PrimeTime: States Probe Allstate Insurance

Oct. 19 -- Janet Jones was blinded in one eye, and her face had to be reconstructed, after a car crashed into her minivan three years ago.

While she was still in the hospital, her husband Terry got a call from a representative of Allstate Insurance Company, the company that insured the driver who hit Janet. Still, Terry was struck by how thoughtful and caring the adjuster was with him. “[It] was really reassuring at the time to know somebody was there for us,” he says.

In keeping with the company’s motto, the Jones family thought they were “in good hands.” But a three-month PrimeTime investigation has revealed a calculated company effort to reduce the likelihood that claimants will hire lawyers.

Claimants Feel CheatedLinda Brown was an Allstate adjuster for 12 years. She tells PrimeTime senior correspondent Chris Wallace that Allstate employees were trained to be empathetic and to treat claimants in a friendly manner in order to prevent them from getting an attorney. Why? She says to save the company money.

Allstate faces more than 50 lawsuits for allegedly deceiving thousands of people its policyholders hit in automobile accidents. Those people could have hired lawyers to sue Allstate. But many now say that after being convinced to work with the company, without an attorney, they signed away rights and settled for millions of dollars less than they should have.

Thomas Moore, one of the dozens of people suing Allstate, spoke with PrimeTime. “Usually in an accident that’s the first, one of the things you think of — an attorney,” he says, “but they put me at ease so much, that I discounted the idea.”

Janet and Terry Jones also sued Allstate saying that after the company convinced them to settle, they learned that limited how much money they could get from the manufacturer of Janet’s defective seatbelt.

The Washington state judge in their case ruled that Allstate engaged in the unauthorized, negligent practice of law — a decision the company is appealing.