Allstate car insurance is most expensive in 7 of 8 cities

Except for Detroit, where it was a close #2, Allstate car insurance was priciest in Flint, Grand Rapids, Howell, Iron Mountain, Ludington, Owosso and Warren

Over the last two days, I’ve blogged about the overall findings of an important new study by the Coalition Protecting Auto No-Fault, showing that Michigan car insurance companies charge different prices to equally safe drivers based on the socioeconomic status of their insured.

I’ve also discussed the study’s findings about which auto insurance companies are the “most aggressive” at using unfair pricing practices, which rely on non-driving related factors as drivers’ jobs, education and home-owner status to set rates. I’ve called this legalized discrimination in the past on this auto law blog, and I’ve been outspoken that this practice of treating people with identical driving records so differently has no place in Michigan (the practice is already illegal in many other states).

Today I want to write about something I noticed that was buried in the CPAN study and hasn’t received a lot of attention, namely that Allstate car insurance prices were the most expensive in seven of the eight cities evaluated in the CPAN study — and they were a close second in Detroit, which was the eighth city in the study.

Allstate car insurance pricing data should be alarming

Just how expensive is Allstate car insurance throughout Michigan?

And how much more costly is Allstate car insurance than other major auto insurers in the state?

Significantly, as pricing data reported in the CPAN study showed the following:

• In Flint, Allstate’s average car insurance premium is the highest at $5,368. State Farm is second at $3,359, while AAA/Auto Club is third at $3,010. Liberty Mutual, Esurance and Progressive are fourth, fifth and sixth at $1,932, $1,909 and $1,526, respectively.
• In Warren, Allstate’s average car insurance premium is the highest at $3,640. State Farm is second at $3,099.40. Liberty Mutual is third $2,812.80. AAA/Auto Club, Esurance and Progressive are fourth, fifth and sixth at $2,465.60, $2,067.20 and $1,925.80, respectively.
• In Iron Mountain, Allstate’s average car insurance premium is the highest at $2,600.40. State Farm is second at $1,488.20. Esurance is third at $1,330.40. Progressive, AAA/Auto Club and Liberty Mutual are fourth, fifth and sixth at $1,110.20, $988.40 and $948.40, respectively.
• In Grand Rapids, Allstate’s average car insurance premium is the highest at $2,456.40. Esurance is second at $1,186.80. State Farm is third at $1,551. Liberty Mutual, AAA/Auto Club and Progressive are fourth, fifth and sixth at $1,533.20, $1,069.60 and $879.40, respectively.
• In Howell, Allstate’s average car insurance premium is the highest at $2,452.40. State Farm is second at $1,721.40. Esurance is third at $1,476.80. Liberty Mutual, AAA/Auto Club and Progressive are fourth, fifth and sixth at $1,406, $1,359.80 and $1,116.60, respectively.
• In Ludington, Allstate’s average car insurance premium is the highest at $2,438.80. State Farm is second at $1,714.40. Esurance is third at $1,353.20. Progressive, AAA/Auto Club and Liberty Mutual are fourth, fifth and sixth at $1,101, $1,054 and $1,013, respectively.
• In Owosso, Allstate’s average car insurance premium is the highest at $2,433.60. AAA/Auto Club is second at $1,773.40. State Farm is third at $1,693.20. Esurance, Liberty Mutual and Progressive are fourth, fifth and sixth at $1,393.20, $1,246 and $1,046.60, respectively.

As an auto accident and No-Fault insurance attorney who devotes considerable time on my Auto Law blog to discussing issues related to coverage, benefits and the price of Michigan No-Fault auto insurance, this pricing information about Allstate is very significant.

Not only has Allstate made my previous lists of the Worst Auto Insurance companies, but I’ve also written about the less than consumer-friendly actions this prominent auto insurer has taken.

Allstate’s car insurance prices are the second highest in Detroit

According to the data in the CPAN study, in Detroit, Allstate’s average car insurance premium is the second highest at $5,544. State Farm is first at $6,104. Esurance is third at $3,642. Liberty Mutual, AAA/Auto Club and Progressive are fourth, fifth and sixth at $3,485.80, $3,167.60 and $2,611, respectively.

How Allstate’s car insurance information was found in the CPAN study

The purpose of the CPAN study was to determine “how non-driving related factors influence car insurance rates” in Michigan.

As such, researchers obtained online price quotes from the six Michigan No-Fault auto insurance companies that “represent more than half of Michigan’s auto insurance market” (AAA, Allstate, Esurance, Liberty Mutual, Progressive, and State Farm) in eight Michigan cities for “test customer[s]” with “a perfect driving record” and “no prior claims” and who met each of five different socioeconomic status: Lawyer, JD, homeowner; investment banker, MBA, homeowner; factory foreman, BA, renter; factory worker, HS, renter; and unemployed, no diploma, renter.

For writing this blog post, I took one additional step based upon the information from the CPAN study. I derived the auto insurers’ average car insurance premiums for each city by adding all five price quotes (which are found in Appendix B of the CPAN study) for socioeconomic status and then dividing by five.