The Allstate Corporation is the largest publicly held personal lines insurer in the United States. Allstate was founded in 1931 as part of Sears, Roebuck & Co.
In 1952, Sears also used the name Allstate for a line of Allstate automobiles sold through some of its southern department stores which were rebadged products of Kaiser Motors; the cars were withdrawn following the 1953 model year. (Also see Henry J.)
The company slogan is "You're in good hands." The current advertising campaign, in use since 2004, asks, "Are you in good hands?" Their current spokesperson is Dennis Haysbert.
Allstate became a publicly traded company in 1993. At the time, its initial public offering was the largest in U.S. history. On June 30, 1995, Allstate became a totally independent company after Sears divested its remaining shares to Sears stockholders.
Between 1988 and 1995, Allstate used Management by Statistics program to grade it's employees. The program, which is derived from Scientology, was implemented with the help of Don Pearson. In 1994, a group of Allstate agents objected to the program use because of religious discrimination issues. It's use was later ended by President Jerry Choate. *
Allstate was the first insurance company to use a computer program called "Colossus". The program was created by the Computer Sciences Corporation, CSC, based in El Segundo, California. Based on prefigured statistical information to aid adjusters with claims, the program has been the cause of class action lawsuits. One trial case cited the program has been manipulated to "drive down fair claims." *. Within a few years, most other auto insurance companies had also started to use the program.
Companies based in Illinois | Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange | Fortune 1000 | Insurance companies of the United States | 1931 establishments | S&P 500
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