After 25+ years I was let go by Allstate. This was a couple years back. I went through many of the same emotions as many of you and feel I have " earned " the right to make this comment. Its amazing how much of my self worth and pride was tied up in my job, and I was angry. Factoring in the pandemic makes it even harder and more stressful. Over time I came to realize I was caught up in a business decision, the results of that decision were personal for me and my family, but it was a business decision none the less. Allstate owed me nothing, and I owed them nothing. It was, and is, a business relationship. The current captive agent model is too expensive to be sustainable and Allstate will look more like Progressive, Geico and USAA over time. In the meantime, budget cuts will be the norm and people are the most expensive part of most companies. Although extremely difficult at first, life does go on after Allstate. I wish all of you the best of luck.
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I was /am a Field Appraiser for Esurance and would have been totally happy without Allstate. I used to go on the road every day until someone thought it was better to just handle claims from photos but I see how the severity is so much higher this way and fraud out of hand.. This started long before Covid. Even when I got slow I wasnt able to get field work in my state as estimates were written from inside or India. Grossly underwritten leading to ridiculously large supplements. Allstate has been doing this for a while also though. Apparently to them its better to just handle claims fast despite paying more in the long run and providing poor customer service. People don't like that the final repair cost is 3 times the original estimate amount.
In my humble opinion Allstate charges high premium for great service. Many of our customers have been with us for generations! Instead of giving them premier service for the price, we give them systems they can’t or don’t want to use. (Don’t you have a relation that can take pictures of your car for you?) we are giving them E-surance service for Allstate price. Would have been smarter to keep Allstate with field reps and auto folks in US, and sell Esurance to the younger people who have no loyalty and like everything impersonal. Watching what is happening now, if I’m a plaintiff attorney I am laughing all the way to the bank. By the time this all hits the fan- Tom and Glen will be gone.
I know it sounds trite, but I feel your pain. While the "captive agent" model is expensive, Ailstate cut out billions in expense in 1998 when they forced IC status on the agency force. It is my humble opinion that mis-management of these savings poured into processes instead of PEOPLE is what put us where we are today 22 years later. High value clients WANT an agent to look after their insurance needs. What makes it impossible to provide the latest technology and the best people rolled into one? Other major carriers seem to know that answer while Ailstate puts us all "on hold".