Earlier this week there was an article where Allstate wanted the Feds to provide catastrophe reinsurance. In this article, Allstate says that they did not buy reinsurance for Mississippi and Louisiana.
Reinsurance was available and is available. Allstate made a decision not to buy it. Why do they want the Feds to provide it?
Allstate will still post a yearly profit, too. None of you understand, though, how overstaffed that home office is up there. I think it\’s about time they got rid of some of the dead weight. For what it\’s worth, Allstate has been hiring tons of employees for their regional offices around the country. This is nothing.
And it\’s still voluntary. Those 500-700 people will get retirement or a nice incentive package. It\’s not like Allstate is just dumping them.
And it doesn\’t have anything to do with the hurricane losses, anyway. It was planned prior to. Just no one heard about it until the press release.
This is not an isolated event. St. Paul Travelers announced they are outsourcing all their IT jobs to India.
I understand the need to control costs and placate shareholders, but it\’s frightening to see how little modern employers care about the welfare of their workers — who after all are the ones paying the executives\’ salaries.
State Farm consolidated offices, they did not have an involuntary layoff. All of their employees were retained except for those who voluntarily took wonderful retirement or severance packages. This was done prior to the rash of recent hurricanes. Just smart business, not an after-effect. It is my understanding that State Farm may still pull a profit for the 2005 year. I guess they are not #1 for nothing.
Perhaps the national claim settlement business practices of Allstate Insurance Company, and other [trusted] insurers, is one of the reasons for their financial challenges…
No! reinsurance in Mississippi or LA? What? Why not? Some lame brain decision to write without Reinsurance in the coastal areas of the South Eastern USA now cost 700 people to lose their jobs and futures. Fire that guy! You don\’t write flood coverage without reinsurance in an area where hurricanes happen annually. In the past 7 years there have been HUGE claims paid out in this area from hurricanes.
Recently heard that State Farm agents in FL moved to maintain; only able to replace lost business. The big guy is making changes too. I wonder if we would hear more State Farm info if they were publically traded like Allstate.
Well, I have no love loss for Allstate and in fact am no longer shopping at Sears either. Allstate Floridian pulls out of Florida and then Allstate lays off 700 workers, what are they trying to do? Be Company of the Year?????
Allstate and Sears have not been associated together in about 10 years. Sometimes, you have to be in the position that the decision makers are in to see the whole picture. It is easy to bash a company when you only see one small piece of it.
For what it\’s worth, Tx Allstate management did have reinsurance in place. However, they have created problems for agents by having the only policy not paying ALE unless the home was made unlivable by direct damage to the building by RITA.
Excellent point Lisa. Actually, I\’m not sure SF has ever laid anyone off. They plan and communicate changes so far in advance that most if not all impacted employees find other positions. At the very least they have quite a bit of time to make the necessary personal decisions. Additionally, incentives and early retirement offers are some of the best I\’ve heard of. The profit numbers I\’ve heard for 2005 will have people scratching their heads if true. Even after the majority of Cat losses are tallied, the number is staggering.
If you\’re one of the Allstate employees thinking about voluntary separation, there\’s a career change opportunity you may want to consider. The Iroquois Group, the oldest and largest network of independent agencies in the country, recently expanded into Illinois and is actively seeking a Regional Manager to help build our organization in this state. The position is commission based with a 6 figure income in two to three years being the normal track record of other people in this position. I left Prudential due to a downsizing 4 years ago and joined the Iroquois Group. I am glad I did! I\’m my own boss and make what I earn. If you\’re interested in learning more, send me an e-mail (pdawson@iroquoisgroup.com) and I\’ll give you a call to give you an overview of the opportunity. Illinois is a great state for Iroquois and we\’re growing fast.
– Philip –
Webster Orthopedic Group:
OA visit of above date turns to RA surgery post & pre-Op.
[That\’s an Unverified listing.. Foundation Health Corporation! Pop the top again!]
Another Related Year:
1987-ER Health record
[That\’s another Unverified listing.. Foundation Health Corporation!]
Business Insurance Group – Reports incorrect data like a convoy.
O\’other Related Topics: Leibold Orber, 1988, Khan
GOOD PRACTICE, BUT TENDS TO OVERBOOK!
Webster\’s Orthopedic Group.
Arthur Lewis Messinger, M.D., Orthopedic Surgeon is a member in good standing with the CMA.
Let\’s go back shall we, \”AMC\” that\’s right! Please everybody, let\’s send flower\’s or gifts to the Sky Harbor Care Center for their failure..\”Over their Heads Operation Therature.\”
Atlas, she cannot elevate her left arm. That\’s not Fitzgerald\’s only screen credit, did find alot of ft. in Idaho. I believe she has also been seen in the Law Society of Upper Canada. Maybe, they could not see that either, that\’s part of Health Net and State Farm\’s Insurance Companies cutting-edge goaltending resource\’s.
Promo has put on the early bird worm Navota, CA. (Cal-Comp Ins.) criterium series since 1988.
My best friend from high school worked at the Allstate main office in Bloomington for about 5 years. She work in the accidental death & Dismembership Claims Department (doesn\’t that sound warm and fuzzy?). About two years Allstate decided that her department was going to be combind to a different department and took volunteers to be \”laid off.\” My friend jumped at the chance and got her health benefits for a year and 6 months of her salary for her severance pay. Then about 30 days before she was to leave the company they realized that they need people to stay for 3 more months. She agrees and they gave her health insurance for an extra 6 months and gave her year annual salary. These people who volunteer to leave will be well taken care of by Allstate.
Dear AllState Employees, if you are in that postion of being layed off or might be on that terrible list, We are part of a multi-billion dollar company looking for smart, ambitious, hard working people to be part of our organization. Please contact me at ransar5@aol.com for more info. Thank you.
I\’ve read the entire thread and I am in shock. To have someone out there apparently inside the SF company saying that no one lost their job and that all who left did so voluntarily with a wonderful severance or retirement package is stretching the truth. The \”volunteer\” part went like this. State Farm is closing your office within the next 18 months. You have two options. You can move to another state to take a job or you can voluntarily retire/resign. People who have worked for State Farm giving them their lives and loyalty for years were faced with uprooting their familes to move to another part of the country and that was just the way it was. The former Good Neighbor has become the opposite of what got them to #1. They are now a machine with no feeling for their employees or customers as personal service becomes a thing of the past as well. The Central Zone\’s top executives thought on this during this transition period was and I quote \”State Farm doesn\’t owe you anything except a day\’s pay and that is only after you work the day.\”
State Farm Insurance is seeking motivated professionals in South Florida to keep up with explosive growth. Call our job hotline at 1-800-767-7601 for more information.
It is we producers who pay EVERYONE\’S salary – The buck starts here! Those idiots upstairs at the StPaulTravelers decided agents were worth peanuts in the early \’90s. I\’ll never forget when the bigshot from the Travelers made the announcement in Hartford. He then went on to share this empathetic tidbit: \”You want a friend, buy a dog\” and abruptly exited stage left. They squeezed the Aetna sponge, the USF&G sponge, the Travelers sponge, and whoever else\’s sponge, and they wonder why no one wants a career in insurance.
Thought we were talking about Allstate but in any event, St. Paul has never treated agents, brokers, producers badly. As for the current entity, St. Paul Travelers, the same thing is true; agents are treated well. Whatever Travelers did in the early 90\’s is ancient history.
Sounds like Mark\’s got the inside scoop on this deal. The part of the article that caught my eye personally was no new HO writings in 8 counties in NY area. I submitted my resume last week for a New Agency Specialist (new agency set-up training, procedures, etc.) position for the Northeast Region. Even though that position doesn\’t include NY, the whole trend of what I\’m reading makes me nervous to consider going to work for AllState, even miles away from the Chicago home office. This won\’t spur lots of new start-up AllState agencies.
We found that Allstate agents needed to be trained from ground up. The ones we were unfortunate enough to hire knew nothing about ISO forms or flood insurance.
What gripes me is that all this will only result in small increases in profitability which do not add any real money to the average return. Only large investors and the management can profit from moves like this. Some Fortune 500 companies accept higher expenses in order to provide exemplary performance which can carry you through bad and good times. You can bet that management\’s incentive compensation NEVER takes a hit when they consider how to lower expenses!
Shocked, you might want to re-read the message I posted earlier. I never said no one lost their job. Even you, who apparently has some type of connection to the Farm, can say that no one walked in one morning to find themselves unemployed. 18 months? It was more like 2 years notice was given about the transitions. You know, I am not even going to spend the time to entertain your other remarks. Not only are they ridiculous but make it obvious that a personal vendetta is good enough motive to post uneducated comments.
Oh Lisa! Uneducated comments? Personal vendettas? Wow! How the ROSE COLORED GLASSES have affected your vision. It appears I struck a nerve with you. No offense intended, but the truth hurts sometimes. I would imagine that eventually the Farm, as you refer to it, will be sucked up and run out of a hand full of states or even less. Since you apparently have the educated answers, why don\’t you fill us all in on the long term plans of the Farm. That is, if you will entertain my uneducated comments. I\’m sure there are several thousand people out there who share the same uneducated opinions with me.
StPauli Girl, there must be Koolaid in your bottle instead of beer. The StPaulTravelersAetnaUSF&GRoyalAtlanticPrimericaNorthland must have you drunk with admiration. Hint: They all suck – every last one of them. The captive carriers to their hack agents whose adjusters must constantly cover for their amateurish mistakes, or square-peg-round-hole risk selection; and the independent carriers, who have no idea what it takes to aquire a suspect, make them a prospect, and then convert them to a cleint.
Looks like all big insurance companies are doing the same thing. Need to save, cut benefits, let the frontline people go. USAA Insurance never had any layoffs until a new CEO with a banker\’s backround came in. He is all about the bottomline. Now they have layoff\’s and are gearing up to move most of their CA. operation to Arizona.
Check out http://www.jacobsononline.com if you are looking for employment. We specialize in exective roles for the insurance and healthcare industries. Our retained search division, Jacobson Executive Search, has opportunities with the top insurance carriers for positions that we are exclusively handling.
For real…the Auto Club Group(AAA)headquartered in Michigan is also losing about 500 employees. They too got a new CEO from a financial institution who gobbled up a bunch of other AAA affiliates and now, \”to stay strong and competitive\” they need to cut costs. Costs = employees. And the way its being handled is appalling. My good friend expects to be kicked to the curb this month sometime.
I agree with Lisa. Maybe childish and really uneducated would be the correct statement about your comments. The article is about Allstate if you haven\’t noticed. It is great to be #1 because everyone wants to be you or those who are lacking don\’t like you and have to do just what you are doing. You must work for one of the want to be companies. Focus on the article. Have you heard State Farm is Hiring?
Well, this got my attention.
Mr Shocked, what is shocking is the lack of accuracy in your statements. SF goes thru the re-structuring process over several years. The process is painstakingly slow, for good reason. State Farm is too large to make \”Quick\” changes. Secondly, more importantly, the leadership at SF knows that changes are painfull, but necessary to maintain there competitive advantage in the markeplace. The Leadership gives all affected operating units years to absorbe, re-train or relocate the affected employees. Sounds like you have an \”Axe to Grind\” with the \”Farm\”. For that, I am sorry, but it is your problem. Pissing all over a good company with a stellar track record is only going to make you look sophmoric, especially if your blowing smoke like you are. You are the one looking \”Unfair\” in this exchange.
Thanks RM for confirming my post of 1/27. It\’s hard for outsiders to believe that any company would handle a massive re-structuring or transition in the manner that SF does. For those of you scratching your head or jeering at Rocket Man\’s post, the additional detail is accurate and hits the nail on the head. Mr. Shocked may be one of those who was unable to take advantage of what was offered in Central Zone, but don\’t fault the company simply because you didn\’t get your way. If in fact you were an impacted employee, you had ample time and information to make the necessary personal decisions.
The only smoke being blown around here is the justification attempts around the facts that some of you are blowing. Please note the posts that I made are the actual facts and the quotes are real. I\’m sure there are plenty of people who would attest to the same. I don\’t need any more lines. It is what it is. You can sugar coat it all you want, but the facts don\’t change. Don\’t bother responding for my sake as I will not be checking this article or the posts around it again. Have a good life and try to sleep well!
Shocked, Please go to the Doc and get those little pills to lift your spirits. I think they will really help. Paxil, Prosac or whatever…… You are a real Drip. Do you \”Chicken Little\” everything. You must really have gotten \”Burned\” by the Farm. If I might add, you had it comming. If you run around life spewing your kind of Garbage, it is no wonder you got your butt kicked. No one, No one likes a Looser.
How do we really know the facts surrounding the sidebar known as the \”Farm Debate/\” State Farm is not a publically traded company, and as such does not need to disclose \”layoffs,\” or \”restructuring.\” Sounds like Lisa, DD, Rocketman are all State Farm employees/agents, and Shocked is a disgruntled ex-employee/agent. All that I know is that State Farm is strong here in IL, and I have not heard of them firing or laying off workers as of late. I do know several people who have worked at State Farm, and their impressions of State Farm were not very rosy at all. I guess take this opinion with a grain of salt…
I can see what RM said and Why.
Sounds like your issues are in the same class as Shocked. Maybe you can go together and get a \”two-fer\” on the SSRI\’s you all need. The Fact is that State Farm is on the Right Track in sooooo many ways that people who don\’t work for them are just \”green with envy\” to have what State Farm has. Instead of respecting those true \”Leaders\”, smaller people just find reason to fault them. True Leaders give Credit where Credit is due. Good Job Rocket Man. Calling a Spade a Spade is Fair and Balanced. Mr O\’Rielly would be Proud my Boy ! This is the No Spin Zone for Our Industry.
Sry for being really candid with my comments, but when your diatribe goes off track, I would be a \”Cool Aid Drinker\” if I just went allong with it. If you want to be a \”Cool Aid Drinker\” so be it. Don\’t be surprised when others try to put \”Reason\” and \”Balance\” back into an otherwise \”Tilted\” view of the world. If that \”Sucks\” them the Brakes pal. Life must be hard.
State Farm\’s consolidation wasn\’t as bloodless as their PA people would have you believe. Those wonderful retirements
had contractual strings to keep the victims in line.
I\’m not sure who you are, but your posting is very rude. Speaking as an Allstate Agent who has been in the industry for over 17 years; If your going to slam a particular section of Allstate, then you really need to have the guts to post your name. As for Allstate hiring people with no experience in insurance, yes, that has happened, but these candidates usually have experience in sales and or running thier own business\’. I came to Allstate 3 years ago and found the training boring because of my experience, but for someone who is new to the industry; Allstate\’s training in Chicago and Denver is outstanding. You may want to think about people\’s feelings before posting something so nasty. I\’m an Allstate Agent and I\’m very proud to be.
What\’s your agent have to do with a claim? Agents don\’t handle claims. You could have switched to a new agent.
As far as the claim is concerned, should have asked for a new adjuster. And as for replacement of the car…. No sympathy when you don\’t even list what type of car it was. That\’s probably what it was worth. If you weren\’t happy with that, you should have found a like kind and quality on the market in your area are presented that to Allstate.
I had insurance with Allstate for over 13 years. I had a car accident (not my fault). My agent was switching offices and took his time returning my calls. He had always been a \”cold fish\”, but I was interested in insurance, not being friends. Not only was he a pain to deal with but I also had to chase the lawyer who was assigned to handle my case. He was so spaced out, that he took me to the WRONG building instead of the Justice center the day of our case. I was grateful we weren\’t late. I wondered how he found his way home.
After my car was totaled and I was only offered $300.00 for replacement value, I was happy to switch to Geico.
I agree with Mark, if you only got $300, I can only imagine what your vehicle looked like and this really doesn\’t have anything to do with the original posting. Agents are not allowed to get involved with Claims, that\’s why there are Claims Adjusters, they have special training in estimating vehicle damage and keeping up with market fluctuations. If you\’re unhappy with the what YOU settled for with your claim, then blame yourself, not the Agent.
State Farm is the land of opportunity for any individual who wants to be a part of an organization that cares for people and thier needs. You can get anywhere in this company by putting forth some effort and being willing to try different things. some people just want to come in and have things handed to them and while you can get by waiting for that to happen you can not experience the satisfaction we do and the pride we feel knowing that State Farm is #1 because we, the company, has made it what it is. I wish that all of you who have written such negative comments about State Farm could experience a job here.
Try it out………..youll never want to leave!
Bottom Feeder
I am about as low as you can get (besides the mail room) at STate Farm. I would be one of the sacrificed ones should The \”Farm\” decide to cut cost. I can say now that I have great job security because my upper management cares for all of us. Not just the money makers. I have wittnessed transitions and restructers and know for a fact that our people are taken care of like no other company in the bussiness..or any bussiness as far as that goes. Like it has been said already people on the outside looking in are full of envy. We have been around for a long time and the people working here are going to have great retirements and years of happiness because of the life style they were afforded by working for State Farm. I have never worked for a company so focused on the well being of thier people.
Your a very Lucky person to work for State Farm. Thank you for appreciating and speaking out about your experience. The Great GJ Mecherle I expect, would have though the same. You have something special, I hope and pray that the spirit of business that has made the company the greatest will live on into the future thru everyone in the org, no matter what level of the system they serve in…Great things are waiting in the future for State Farm. It is good to have you aboard. Thanks for your efforts.
Am I the only one who thinks James Kirk (you are kidding right?) is running a scam? As far as State Farm and Allstate, no comparison. I wish State Farms competitors, if you can call them that, held the high standard set by SF. That way more insureds would better understand what they are buying and why. Instead the competition is well served to dumb down insurance to the point that policyholders treat it like they treat milk and white bread – it\’s all the same!
When the pendulum swings back to consumer protection through education, the wham bam thank you maam crowd will end up where they belong – out.
I don\’t need or want your sympathy. I have Geico. :) And what difference does it make what kind of car it was? Any car that RUNS is worth at least $300.00. If you must know, it was a 1999 Honda Accord. Does that satisfy you? My point was, the service STUNK. From the agent, to the claims adjuster, to the lawyer who bumbled his way through the case. Why would I want to waste my time looking for another poorly trained agent? Thank God for GEICO.
\”I can only imagine what your car looked like\”. Blah blah blah. Another arrogant Allstate employee/devotee. Your as rude as Mark. Go tell it to the unemployment office when Allstate lays the two of you off.
Geico beats Allstate, hands down.
I will thank Warren Buffet. He\’s an American, and a very successful businessman at that. At least he knows how to run a company. Most of the Geico service reps I speak with are in Georgia, not India.
I love their southern hospitality. Haven\’t spoke to a rude rep yet.
When I had Allstate, I might as well have talked to someone in India . That is how far removed they acted.
Perhaps when the Big three U.S. automakers are willing to stop making excuses for poor workmanship (and bloated CEO wages), more Americans will buy these domestic products.
I have a Ford Explorer, but prefer to drive the Honda because it is more reliable. Should I be willing to subsidize companies that make inferior products in order to show \”support\” for my country?
Cream rises. That is what capitalism is about. Make a better mousetrap and people will buy it. We import far more products from China than they buy from us. Do you see anything wrong with this picture?
I\’m not entirely sure how Allstate could lay me off and I\’m even more confused why you think I work for Allstate, but that\’s OK, it now makes sense to me why you posted what you did, you\’re not very intelligent.
I would look into State Farm if at all possible. They have 2 to 3 times the market share of Allstate, but for a good reason. More poeple trust State Farm than any other company in industry. Not just today, but this market lead is over 5 decades old. Consistent, Profitable and Controlled growth, its the triple play. What makes it even better, is that in the eyes of the customer, State Farm is the ONLY company. Did I mention that State Farm Leads the industry in Retention Rate as well. Point made. Just ask a local agent to place you in contact with an Agency Field Executive at their local AFO office. Maybe you will have a bright future with the Leader in the industry.
I have had Allstate Ins (Car, home,rental) for 50 years and have never had any trouble. They are a truthful and dependable Insurance Co. Unbless they go out of business, I will keep them to the end.
Will the next Insurance Giant State Farm be the next to follow Allstate down sizing of office staffers and buy out of older agents
State Farm has already done that with their claims staff around the country. At lesat this is voluntary for Allstate employees.
Earlier this week there was an article where Allstate wanted the Feds to provide catastrophe reinsurance. In this article, Allstate says that they did not buy reinsurance for Mississippi and Louisiana.
Reinsurance was available and is available. Allstate made a decision not to buy it. Why do they want the Feds to provide it?
The decided they needed it after the fact, and think private reinsurance is too much money, more than likely.
Because Allstate used to think its own pockets were deep enough. It has now changed its mind.
Allstate will still post a yearly profit, too. None of you understand, though, how overstaffed that home office is up there. I think it\’s about time they got rid of some of the dead weight. For what it\’s worth, Allstate has been hiring tons of employees for their regional offices around the country. This is nothing.
And it\’s still voluntary. Those 500-700 people will get retirement or a nice incentive package. It\’s not like Allstate is just dumping them.
And it doesn\’t have anything to do with the hurricane losses, anyway. It was planned prior to. Just no one heard about it until the press release.
This is not an isolated event. St. Paul Travelers announced they are outsourcing all their IT jobs to India.
I understand the need to control costs and placate shareholders, but it\’s frightening to see how little modern employers care about the welfare of their workers — who after all are the ones paying the executives\’ salaries.
State Farm consolidated offices, they did not have an involuntary layoff. All of their employees were retained except for those who voluntarily took wonderful retirement or severance packages. This was done prior to the rash of recent hurricanes. Just smart business, not an after-effect. It is my understanding that State Farm may still pull a profit for the 2005 year. I guess they are not #1 for nothing.
Perhaps the national claim settlement business practices of Allstate Insurance Company, and other [trusted] insurers, is one of the reasons for their financial challenges…
http://www.femainfo.us/legal_actions_fraud_suit.shtml
Clever marketing and advertising schemes do not guarantee financial integrity towards insurer\’s clients / insurance policy investors.
Eventually, people wise up…including governmental entities.
No! reinsurance in Mississippi or LA? What? Why not? Some lame brain decision to write without Reinsurance in the coastal areas of the South Eastern USA now cost 700 people to lose their jobs and futures. Fire that guy! You don\’t write flood coverage without reinsurance in an area where hurricanes happen annually. In the past 7 years there have been HUGE claims paid out in this area from hurricanes.
Flood policies and losses are written and covered by FEMA not regular insurance carriers due to the huge risk involved.
Recently heard that State Farm agents in FL moved to maintain; only able to replace lost business. The big guy is making changes too. I wonder if we would hear more State Farm info if they were publically traded like Allstate.
Well, I have no love loss for Allstate and in fact am no longer shopping at Sears either. Allstate Floridian pulls out of Florida and then Allstate lays off 700 workers, what are they trying to do? Be Company of the Year?????
Allstate and Sears have not been associated together in about 10 years. Sometimes, you have to be in the position that the decision makers are in to see the whole picture. It is easy to bash a company when you only see one small piece of it.
For what it\’s worth, Tx Allstate management did have reinsurance in place. However, they have created problems for agents by having the only policy not paying ALE unless the home was made unlivable by direct damage to the building by RITA.
Excellent point Lisa. Actually, I\’m not sure SF has ever laid anyone off. They plan and communicate changes so far in advance that most if not all impacted employees find other positions. At the very least they have quite a bit of time to make the necessary personal decisions. Additionally, incentives and early retirement offers are some of the best I\’ve heard of. The profit numbers I\’ve heard for 2005 will have people scratching their heads if true. Even after the majority of Cat losses are tallied, the number is staggering.
If you\’re one of the Allstate employees thinking about voluntary separation, there\’s a career change opportunity you may want to consider. The Iroquois Group, the oldest and largest network of independent agencies in the country, recently expanded into Illinois and is actively seeking a Regional Manager to help build our organization in this state. The position is commission based with a 6 figure income in two to three years being the normal track record of other people in this position. I left Prudential due to a downsizing 4 years ago and joined the Iroquois Group. I am glad I did! I\’m my own boss and make what I earn. If you\’re interested in learning more, send me an e-mail (pdawson@iroquoisgroup.com) and I\’ll give you a call to give you an overview of the opportunity. Illinois is a great state for Iroquois and we\’re growing fast.
– Philip –
Astronomical visit of 4-1-96.
Webster Orthopedic Group:
OA visit of above date turns to RA surgery post & pre-Op.
[That\’s an Unverified listing.. Foundation Health Corporation! Pop the top again!]
Another Related Year:
1987-ER Health record
[That\’s another Unverified listing.. Foundation Health Corporation!]
Business Insurance Group – Reports incorrect data like a convoy.
O\’other Related Topics: Leibold Orber, 1988, Khan
GOOD PRACTICE, BUT TENDS TO OVERBOOK!
Webster\’s Orthopedic Group.
Arthur Lewis Messinger, M.D., Orthopedic Surgeon is a member in good standing with the CMA.
Let\’s go back shall we, \”AMC\” that\’s right! Please everybody, let\’s send flower\’s or gifts to the Sky Harbor Care Center for their failure..\”Over their Heads Operation Therature.\”
Atlas, she cannot elevate her left arm. That\’s not Fitzgerald\’s only screen credit, did find alot of ft. in Idaho. I believe she has also been seen in the Law Society of Upper Canada. Maybe, they could not see that either, that\’s part of Health Net and State Farm\’s Insurance Companies cutting-edge goaltending resource\’s.
Promo has put on the early bird worm Navota, CA. (Cal-Comp Ins.) criterium series since 1988.
My best friend from high school worked at the Allstate main office in Bloomington for about 5 years. She work in the accidental death & Dismembership Claims Department (doesn\’t that sound warm and fuzzy?). About two years Allstate decided that her department was going to be combind to a different department and took volunteers to be \”laid off.\” My friend jumped at the chance and got her health benefits for a year and 6 months of her salary for her severance pay. Then about 30 days before she was to leave the company they realized that they need people to stay for 3 more months. She agrees and they gave her health insurance for an extra 6 months and gave her year annual salary. These people who volunteer to leave will be well taken care of by Allstate.
Dear AllState Employees, if you are in that postion of being layed off or might be on that terrible list, We are part of a multi-billion dollar company looking for smart, ambitious, hard working people to be part of our organization. Please contact me at ransar5@aol.com for more info. Thank you.
I\’ve read the entire thread and I am in shock. To have someone out there apparently inside the SF company saying that no one lost their job and that all who left did so voluntarily with a wonderful severance or retirement package is stretching the truth. The \”volunteer\” part went like this. State Farm is closing your office within the next 18 months. You have two options. You can move to another state to take a job or you can voluntarily retire/resign. People who have worked for State Farm giving them their lives and loyalty for years were faced with uprooting their familes to move to another part of the country and that was just the way it was. The former Good Neighbor has become the opposite of what got them to #1. They are now a machine with no feeling for their employees or customers as personal service becomes a thing of the past as well. The Central Zone\’s top executives thought on this during this transition period was and I quote \”State Farm doesn\’t owe you anything except a day\’s pay and that is only after you work the day.\”
State Farm Insurance is seeking motivated professionals in South Florida to keep up with explosive growth. Call our job hotline at 1-800-767-7601 for more information.
Laura,
It is we producers who pay EVERYONE\’S salary – The buck starts here! Those idiots upstairs at the StPaulTravelers decided agents were worth peanuts in the early \’90s. I\’ll never forget when the bigshot from the Travelers made the announcement in Hartford. He then went on to share this empathetic tidbit: \”You want a friend, buy a dog\” and abruptly exited stage left. They squeezed the Aetna sponge, the USF&G sponge, the Travelers sponge, and whoever else\’s sponge, and they wonder why no one wants a career in insurance.
Thought we were talking about Allstate but in any event, St. Paul has never treated agents, brokers, producers badly. As for the current entity, St. Paul Travelers, the same thing is true; agents are treated well. Whatever Travelers did in the early 90\’s is ancient history.
Sounds like Mark\’s got the inside scoop on this deal. The part of the article that caught my eye personally was no new HO writings in 8 counties in NY area. I submitted my resume last week for a New Agency Specialist (new agency set-up training, procedures, etc.) position for the Northeast Region. Even though that position doesn\’t include NY, the whole trend of what I\’m reading makes me nervous to consider going to work for AllState, even miles away from the Chicago home office. This won\’t spur lots of new start-up AllState agencies.
We found that Allstate agents needed to be trained from ground up. The ones we were unfortunate enough to hire knew nothing about ISO forms or flood insurance.
What gripes me is that all this will only result in small increases in profitability which do not add any real money to the average return. Only large investors and the management can profit from moves like this. Some Fortune 500 companies accept higher expenses in order to provide exemplary performance which can carry you through bad and good times. You can bet that management\’s incentive compensation NEVER takes a hit when they consider how to lower expenses!
Shocked, you might want to re-read the message I posted earlier. I never said no one lost their job. Even you, who apparently has some type of connection to the Farm, can say that no one walked in one morning to find themselves unemployed. 18 months? It was more like 2 years notice was given about the transitions. You know, I am not even going to spend the time to entertain your other remarks. Not only are they ridiculous but make it obvious that a personal vendetta is good enough motive to post uneducated comments.
Oh Lisa! Uneducated comments? Personal vendettas? Wow! How the ROSE COLORED GLASSES have affected your vision. It appears I struck a nerve with you. No offense intended, but the truth hurts sometimes. I would imagine that eventually the Farm, as you refer to it, will be sucked up and run out of a hand full of states or even less. Since you apparently have the educated answers, why don\’t you fill us all in on the long term plans of the Farm. That is, if you will entertain my uneducated comments. I\’m sure there are several thousand people out there who share the same uneducated opinions with me.
StPauli Girl, there must be Koolaid in your bottle instead of beer. The StPaulTravelersAetnaUSF&GRoyalAtlanticPrimericaNorthland must have you drunk with admiration. Hint: They all suck – every last one of them. The captive carriers to their hack agents whose adjusters must constantly cover for their amateurish mistakes, or square-peg-round-hole risk selection; and the independent carriers, who have no idea what it takes to aquire a suspect, make them a prospect, and then convert them to a cleint.
Looks like all big insurance companies are doing the same thing. Need to save, cut benefits, let the frontline people go. USAA Insurance never had any layoffs until a new CEO with a banker\’s backround came in. He is all about the bottomline. Now they have layoff\’s and are gearing up to move most of their CA. operation to Arizona.
Check out http://www.jacobsononline.com if you are looking for employment. We specialize in exective roles for the insurance and healthcare industries. Our retained search division, Jacobson Executive Search, has opportunities with the top insurance carriers for positions that we are exclusively handling.
For real…the Auto Club Group(AAA)headquartered in Michigan is also losing about 500 employees. They too got a new CEO from a financial institution who gobbled up a bunch of other AAA affiliates and now, \”to stay strong and competitive\” they need to cut costs. Costs = employees. And the way its being handled is appalling. My good friend expects to be kicked to the curb this month sometime.
The person who wrote this has no clue. State Farm has not done any of what you have indicated, espicailly based on the Katrina event.
I agree with Lisa. Maybe childish and really uneducated would be the correct statement about your comments. The article is about Allstate if you haven\’t noticed. It is great to be #1 because everyone wants to be you or those who are lacking don\’t like you and have to do just what you are doing. You must work for one of the want to be companies. Focus on the article. Have you heard State Farm is Hiring?
Well, this got my attention.
Mr Shocked, what is shocking is the lack of accuracy in your statements. SF goes thru the re-structuring process over several years. The process is painstakingly slow, for good reason. State Farm is too large to make \”Quick\” changes. Secondly, more importantly, the leadership at SF knows that changes are painfull, but necessary to maintain there competitive advantage in the markeplace. The Leadership gives all affected operating units years to absorbe, re-train or relocate the affected employees. Sounds like you have an \”Axe to Grind\” with the \”Farm\”. For that, I am sorry, but it is your problem. Pissing all over a good company with a stellar track record is only going to make you look sophmoric, especially if your blowing smoke like you are. You are the one looking \”Unfair\” in this exchange.
Thanks RM for confirming my post of 1/27. It\’s hard for outsiders to believe that any company would handle a massive re-structuring or transition in the manner that SF does. For those of you scratching your head or jeering at Rocket Man\’s post, the additional detail is accurate and hits the nail on the head. Mr. Shocked may be one of those who was unable to take advantage of what was offered in Central Zone, but don\’t fault the company simply because you didn\’t get your way. If in fact you were an impacted employee, you had ample time and information to make the necessary personal decisions.
The only smoke being blown around here is the justification attempts around the facts that some of you are blowing. Please note the posts that I made are the actual facts and the quotes are real. I\’m sure there are plenty of people who would attest to the same. I don\’t need any more lines. It is what it is. You can sugar coat it all you want, but the facts don\’t change. Don\’t bother responding for my sake as I will not be checking this article or the posts around it again. Have a good life and try to sleep well!
Shocked, Please go to the Doc and get those little pills to lift your spirits. I think they will really help. Paxil, Prosac or whatever…… You are a real Drip. Do you \”Chicken Little\” everything. You must really have gotten \”Burned\” by the Farm. If I might add, you had it comming. If you run around life spewing your kind of Garbage, it is no wonder you got your butt kicked. No one, No one likes a Looser.
How do we really know the facts surrounding the sidebar known as the \”Farm Debate/\” State Farm is not a publically traded company, and as such does not need to disclose \”layoffs,\” or \”restructuring.\” Sounds like Lisa, DD, Rocketman are all State Farm employees/agents, and Shocked is a disgruntled ex-employee/agent. All that I know is that State Farm is strong here in IL, and I have not heard of them firing or laying off workers as of late. I do know several people who have worked at State Farm, and their impressions of State Farm were not very rosy at all. I guess take this opinion with a grain of salt…
Frank,
I can see what RM said and Why.
Sounds like your issues are in the same class as Shocked. Maybe you can go together and get a \”two-fer\” on the SSRI\’s you all need. The Fact is that State Farm is on the Right Track in sooooo many ways that people who don\’t work for them are just \”green with envy\” to have what State Farm has. Instead of respecting those true \”Leaders\”, smaller people just find reason to fault them. True Leaders give Credit where Credit is due. Good Job Rocket Man. Calling a Spade a Spade is Fair and Balanced. Mr O\’Rielly would be Proud my Boy ! This is the No Spin Zone for Our Industry.
Frank & Shocked,
Sry for being really candid with my comments, but when your diatribe goes off track, I would be a \”Cool Aid Drinker\” if I just went allong with it. If you want to be a \”Cool Aid Drinker\” so be it. Don\’t be surprised when others try to put \”Reason\” and \”Balance\” back into an otherwise \”Tilted\” view of the world. If that \”Sucks\” them the Brakes pal. Life must be hard.
State Farm\’s consolidation wasn\’t as bloodless as their PA people would have you believe. Those wonderful retirements
had contractual strings to keep the victims in line.
I\’m not sure who you are, but your posting is very rude. Speaking as an Allstate Agent who has been in the industry for over 17 years; If your going to slam a particular section of Allstate, then you really need to have the guts to post your name. As for Allstate hiring people with no experience in insurance, yes, that has happened, but these candidates usually have experience in sales and or running thier own business\’. I came to Allstate 3 years ago and found the training boring because of my experience, but for someone who is new to the industry; Allstate\’s training in Chicago and Denver is outstanding. You may want to think about people\’s feelings before posting something so nasty. I\’m an Allstate Agent and I\’m very proud to be.
What\’s your agent have to do with a claim? Agents don\’t handle claims. You could have switched to a new agent.
As far as the claim is concerned, should have asked for a new adjuster. And as for replacement of the car…. No sympathy when you don\’t even list what type of car it was. That\’s probably what it was worth. If you weren\’t happy with that, you should have found a like kind and quality on the market in your area are presented that to Allstate.
I had insurance with Allstate for over 13 years. I had a car accident (not my fault). My agent was switching offices and took his time returning my calls. He had always been a \”cold fish\”, but I was interested in insurance, not being friends. Not only was he a pain to deal with but I also had to chase the lawyer who was assigned to handle my case. He was so spaced out, that he took me to the WRONG building instead of the Justice center the day of our case. I was grateful we weren\’t late. I wondered how he found his way home.
After my car was totaled and I was only offered $300.00 for replacement value, I was happy to switch to Geico.
I had an Allstate agent who was a cold fish.
I agree with Mark, if you only got $300, I can only imagine what your vehicle looked like and this really doesn\’t have anything to do with the original posting. Agents are not allowed to get involved with Claims, that\’s why there are Claims Adjusters, they have special training in estimating vehicle damage and keeping up with market fluctuations. If you\’re unhappy with the what YOU settled for with your claim, then blame yourself, not the Agent.
State Farm is the land of opportunity for any individual who wants to be a part of an organization that cares for people and thier needs. You can get anywhere in this company by putting forth some effort and being willing to try different things. some people just want to come in and have things handed to them and while you can get by waiting for that to happen you can not experience the satisfaction we do and the pride we feel knowing that State Farm is #1 because we, the company, has made it what it is. I wish that all of you who have written such negative comments about State Farm could experience a job here.
Try it out………..youll never want to leave!
Bottom Feeder
I am about as low as you can get (besides the mail room) at STate Farm. I would be one of the sacrificed ones should The \”Farm\” decide to cut cost. I can say now that I have great job security because my upper management cares for all of us. Not just the money makers. I have wittnessed transitions and restructers and know for a fact that our people are taken care of like no other company in the bussiness..or any bussiness as far as that goes. Like it has been said already people on the outside looking in are full of envy. We have been around for a long time and the people working here are going to have great retirements and years of happiness because of the life style they were afforded by working for State Farm. I have never worked for a company so focused on the well being of thier people.
Your a very Lucky person to work for State Farm. Thank you for appreciating and speaking out about your experience. The Great GJ Mecherle I expect, would have though the same. You have something special, I hope and pray that the spirit of business that has made the company the greatest will live on into the future thru everyone in the org, no matter what level of the system they serve in…Great things are waiting in the future for State Farm. It is good to have you aboard. Thanks for your efforts.
Rocket Man
(alias: gklu)
Am I the only one who thinks James Kirk (you are kidding right?) is running a scam? As far as State Farm and Allstate, no comparison. I wish State Farms competitors, if you can call them that, held the high standard set by SF. That way more insureds would better understand what they are buying and why. Instead the competition is well served to dumb down insurance to the point that policyholders treat it like they treat milk and white bread – it\’s all the same!
When the pendulum swings back to consumer protection through education, the wham bam thank you maam crowd will end up where they belong – out.
I don\’t need or want your sympathy. I have Geico. :) And what difference does it make what kind of car it was? Any car that RUNS is worth at least $300.00. If you must know, it was a 1999 Honda Accord. Does that satisfy you? My point was, the service STUNK. From the agent, to the claims adjuster, to the lawyer who bumbled his way through the case. Why would I want to waste my time looking for another poorly trained agent? Thank God for GEICO.
\”I can only imagine what your car looked like\”. Blah blah blah. Another arrogant Allstate employee/devotee. Your as rude as Mark. Go tell it to the unemployment office when Allstate lays the two of you off.
Geico beats Allstate, hands down.
Don\’t thank God for Geico – thank Warren Buffet. And don\’t forget to thank your service rep, who\’s probably in Delhi. Think globally, buy locally.
I will thank Warren Buffet. He\’s an American, and a very successful businessman at that. At least he knows how to run a company. Most of the Geico service reps I speak with are in Georgia, not India.
I love their southern hospitality. Haven\’t spoke to a rude rep yet.
When I had Allstate, I might as well have talked to someone in India . That is how far removed they acted.
In case you haven\’t noticed, Honda\’s ARE being built in the U.S.. http://www.wsjclassroomedition.com/archive/03jan/AUTO.htm
Perhaps when the Big three U.S. automakers are willing to stop making excuses for poor workmanship (and bloated CEO wages), more Americans will buy these domestic products.
I have a Ford Explorer, but prefer to drive the Honda because it is more reliable. Should I be willing to subsidize companies that make inferior products in order to show \”support\” for my country?
Cream rises. That is what capitalism is about. Make a better mousetrap and people will buy it. We import far more products from China than they buy from us. Do you see anything wrong with this picture?
I\’m not entirely sure how Allstate could lay me off and I\’m even more confused why you think I work for Allstate, but that\’s OK, it now makes sense to me why you posted what you did, you\’re not very intelligent.
How intelligent do you think YOU ARE to have insurance with such a loser company.
You SOUND like you work for allstate you sanctimonious *itch.
Its been fun, but this forum is getting boring.
Bye bye dear!
I would like to be an agent. Does anybody know of which firm I should go with and why. thanks.. Career Change
Please feel free to call me if you want information on Allstate Agencies and what it takes to become and agent.
636-464-2400
I would look into State Farm if at all possible. They have 2 to 3 times the market share of Allstate, but for a good reason. More poeple trust State Farm than any other company in industry. Not just today, but this market lead is over 5 decades old. Consistent, Profitable and Controlled growth, its the triple play. What makes it even better, is that in the eyes of the customer, State Farm is the ONLY company. Did I mention that State Farm Leads the industry in Retention Rate as well. Point made. Just ask a local agent to place you in contact with an Agency Field Executive at their local AFO office. Maybe you will have a bright future with the Leader in the industry.
I have had Allstate Ins (Car, home,rental) for 50 years and have never had any trouble. They are a truthful and dependable Insurance Co. Unbless they go out of business, I will keep them to the end.
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