Allstate 2007 Annual Report Download - page 5

better we can attract and retain life-long customers,
and the more effectively we can support our
customers during the claims process.
In terms of claims management, an area in which
we’ve long been an industry leader, better analysis
and segmentation also enables us to enhance our
ability to provide timely and appropriate claim
handling. Our claims processing system, Next Gen,
is a technology and service platform that supports
our reinvention of the consumer experience. As
with tiered pricing, Next Gen is bringing far more
segmentation and analysis to the claims process
than we’ve had before, improving communication
with policyholders on the status of claims and
assigning claims to personnel with the correct
training and authority to resolve them quickly, all
of which help improve customer satisfaction. We
expanded deployment of Next Gen in 2007 to fully
include property claims service, and have begun
testing Next Gen for our auto and casualty claims areas.
Another dimension of service is choice—giving
customers the power to decide which products
and options they want, what they’re willing to pay
and how they want them delivered. In a reinvented
protection and retirement marketplace, providing
real choice includes not only a family of products
but also a diversity of distribution channels. Allstate
has created an extensive distribution network to
engage customers on their terms: local service
and information from an agency owner, bank or
investment advisor; claims service or information
through our 1-800-ALLSTATE call centers.
Our purpose as an organization is to help
people realize their hopes and dreams. We
do this by offering products and services that
help protect them from life’s uncertainties
and prepare them for the future. Every day,
we perform our work within a network
of relationships, including our agencies,
regulators, policymakers and public interest
groups as well as consumers. We see an
opportunity to make these complex relationships
stronger, simpler and more productive in ways
that benet consumers, our economy, our
company and, ultimately, our shareholders.
championing our customers
When you’re in the business of preparing
and protecting customers, you’re also in the
business of advocating positions that impact
customers. This can be as fundamental as
giving them efcient online tools to access and
manage their Allstate policies and assets. Or
clearly articulating their rights as customers
and responding quickly to their needs in times
of crisis. But it’s also much more that’s not
as visible to customers. To serve their needs
properly—particularly to deliver the kinds of
experiences that create loyalty and drive future
growth—Allstate is an advocate on key issues
at the local and national levels. In fact, for years
we’ve sought opportunities to create meaningful
change on many subjects where our customers’
interests and our corporate expertise align.
For example, Allstate was an early advocate
for seat belt use and automobile air bags.
We’ve advanced solutions on issues as diverse
as asbestos legislation, credit-based insurance
scoring, and modernization of the insurance
regulatory system. Today, we are outspoken
on driver safety issues, particularly among
teen drivers, as well as consumer education
and protection, home construction standards,
building codes and retirement funding. Within
our operations, every day we take measures to
safeguard our customers’ private information.
We use sophisticated nancial management
tools to ensure our ability to pay claims.
We also follow explicit service guidelines
designed to make customer experiences more
positive, more personal and less frustrating.
In our advertising and marketing, we not
only promote our products and services, we
promote safe driving habits—so that when
customers hear the phrase “That’s Allstate’s
stand,” they understand the truth behind it.
advocating social & public policy
Rather than being just a participant in our industry,
we prefer to act as an advocate for society.
Allstate has a clear corporate interest in supporting
legislative changes to help markets deal with
increased risks—changes that also protect
the lives and assets of Americans. By leading
a public dialogue, Allstate seeks to further
transform the role of insurance in our country
and enhance opportunities for long-term growth.
In 2007, as a member of ProtectingAmerica.org,
Allstate continued to raise awareness, educate
the public and policymakers, and offer a
comprehensive, integrated solution that will
address the signicant challenge of catastrophe
planning in the United States. Allstate helped
form ProtectingAmerica.org in 2005, a coalition
that is advancing a way to better prepare and
protect America from natural catastrophe.
The coalition now has more than 300 member-
organizations that include rst responders,
emergency management professionals, building
code experts and disaster relief organizations
such as the American Red Cross. The potential
for widespread losses due to mega-catastrophes
has grown higher year after year. There are
more people living in harm’s way while the
value of homes in disaster-prone areas has
increased. More than half of Americans now
live in coastal counties—an increase of 33 million
people since 1980—and one-third of Americans
live in areas exposed to major earthquake risk.
To raise awareness and help advance specic
legislation, ProtectingAmerica.org is working
with policymakers at the local, state and
national levels throughout the country.
ProtectingAmerica.org achieved a major
milestone in November 2007 when the
U.S. House of Representatives passed The
Homeowners’ Defense Act, a bill that helps
create a public-private partnership to address
the impact of large natural catastrophes. The
partnership expects the Senate to take further
action in 2008. At the state level, a growing
number of policymakers are voicing their support,
and legislation is being considered in an increasing
number of states. In the long run, one of our
most important catastrophe management
efforts will be advocating for a comprehensive
national plan that includes privately nanced,
publicly administered catastrophe funds at the
state and national levels.
Representing the interests of 17 million
households means more than insuring
consumers or offering them investments.
That’s why Allstate takes a stand on public
policy in its communities and for society.
Reinventing Relationships