When the team at Star Reviews began looking into auto insurance quotes, we couldn’t imagine that it was going to be a quick and easy task. After all, shopping for insurance never has been a "fun" thing to do. First, you have to find a provider (which technically isn't an issue considering there are dozens of them). Then you have to enter mountains of information and, hopefully, hear back from the company within a few days. Right? Wrong! Upon visiting Allstate’s website we started to get the impression that finding the best auto insurance quotes can indeed be a cakewalk. This review explains it all.
What’s New
- Quick and easy ballpark insurance estimate.
- Complete listing of state insurance requirements.
- Multiple insurance types available, including plans such as Accident Forgiveness.
Star Reviews' Favorite Feature:
Allstate's "Ballpark Insurance Estimate" tool-This allowed us to receive a quick auto insurance quote that didn’t require lots of personal information, and it gave us a good idea as to what our insurance payment would be if we choose to go with the company.
About Allstate:
Allstate is one of those insurance providers that have been around for what seems like forever. The company started out as a part of Sears, Roebuck & Co in 1934. Since then, they have become an independent company that has gone on to be one of the biggest insurance providers in the country. Their offerings include insurance coverage for nearly all sectors and they have also been forerunners in the support of automobile and highway safety.
What Allstate Offers:
- Automobile insurance
- Recreational vehicle insurance
- New car replacement
- Deductible Rewards
- Safe Driver Bonuses
- Accident Forgiveness
The Allstate Experience:
On our visit to the Allstate insurance website we couldn’t help but to notice how many services this company is able to provide. From auto insurance to banking, they’ve got it all.
For us, the ballpark insurance estimator was what we really liked. It is clearly displayed and allows a quick and easy way to get an approximation of what you would be charged should you use Allstate for your insurance needs. The function didn’t even require our name, let alone personal details we might not be comfortable giving. It simply asks you for a few pieces of information, starting with your zip code.
Once you have provided your zip code, you are asked to add drivers based upon gender, marital status, age and number of traffic violations they have had. After you've provided this info, you are then asked about the year and type of vehicle you drive. This was easy enough, however, we did note that not all vehicles are represented. You may have to enter the closest approximation that you can find.
After a few more short questions (such as whether you rent or own and neither, your bill payment history and whether you have excellent, good or poor credit) you are supposed to be given a quote. It seems, however, that we caught the site at a bad time. The first two times we tried, we could not complete the full process. We kept getting an error message. However, it appears that three times is a charm and we finally got our quote on the third attempt.
While the quick ballpark quote tool was very useful, that's far from all that Allstate has to offer. Other helpful features we came across included the Allstate Products drop down menu, which clearly listed their services and quickly brought us to the information we wanted. There is also a separate drop down menu for claims, which provides a link that allows you to file your claim online and gives a general overview of the service.
The only drawbacks that we could find were purely aesthetic in nature. This equated to slow-loading pages that are slightly burdened with some flashy effects. And while the massive amount of information is definitely helpful, it could leave your mind a bit boggled if you happen to stray off track from what you are looking for.
Allstate Pricing:
When the Star team researched the different insurance quote providers for our auto insurance reviews, we pulled online quotes from each of the websites we visited using an “apples to apples” comparison approach. This is how Allstate measured up:
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Allstate
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GEICO
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Esurance
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State Farm
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Insurance.com
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NetQuote
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Progressive
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$240
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$378.10
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$309
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Not Available
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$426 - $1158
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Not Available
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$363
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Allstate Customer Service:
Customer service for Allstate insurance customers is available via snail mail, phone or email. We found the best way to reach customer service is to opt to have an Allstate agent contact you. You can use their online form to request a call (we got a call back the very same day and were able to avoid hold times). The Allstate agent we spoke with was very helpful and friendly and gave us some very enlightening information regarding insurance and finances. Allstate also offers there online Customer Care Center, where you can manage you insurance accounts and have access to other pertinent information.
Upside:
Instant online ballpark quotes, access to Allstate’s Customer Care Center and a wide variety of insurance plans and services.
Downside:
Large amounts of information on the site can make it easy to get sidetracked.