insurance.
- Safety Equipment Discount: If your car has anti-lock brakes, front-and-side airbags, and other safety features, you could be offered a much cheaper policy when compared to drivers without any of these features. Discounts are also offered for anti-theft features, such as car alarms, trackers, and passive disabling devices.
- New Car Discount: New cars tend to be much safer than their older counterparts, leading to fewer crashes and fewer claims. As a result, Allstate gives all new car owners a discount. It also offers a Car Replacement add-on.
- Early Signing Discount: Offered to policyholders that renew their policies early, this is Allstate’s way of encouraging you to re-sign and to avoid doing any of that pesky comparison shopping! But a discount is a discount, and if you’re re-signing it’s an easy way to save.
- Discount for Going Paperless: Do your bit for the environment by going paperless. It limits paper waste and also saves Allstate a little time and money.
- Discount for Paying Upfront: Pay for your insurance premiums upfront and you will pay less, albeit only slightly.
Other Types of Allstate Insurance
Allstate offers extensive insurance coverage in several different areas, with coverage across the United States. Contact an Allstate agent for more information about adding one of these policies, but make sure you compare them with other providers before you sign on the dotted line:
- Home Insurance: Includes Renters and Condo insurance. Additional options allow you to secure your data and even your ID. If, for instance, your computer is stolen, not only will you get a like-for-like replacement, but you’ll also be compensated for your lost pictures and other data, assuming you have the add-on. Older homeowners can save more thanks to Allstate’s 55+ discount and retiree discount.
- Term-Life Insurance: Get coverage for between 10 and 30 years. One of the benefits of Allstate life insurance is that you don’t need to choose five-year increments and can purchase term-insurance for any number of years between 10 and 30.
- Business Insurance: Cover your business property and assets with Allstate Business Insurance. Allstate offers customized coverage to account for your business’s unique needs.
Allstate Customer Satisfaction
Allstate has an “above average” J.D. Power rating for most forms of insurance, with a low ratio of complaints when compared to other major insurance providers. The company also has very high user review scores and while there are a few bad experiences amongst them (to be expected) the majority are positive.
Allstate Insurance Review: Summary
Allstate is a large, hugely respected and highly-rated insurance provider. Allstate rewards good driving habits and behavior; it offers a unique claims satisfaction feature, a very helpful mobile app, and a smooth claims process. On top of this, Allstate has affordable and competitive car insurance rates and is one of the best car insurance companies for policyholders with bad credit.
There is a lot to like here, and we recommend adding Allstate to your comparison search. If this provider has the best coverage for the best price, go for it.
Source: pocketyourdollars.com