Our Customers

Our customers are the reason Allstate exists. So our priority is to help protect them and their families with a broad range of insurance products and services.

These include innovative offerings that help customers shop for policies online, save on rebuilding with sustainable building materials, earn discounts for safe driving habits, and prepare and protect themselves against natural disasters.

We also serve our customers by ensuring data privacy and protection, and reducing our own environmental impacts through expanded e-billing capabilities.

Meeting Our Customers’ Changing Needs

As customers’ expectations continue to change, most companies still insist on a one-size-fits-all approach to insurance. Allstate is the only provider committed to serving targeted customer segments with distinct brands and tailored value propositions through all delivery channels. Learn more here

In response to customer input and preferences, we also recently launched several new products.

Esurance

In 2011, Allstate acquired Esurance — an online business platform that provides auto insurance quotes to customers who prefer automated processes and a branded product. The investment reinforces our commitment to serving customers where and how they choose to do business.

Read our overview on Esurance in the Organizational Profile section to learn more.

New Homeowners Policy “Green Improvement Reimbursement Endorsement”

In early 2012 we launched a new product that provides incentives to customers to rebuild homes using sustainable materials. In the event of a covered loss, a customer who purchased the Green Improvement Reimbursement Endorsement can replace covered damaged or destroyed appliances or equipment with more energy-efficient items and, under the endorsement, be reimbursed the additional cost incurred to replace those items.

The additional reimbursement applies to certain categories of Energy Star products rated as eco-friendly by the Environmental Protection Agency — appliances and equipment like washers and refrigerators; computers and electronics; heating and cooling equipment, such as air conditioners and fans; as well as certain plumbing and building products. These products generally save electricity or water, reducing a home’s carbon footprint while simultaneously lowering homeowners’ utility bills.

We will continue to offer this feature to select customers, and we hope to expand it to a majority of states across the country by 2014.

Drive Wise

To reward safe and low-mileage drivers, Allstate launched Drive Wise®, a usage-based insurance product that rewards safe driving and helps customers better understand their driving behaviors. Policyholders self-install a telematics device that transmits driving data to Allstate. The customers’ driving behavior and total mileage driven is then used to determine the Drive Wise performance discount.

More than 2,300 Allstate employees helped test and shape the program, including device design, features and enhancements. They logged more than 11 million miles and 350,000 hours of driving. Working with employees to test new products helps accelerate innovation and connects employees more closely with customer needs and business strategies.

Drive Wise includes a discount simply for enrolling in the program and plugging in the device. Further discounts can be earned at each renewal, based on driving performance. Rates will not go up based on driving scores.

Allstate launched Drive Wise in Arizona, Illinois and Ohio in 2011. Drive Wise will roll out to additional states in 2012, bringing telematics technology and potential discounts to participating drivers. As the program grows we also expect customers to see environmental benefits since safe driving behaviors also lead to more efficient driving, better fuel mileage and reduced emissions.

Protection for Customers Living in High-Risk Areas

In areas facing significant natural catastrophe risk, many homeowners face a challenge in finding available and affordable insurance. The insurance sector is highly regulated, and efforts by state regulators to limit risk-based pricing can exacerbate the lack of affordable insurance. We support policy solutions to address the unique risks presented by large natural catastrophes so a well-functioning insurance market can serve consumers before and after a catastrophe strikes. We support efforts to help consumers understand the risks they face and steps they can take to mitigate those risks, and Allstate offers various discounts which recognize steps taken to make homes more resistant to extreme weather.

Allstate has created North Light Specialty, which offers personal lines property coverage on a non-admitted basis for unique, underserved customer segments or those residing in high-risk markets such as hurricane, wildfire or earthquake prone regions. North Light combines quality insurance from a well-known and established insurance group, with the efficiency and high-quality service of Allstate’s claims service centers. In 2011, we expanded access to North Light to eight new states, bringing the total number of active states to 25.

Managing Customer Feedback and Relationships

Our customers are at the center of our work. In order to provide them with the products and services they need in the ways they want them, we need to listen and respond to their preferences and concerns at several points throughout our business interactions.

More specifically, we:

  • Distribute a new customer experience survey that allows us to hear from customers on a regular basis, and helps us take action to improve their experience.
  • Link our customer complaint dashboard to our customer experience report, leveraging and connecting verbatim comments from customer surveys and customer complaints to fully understand and address improvement opportunities.
  • Offer the Claims Satisfaction Guarantee, an innovative breakthrough in personal auto protection. If an eligible customer is not happy with how their paid Allstate car insurance claim goes — for any reason — we will give them credit on their auto premium for up to six months. Nobody else does that.
  • Provide additional e-business capabilities to give customers the services that want, how, when and where they choose. Customers can pay their bills, view policy information, initiate a claim or find an agent online and from their mobile devices using our Allstate Mobile application. We also increased our call center capabilities in 2011 with a fourth customer service center in Pocatello, Idaho.
  • Tie the variable portion of the company’s matching contribution to the 401(k) savings plan for employees to our internal customer loyalty measure. We believe improving customer loyalty is everyone’s business at Allstate.
  • Encourage every employee to connect with customers via a new volunteer call program through which employees can reach out directly to customers with a simple message of thanks, showing our appreciation for their business.
  • Collect customer data at several points throughout the claims process in order to deliver a better and consistent customer experience. This feedback positions us to respond more quickly to customer needs by refining processes and by delivering tools that allow us to establish an immediate and clear link between employee performance and the customer.
  • Review communications to make sure they’re clear, relevant and delivered in the method customers prefer.

Responsible Marketing Communications

Insurance is about managing risk and building trust. We enter into every customer relationship with full disclosure and a clear intent to foster a long-term relationship. Therefore, it is very important that our marketing materials and policies are clear, relevant and delivered in the method customers prefer. Our agents help educate customers on how to make insurance decisions that help ensure they have the products, coverage and services they want for their current and future needs.

Data Privacy and Protection

We respect the privacy of all individuals and take the necessary and legally required precautions to protect personal data. Keeping personal information secure at all times is fundamental to remaining a trusted business and employer. Not only is this the right thing to do, it is also mandated by increasingly stringent privacy laws in the states and countries where we do business. Personal information must be protected from discovery by unauthorized parties.

We respect and protect personal data by:

  • Complying with all applicable privacy laws and company policies on privacy and information technology usage
  • Requesting and retaining only the personal information that is needed
  • Communicating clearly how personal information is used, retained and disclosed
  • Respecting and protecting the privacy of every individual’s personal information
  • Embedding strong privacy protection practices in all business processes and systems
  • Using a secure site when accessing personal information electronically
  • Never leaving personal information on or around workstations, and locking away any printed personal information
  • Immediately emailing Privacy Incident Management if we know or suspect personal information has been disclosed inappropriately
  • Disclosing personal data or other confidential business information only to those who have a valid business need to know, or as required by law
  • Requiring suppliers or business partners to safeguard confidential consumer information and only use it to provide the requested services
  • Only sharing consumer or employee information as permitted by our Privacy Policy
  • Committing to ongoing review of privacy policies and practices and their continuous improvement

We update our employees quarterly with information, training and resources to ensure that they understand our privacy policies. We offer our agents local courses on privacy issues and we provide current privacy information on our online agent portal. We also ensure that our customers are well informed and educated on data practices by issuing a privacy statement at the point of contact and then annually thereafter.

What We Collect

In order to provide our customers with the best pricing and plans for their unique situation, we need to collect information that may include their name, phone number, home and email addresses, driver’s license number, social security number, marital status, family member information and health care information. Also, we maintain records that include, but are not limited to, policy coverage, premiums and payment history. We also collect information from outside sources that may include, but is not limited to, your driving record, claims history, medical information and credit information.

Reporting Data Privacy Concerns

Questions about data privacy or suspected breaches of personal information can be directed to Allstate i-Report at 1-800-706-9855, a 24/7 toll-free number.

To learn more about how we use and share personal information as well as our Internet and information security policies, read our complete Privacy Policy Statement.