Allstate Settles Claims It Overcharged On Auto, Home Insurance By Associated Press - July 5, 2005LOS ANGELES (AP) _ Allstate Insurance Co. agreed to pay more than $30 million in policy credits and premium returns to about 250,000 California customers to resolve a long-standing dispute with the state that the company had inflated its auto and home premiums, the state insurance department said Monday.
The insurance giant did not admit any wrongdoing as part of the settlement. The company will pay $4 million in fines to the state Insurance Department.
Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi said the insurer broke California insurance rules by partly basing its rates on consumer credit scores and by failing to give discounts.
``Insurance companies have to tell us what discounts they are going to use and how they are going to price their products,'' Garamendi said. ``In this case, Allstate was not following their own rules and violating some of the department's rules.''
Garamendi said numerous Allstate customers complained their insurance claims were shifted from one adjuster to another, creating extra work for the customers and delaying their payments.
Garamendi said the insurer used ``financial stability'' criteria, a form of credit scoring, to place some policyholders in programs with higher rates. The company also failed to charge the lowest rates that an insured qualified for upon renewal.
The company also failed to provide discounts to customers with both auto and home policies. Allstate also charged customers higher rates if they did not previously have renter's insurance, Garamendi said.
Allstate, a subsidiary of Northbrook, Ill.-based Allstate Corp., sought to resolve ``different interpretations of the insurance code'' in disputes with the state dating back as early as 1999, company spokesman Rich Halberg said. |