Your Allstate Injury Lawsuit Questions Answered
If you were in an accident caused by a driver with Allstate insurance, or you have Allstate yourself, it can be difficult to figure out who to sue after an injury, how to negotiate with Allstate, and when to file a lawsuit.
Several choices are available to you when pursuing compensation from Allstate after a personal injury. In many cases, an attorney can make the process of suing Allstate Insurance or any other party much easier. Attorneys also give you a much higher chance of getting your deserved settlement.
Here are answers to some of the frequent questions we see about Allstate:
As of December 2022, the CEO of Allstate is Tom Wilson. He worked with the company since 1995 and became the chair, president, and CEO in 2007 and 2008.
The headquarters for Allstate is located in Northfield Township, Illinois.
According to multiple surveys and claims handling data, Allstate has below average performance in paying claims. One JD Power survey gave them a score of 870 out of 1000. They have average scores for subcategories like how easy it is to file a claim or get access to customer service, but they have below-average scores and subcategories like claims handling, payouts, and customer service helpfulness. The industry average for claims payouts is 880 out of 1,000.
If you’re a driver insured by Allstate, the company says it is easy to file auto insurance claims. You have the option to submit your claim:
Customer service will purportedly try it and connect you with the right person when you reach out with comments or questions about your claim. They might ask you for information like copies of receipts or photographic evidence of any damage. Sometimes your claim isn’t processed because they’re still waiting on information.
If you were in an accident with a driver insured by Allstate, you should start by going through your insurance company. Your insurance agent will be the contact person who speaks with Allstate on your behalf.
However, getting escalation when and where you need it can still be challenging. If you think that Allstate is stonewalling you, your insurance representative isn’t doing everything they can to stand up for you, you have other legal options for a personal injury lawsuit.
Allstate gives many options for filing a claim and tracking that claim online or through the mobile app. However, this could be a little bit harder if you aren’t an Allstate customer because you won’t have a private account or app you can use. They don’t have any internal instructions on how to challenge your insurance payout. At best, you can try to escalate the situation or consider legal alternatives.
Yes, you can sue Allstate if you were injured but only under specific circumstances. If you were in a car accident or you were injured at someone’s business or home, and they have Allstate at their insurance provider, then you can sue Allstate to get compensation for your injuries.
If you suffer a personal injury, you can sue whoever was responsible for the injury. But do you sue Allstate or the driver for compensation?
There could be situations involving multiple parties. For example, if you are in a car accident because another driver was negligent, you might not sue the driver if they were driving a company vehicle for company business. In that case, you would sue the business owner who also owns the company vehicle. If that business owner has Allstate as their insurance provider, you (or your lawyer) will start by filing a claim with Allstate.
If you don’t like how Allstate handles your injury claim, you have a few other options for making a complaint about Allstate.
Currently, there is a class action lawsuit against Allstate for over calculating payouts for total loss vehicles during injury claims. One class action lawsuit was filed in Pennsylvania, claiming that the taxes on settlements for totaled vehicles were incorrect.
There may be other Allstate class action lawsuits as well.
If you are eligible for a class action lawsuit that is proceeding in court, the lawyers will typically try to notify you through the mail.
To pursue a personal injury lawsuit against Allstate:
Many people overlook the step because they don’t feel pain immediately or see visible injuries, but adrenaline can mask pain signals, and certain injuries might not be visible to the naked eye, like whiplash. Without a medical evaluation immediately after the accident, it will be difficult to prove that the injuries you sustained work because of the accident for which you claim Allstate is responsible.
How much you can claim in an Allstate lawsuit is based on your situation. In an Allstate lawsuit, you can ask for compensation for things like:
You don’t automatically claim all of these. You have to be able to justify them. If you were involved in a car accident and the other driver has Allstate as their insurance provider, you can file a claim for compensation for things like medical bills directly related to your injury as well as loss of income. If you break an arm and you can’t work temporarily, you can claim loss of income, but if you have that arm amputated and can’t work anymore, you can claim loss of earning capacity. The more severe injuries, the more likely it is that you can get compensation for things like mental suffering, emotional distress, loss of companionship, or loss of enjoyment of life.
An attorney can help you determine how much you may be able to seek damages.
In any personal injury claim, you might get one or two types of compensation:
Compensatory is literally compensation. It is meant to compensate you for any direct costs associated with your injury. A judge wants to put you in the exact monetary position you would have been in had you not been injured in the first place.
Under certain circumstances, a judge might award punitive damages. Punitive means that a person is being punished, and the fine is supposed to punish them so that they don’t make the same mistake again. This is often for serious negligence, where a judge wants to make sure that that same mistake is unlikely to happen again anytime soon.
There are limits to both, though. According to the US Bureau of Justice Statistics, the average winnings for tort cases—which include personal injury claims—in 2005 was $31,000, but for car accidents, it was $16,000.
Insurance companies like Allstate typically calculate a settlement offer based on a variety of factors, like the costs you can prove and your injuries.
Firstly, not all injuries are the same. If you suffered a bit of whiplash or some lacerations, Allstate would calculate a settlement less than someone who suffered broken bones or traumatic brain injuries.
Secondly, Allstate will take a look at the cost you can substantiate or prove. They’ll look at things like invoices and receipts for any repairs, lost wages from your pay stubs, and medical bills. They might look at the total value of your car, given the make and model and condition it was in at the time of the accident, if you were involved in a car accident.
If you think Allstate is offering an unfair settlement for your injuries, it may be time to bring in an attorney.
Insurance companies like Allstate typically determine pain and suffering based on including the injuries you sustained. As mentioned, not all injuries are the same. Someone who suffered minor lacerations is unlikely to deal with pain and suffering compared to someone who has broken bones, severe burns, or spinal cord injuries.
Insurance companies relies heavily on the things you can prove, which is why it’s so important to get a medical check-up immediately after your accident. Even if you don’t feel any pain, you want to have the medical data to prove that the injuries you sustained directly resulted from the accident in question. Allstate will look over bills, invoices, and receipts to determine how the injury has impacted your daily life and caused pain and suffering as a result.
Sometimes it may feel like Allstate is ignoring the harm you’ve suffered or your injuries’ emotional impact. An attorney may be able to help you seek more than what Allstate has offered.
Based on reports and industry norms, Allstate typically tries to settle claims over a personal injury within a few months of the claim, but complex cases can take much longer. A big part of how long Allstate takes to settle over a personal injury claim is based on whether they believe they are legitimately responsible for paying the settlement, what evidence they have, and whether the case goes to court.
For example, if a driver was negligent and got in a car accident while driving a company car (insured by Allstate), but they were taking their child to school and not doing anything related to business, Allstate might try to claim that it’s the personal car insurance provider of that individual responsible for paying compensation and not Allstate as the business auto insurance provider.
This looks a little different for everyone. If you are injured, you typically start your negotiations for a personal injury settlement by sending Allstate Insurance a demand letter. The letter explains what happened, how you were injured, how your injury was the direct result of negligence, and how much you want in compensation. You can work with an attorney to draft this letter.
Once Allstate receives that letter, they might send you a settlement immediately (this is rare) or send you a response asking for evidence like medical bills or loss of income (this is more likely). They might send a letter stating that they aren’t responsible for compensation, like in the example of the negligent driver above. No matter the response, you or your attorney will negotiate back and forth until you can reach an agreement.
In some cases, if they won’t pay or they won’t negotiate, your next step might be to sue them in court with a personal injury lawsuit, not just a demand letter. This is something an attorney can help you with.
The best way to maximize your Allstate insurance settlement is to have sufficient evidence. When you send a demand letter, for example, you want to include as much evidence as you can to prove that you deserve compensation and that Allstate should pay it.
This is one reason why it’s important to consider having an attorney because they can help you gather the right evidence before you submit your demand letter so that you have the strongest case possible. The stronger your case, the less time you might spend going back and forth with Allstate Insurance, asking to see different pieces of evidence.
Generally, having a lawyer will result in a stronger and more successful case with maximized settlements.
How long an Allstate lawsuit lasts can depend on many factors like:
On average personal injury claims can take between six months and two years, but if Allstate refuses to provide compensation and the case goes to trial, it can take longer. According to a study by the National Center for State Courts, personal injury cases take 16 months on average.
Most states do not legally require that you have a lawyer for your injury claim against Allstate Insurance, but attorneys can make things much easier and maximize your potential compensation.
Having a lawyer will often result in a stronger and more successful case.
If you are unsatisfied with the financial compensation Allstate offers after an accident, an attorney can help you maximize compensation to cover things like damage to your car or medical expenses. If you live in an at-fault state, you have to prove that you were at less fault percentage-wise than the other party and an attorney can help you collect and analyze evidence to substantiate that.
In an Allstate injury lawsuit, a lawyer does many things. Firstly, they investigate your claim. When you reach out for your initial consultation will talk you through the situation and explain whether you have grounds for a case and, if so, what the next few steps might look like.
Secondly, they’ll help you determine what evidence you need to maximize your compensation. During this time, they might collect evidence on your behalf, like following up with any witnesses, getting official statements, talking to experts, or taking photographs of the scene.
Thirdly, they will draft the demand letter for you and send it to Allstate Insurance. They will also follow up with Allstate and be the main source of communication with every party involved so that you don’t have to be. Attorneys will inform you what’s going on, what they might need from you, if anything, and what the progress means for your overall timeline.
If they can’t reach a settlement with Allstate Insurance, they’ll prepare you for a court case and a personal injury lawsuit.
Most personal injury lawyers will charge a contingency which means you don’t pay anything Upfront for your Allstate injury lawsuit, but the lawyer takes a percentage of your settlement if you reach one, or of the amount awarded if you win your case. This is usually between 30% and 40% of your total winnings.
So if a lawyer helps you get that much more—or win a settlement when you wouldn’t have got one—then having one can be a good investment.
Do your homework if you are ready to find a good lawyer for an Allstate injury lawsuit. Talk about the fee schedule before you hire an attorney. Don’t be afraid to ask during your consultation what the fee schedule is. Just because an attorney charges a contingency doesn’t mean that there won’t be unexpected costs for things like medical or travel expenses.
Similarly, take consultations with multiple attorneys. This is someone with whom you will work for months, possibly years, so it’s important that you like that person, trust them, and are confident in their services. A good way to figure out if you are confident is to ask them about previous cases. Personal injury law represents a wide array of lawsuits, so find someone who has worked with Allstate or taken on cases similar to your injuries.
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