Allstate Settles Dispute on Claims Documents

Allstate Insurance Co. has agreed to settle a Missouri insurance case that had attracted national attention over the insurer's refusal, and eventual agreement, to provide key documents on how it evaluates and pays claims. The Northbrook-based company's reluctance to release the records led to more than $7 million in fines from Jackson County Judge Michael Manners. Manners has scheduled a July 21 hearing on whether to approve the settlement, which is the day the case was scheduled to go to trial.

Source: Source: AP | Published on July 15, 2008

Attorneys for both sides say the terms of the deal are confidential.

Allstate spokesman Mike Siemienas said the nation's second-largest home and auto insurer was happy to resolve the case. He declined to comment further.

The case stems from an 8-year-old accident involving Allstate policyholder Paul Aldridge, of Hawaii, who struck a truck from behind, severely injuring the driver. Aldridge later sued Allstate for bad faith after it refused for years to pay a claim.

Attorneys for both Aldridge and the accident victim, Dale Deer, of Warrensburg, Mo., requested a set of records prepared by consultant McKinsey & Co. on behalf of the insurance company that described a claims payment system set up in the 1990s that allegedly was intended to generate big earnings while keeping claims payments low.

Allstate refused to turn over the records, saying they contained trade secrets and would reveal the company's trial strategy. In September, Manners held Allstate in contempt and began fining it $25,000 per day.

The Missouri Supreme Court in November ordered Allstate to turn over the documents, leading the company to disclose more than 120,000 pages of records.

Other states also have fought Allstate over the records, with Florida's insurance commissioner, Kevin McCarty, suspending the company's ability to sell policies there after it refused subpoenas for the records. An appeals court later sided with McCarty.

Allstate in April posted 150,000 pages of documents on the Internet related to how it handles customer claims.