With Its “good Hands” And “try Harder” Attitude, Allstate Car Insurance Might Be A Great Option For You And Your Family.

If you’re old enough, you may remember the Avis rent-a-car commercials that bragged how “We’re number two, we have to try harder!” The same could be said about Allstate car insurance. While big, they still consistently rank #2 for US car insurance market share and perhaps because of that, the good hands people are always looking for new ways to earn your business.

How they rank

While there are differences (some quite startling) from state to state, overall, you’d have to say it’s a mixed bag for objective ratings. J.D. Power & Associates ranks Allstate number 20 overall for a combination of value, service, claims handling and overall customer satisfaction. (It’s interesting to note that Allstate’s fairly recent online car insurance provider, Esurance, ranks two places higher overall at 18.)
In the annual MSN/Money Magazine survey of car insurance companies, Allstate fares a bit better. On a 100-point scale, the company earns an 81-82 point rating, placing them #10 overall.
A.M. Best Company gives Allstate an overall grade of A+ and on a 5-point scale, they earn a 3 for both Overall Purchase Experience/Value and for Claims Handling/Resolution.

What they offer

When it comes to building a car insurance coverage plan with Allstate, they offer standard coverage options for individual and family policies, including:

• Liability (both bodily injury and property damage liability) coverage

• Medical payments coverage

• Underinsured/Uninsured motorist coverage

• Collision coverage

• Comprehensive coverage

• Personal injury protection (PIP) coverage

In addition to these standard coverage options, Allstate offers some add-on services to bolster the protection you get from a car insurance policy. These include:

Roadside assistance options

The company offers three separate programs providing a varying range of roadside assistance options. These programs are:

• Good Hands® roadside coverage –

  this is a no-cost add-on (in most states) that allows you to add up to five cars that can be serviced through a full-protection insurance coverage policy.

• The Allstate Motor Club –

  available, even if you are not insured with Allstate, and is similar to other roadside assistance and car clubs. You can pay an annual fee (starting as low as $50-per year in some states) and have access to emergency roadside services, travel discounts, even help with legal defense and bail expenses should you find yourself in that predicament.

• Allstate Towing & Labor –

  the cost of this add-on varies from state to state and depends on whether you have full coverage or options in place like comprehensive coverage (you will pay separately for each car you wish to include)

Rental car reimbursement

You can also add an option to your Allstate car insurance that will cover the cost of a rental car, should you need one while your insured vehicle(s) are in the shop due to a covered accident. While the costs and coverage options vary from state to state, you generally have to have either collision or comprehensive coverage already in place to add this feature.

Discounts & unique service features

Allstate works hard to make it easier for you to choose them, and one way they will entice you is through a growing list of possible premium discounts. They currently boast 15 available discounts (although your eligibility will depend on a number of factors, including where you live and drive) including:

• Safe driver discounts

• Early signing discounts (if you switch insurers before your policy term with another carrier is up)

• Good student discounts

• New car discounts

• Deductible rewards (where your deductibles drop every year you are accident-free)

• Resident student discounts (if you have driving-aged kids in school more than 100 miles from home)

• If you are 55 or older and retired discounts

• Safety equipment and anti-theft devices discounts

• Multi-car discounts

• Multi-policy (bundling) discounts

The company also offers what it calls the Allstate Value Plan® which offers free membership in its roadside assistance program, automatic discounts and additional discounts with businesses like BestBuy, Amazon and Macy’s.
It’s fairly new Your Choice Auto® plan includes a “safe driver rebate” check they send you for every six months of accident-free driving.
You can also use the company’s Bumper-to-Bumper Basics® online service whereby you plug in certain information and get a range of coverage levels, options and possible quotes for the coverage it feels is best suited to your unique driving requirements.

Supporting safe teen driving

Allstate is committed to helping young drivers be safe drivers and it continually upgrades its teen driving safety programs to try and meet the needs of today’s youngest and most vulnerable drivers. Its online offerings include video games emphasizing driving safety for teens. It also offers tools and techniques for parents of teen drivers as they work to shepherd and protect their newest drivers.
Being number two isn’t all that bad, especially if you are in the market for some innovative and affordable car insurance coverage, which you may be able to find with those good hands people at Allstate.

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Jeffrey Davidson is a writer with Reply!. He has more than 25 years of marketing research, public relations consulting and freelance writing experience and work in all areas of the auto insurance industry. For more help, see his main article on car insurance quotes www.reply.com/insurance/allstate-car-insurance-an-overview-of-policy-options/