If All State is increasing rates by 20% to build capital to pay claims,what have they been doing with the?

Question

premiums they've been collecting for all these years?

Answer 1

Check this out friend. It WILL wake you up. Have a nice day.

http://www.manews.org/1006razamoney.html



http://www.fuse.tv/videos/index.php?p=clip3773
and some tunes for your enjoyment.

Answer 2

Companies increase rates for a lot of reasons, and they usually review rates every year. Some factors they take into consideration - Claims paid out vs premium taken in - if they pay out more claims than expected, this can cause a premium increase. Higher claims can be from bad drivers or weather related, etc. Higher reinsurance - companies buy reinsurance to help pay claims. Basically - you buy insurance to protect you in the event of a loss - the company buys reinsurance to help pay your loss. Sometimes the reinsurance rates can increase dramatically. Example - the earthquake reinsurance rates are going way up. Many companies have just stopped writing EQ coverage altogether. One of the reasons that rate is going way up is because of Katrina - not because they paid EQ claims for that, but because they see that they have underestimated the amount of damage from a catastrophe of that magnitude. So, on the one hand I can say that the companies have not actually paid EQ claims, so what did they do with all the $ collected all these years on EQ premiums, but as an agent I know that they have had to purchase reinsurance all these years too. So if the EQ rate is affected by Katrina, you KNOW homeowners and auto rates are also affected.

Not saying this to excuse rate increases - sometimes they are justified, some times maybe not. Don't forget, tho - insurance companies are BUSINESSES, and like all businesses, they want to make a profit.

Answer 3

They have been paying claims, paying their bills, their insurance (called reinsurance) etc. The reason they have to now increase their premiums is they have either underestimated the claims the ended up paying (they have to base their rates on what they think they will pay out in the coming years), or underpriced their products to compete in the marketplace to obtain more policies. And yes, insurance companies do want to write new policies (always the "best" insureds of course) so they have less risk (law of large numbers). VERY simplified: If one person has a $1,000 loss and a company writes one policy (at $1,000), the company has NO money left. If the company has 10 policies (at $1,000 each) the company has $9,000 left. If the company writes 100 policies (at $1,000 each), the company has $99,000 left. Also, all states require all of the companies licensed to do business in their state to have a certain amount of money in reserve to pay claims. This is based on the size of the company and how many policies they write. The formula is different in each state. Hope this explains it a little.

Answer 4

I seem to remember a couple big storms coming through the southern states recently. If you want to see insurance rates go down, here is an idea - Set a federal standard. Require property owners to maintain their houses. If you look at all of the homeowners claims ever filed you would find that MANY were avoidable. If your roof is old, replace it. If your siding is falling off, get it fixed. There should be a hotline for people to call and report homeowners that don't keep up their property. They are the real problem here.

Answer 5

Allstate is increasing rates to cover the losses they paid out from Katrina.

What have they been doing with the premiums they've been collecting? Paying claims with it that's what.

Answer 6

It's a total SCAM. They collect premiums for years upon years then raise the rates high enough that their customers have to drop their policies and find a new carrier. That way they get rid of many customers before they have to pay a claim.
As far as "" what have they been doing with $$$" They build big fancy office buildings and collect lots of rent, make loans , and invest the money so they can pay outrageous salaries to the executives who come up with the best strategies to avoid paying claims.

Answer 7

Are you talking homeowners or auto rates?

If you're talking about auto, they are raising their rates, in my opinion, because they are non-renewing so many homeowners policies in the northeast therefore losing a big stream of income. I'd hate to be an Allstate agent in NY/NJ/CT...they are no longer writing new homeowners policies and dumping many policies near the coast.

If you're talking about homeowners rates, be happy you weren't dumped by them!

Answer 8

They've been paying out more in claims than they take in - which means, they've been undercharging all these years.

If you truly believed Allstate (or any insurance company) was raking in massive profits, you'd put your money where your mouth is and buy up lots of insurance company stock. I don't buy insurance company stock, because they DON'T make enough money for the stockholders, for my taste.

Answer 9

its another way to make easy money i think!!! Insurance should be considered as fruad!! you pay and pay an pay and get nothing back if your good!!!! At least thats from most companies!