Allstate Insurance Co

Allstate Challenges Prop. 103: Allstate Insurance Co. filed suit in Los Angeles Superior Court on Thursday seeking a ban on the enforcement of emergency Proposition 103 regulations and calling for a return to the previous rate-setting system. Allstate's suit says the regulations created by Commissioner Roxani Gillespie violate the state Constitution and were not supported by substantial evidence before being approved. (Filed Jan. 4, 1990 Case No. C748209)

Allstate Corp., the largest publicly traded U.S. home insurer, said its fourth-quarter losses from the October wildfires in California would be as much as $335 million. Overall catastrophe losses for October and November totaled $360 million to $400 million, about $100 million higher than for the entire fourth quarter last year, the Northbrook, Ill.-based insurer said.

Allstate Corp. sold $2.12 billion of stock today in the biggest initial public offering ever by a U.S. company. Allstate, a unit of Sears, Roebuck & Co., sold 78.5 million common shares at $27 each, representing a 17.9% stake in the company. Underwriters have the option to sell an additional 11 million shares. The insurer was able to sell the shares at the high end of its expected range as investors lined up to buy into one of the biggest names in the property and casualty business.

Allstate said Thursday that it would stop selling new home insurance policies in California and would continue to seek a 12% rate increase for its 900,000 existing customers. The state's third-biggest home insurer announced the cutoff Thursday, saying it needs to better manage the risk of potential losses related to wildfires and fires caused by earthquakes that might sweep the Golden State.

Allstate Insurance Co. has agreed to pay $30 million to an estimated 250,000 Californians who were allegedly overcharged for auto and homeowner policies, in a settlement expected to be announced today. The company, though not admitting wrongdoing, also has agreed to pay a $4-million fine to the state Insurance Department.

The president of Allstate Insurance Co. said Wednesday that if the California Legislature does not act this year to authorize a no-frills, no-fault automobile policy, Allstate will be strongly inclined to join consumers and minority groups in sponsoring a 1990 ballot initiative to establish one. Declaring in an interview that public unhappiness with the high cost of auto insurance in California threatens long-term interests of the industry, Allstate President Raymond H.

Allstate Made Profit in New Jersey: State officials contended that departing Allstate Insurance Co. made $51 million on auto insurance in New Jersey last year, rejecting the company's stated $72 million in losses. Allstate announced this week that it would stop writing property and casualty insurance in New Jersey because it was losing money on auto insurance in the state. Under a 1990 insurance reform law, companies that quit auto insurance must also drop other lines, except life insurance.

Allstate Workers Offered Early Retirement: The nation's largest publicly held property and casualty insurance company said it is offering the voluntary package to about 700 of its 5,300 headquarters employees. The offer is being made to employees who are at least 49 years old and have 16 years of service with the company. Allstate Insurance Co. estimates it will save about $30 million as a result of the measure.

Allstate Insurance Co. on Friday filed a request to raise premiums for California homeowners 12.2% -- startling consumer groups and state Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi, who in June had ordered the company to justify its rates. Whereas rivals said Friday that they planned to cut premiums, Allstate said it needed to charge more to cover the escalating threat from natural catastrophes.

Allstate Insurance Co. has agreed to pay $30 million to an estimated 250,000 Californians who were allegedly overcharged for auto and homeowner policies, in a settlement expected to be announced today. The company, though not admitting wrongdoing, also has agreed to pay a $4-million fine to the state Insurance Department.

The venerable Indianapolis Motor Speedway has gone commercial. The Brickyard 400, the stock car race that annually attracts the largest audience in NASCAR's Nextel Cup season, has been renamed the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. The insurance company announced Thursday that it had signed a multiyear sponsorship deal with IMS, and that it had signed another multiyear deal to be NASCAR's official insurance sponsor.

Allstate Insurance Co. filed suit Friday to get more than 100 cars owned by its policyholders out from behind the locked gates of M2 Collision Care Centers, a chain of California body shops that is being liquidated at the behest of creditors. The suit, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, calls for CMA Business Credit Services to release vehicles owned by Allstate customers and seeks unspecified damages. Burbank-based CMA took control of M2 Automotive Inc.'

Bungling by fire and police agencies here allowed last October's Cedar fire to spread "into a wildfire of epic proportion," one of the largest insurance companies in the state has charged in a claim filed against three public agencies. Allstate Corp.

Allstate Corp., the second-biggest U.S. auto and home insurer, lost a U.S. Supreme Court bid to limit a lawsuit claiming it used customers' credit records to overcharge blacks and Latinos for home and auto insurance. The justices rejected Allstate's effort to throw out a claim that the use of credit histories to set rates had a disproportionate effect on minorities, even if it wasn't intentional.

Allstate Insurance Co. will make a $3.5-million loan to Broadway Federal Bank that will be used to provide low-interest home improvement loans for Crenshaw-area residents, officials said Thursday. The loan is part of an overall $5.75-million commitment by Allstate to foster neighborhood revitalization, home improvement and safety and youth programs for the community's residents, officials said during the announcement at the Regency West Ballroom in the Crenshaw district.

Allstate Insurance Co., facing two consumer lawsuits and sanctions by the California Insurance Department over alleged violations of the state's premium-setting rules, said that it is complying with all state regulations. The department said Wednesday that Allstate illegally used consumers' credit reports to determine auto insurance rates and pushed agents to alter policyholders' driving mileage in order to boost premium income.

California insurance regulators plan to sanction Allstate Insurance Co. for allegedly using customers' credit records to set rates and collecting higher auto premiums by pushing agents to alter policyholders' driving mileage. A spokeswoman for state Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi said Wednesday that the agency already has decided to take action against Allstate for the two alleged violations and is simply waiting for recommendations from its attorneys before proceeding.