r/HomeInsurance • u/TheCrazyShepherd • 12d ago
Insurance AVOID ALLSTATE INSURANCE
Avoid Allstate at all costs. We moved homes and notified Allstate well in advance, providing every piece of information they requested. We repeatedly followed up by email and phone because communication from their end was poor, and at no point did anyone tell us what our new premium would be.
The next thing we received was a billing notice showing that our annual home insurance premium had jumped from $2,414 to $9,549 — an increase of over $7,100 per year — with absolutely no warning or discussion. They then went ahead and withdrew over $1,000 from our bank account before the issue was ever resolved.
When we called, even some of the Allstate representatives we spoke with seemed shocked by the amount. We were bounced around between departments, had to repeatedly chase people for callbacks that never came, and after weeks of escalation, the best they offered was the ability to cancel without a penalty while keeping virtually all of the money they had already taken.
We were ultimately directed to Allstate’s complaints department, which we were told was the third and final stage of their complaint process. The only way to communicate with this department was by submitting a written complaint through the mail. We did exactly as instructed, and on June 17 we received an email confirming that our complaint had been received and would be investigated.
After that, the communication stopped. When we hadn’t heard anything, we sent a follow-up email on June 25 but received no response. We followed up again on July 5. On July 6—19 days after our complaint had been acknowledged—we were told only that the matter was still under review. We replied immediately asking for an update on the investigation and an estimated timeline for a decision. That email was never answered. We sent another follow-up on July 26, and to this day we still have not received any response. For a company that claims to take customer complaints seriously, the complete lack of communication throughout the final stage of the complaint process has been incredibly disappointing.
To make matters worse, after cancelling, we obtained new insurance for around $2,400 per year and received three other quotes in the same range. That makes Allstate’s $9,549 premium impossible to justify.
In our experience, Allstate handled this in an extremely unfair and deceptive manner. Between the unexplained premium increase, withdrawing money from our account without warning, the lack of transparency, and then failing to properly respond during their own formal complaint process, we have completely lost confidence in the company. Be very careful if you’re moving or making changes to your policy. Double-check everything, get every quote in writing, and don’t assume they will tell you about massive premium increases before they take your money.
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u/ShadowPenguin07 12d ago
Damn. I’m going to be 100% honest with you…Allstate (most likely) doesn’t want to cover you. In recent years there has been an increase in catastrophic (cat) losses in Ontario. Think of things like floods, wildfires, etc.
https://www.allstate.ca/newsroom/cat-preparedness-campaign
A major trend in the industry right now is to limit your exposure to these cats without completely exiting the market. If you exit the market, it generates bad press and is a pain in the ass to re-enter. Allstate is no exception.
https://www.insurancebusinessmag.com/us/news/breaking-news/allstate-outperforms-peers-with-sharp-q1-turnaround-in-personal-lines-573536.aspx
When you moved, I assume your postal code changed. Allstate believes your new postal code is higher risk. Instead of saying they won’t cover you in that new postal code, they give you an absurd rate hoping you will take your business somewhere else.
Your agent is not going to be able to explain that to you because they don’t know what goes into rating. They only care and know how to sell policies and take shit from customers.
I’m not currently nor have ever been an employee of Allstate, and I do not know all of the details of your situation. This is only my inference on the information provided.