Insurance Company Giants Allstate, Encompass, and Esurance Issuing Refunds To Customers Due to Pandemic

Due to the COVID-19 virus pandemic, many vehicle owners have dramatically adjusted their driving habits. All insurance companies offer low-mileage discounts and discounts for students who are covered, but in college over 100 miles from the vehicle they are insured on. However, Allstate, Encompass, and Esurance are being more proactive than these annual adjustments. They are offering refunds right now.

Allstate, Encompass, and Esurance Shelter-In-Place Payback
The plan is called the Shelter-In-Place Payback. The idea is that if you are a policyholder and are under a local government mandate to stay home, you get a refund right now, rather than when your policy renews. Allstate says that most customers will receive 15% of their monthly premium in April and May. This will total more than $600 million to Allstate's customer base. These customers will receive the refund through a credit to their bank account, credit card or Allstate account. Like with many modern transactions, the fastest way for customers to receive this payback is to utilize the Allstate Mobile app. Allstate says that it is working with state insurance regulators to move forward as quickly as possible.

Three Other Ways Allstate Is Stepping Up To Help
In addition to the refund to policyholders, Allstate is doing three more things to help during this pandemic. Here they are in a bullet list:
- Free Identity Protection - Allstate is making the Allstate Identity Protection product free for the rest of the year with no opt-out-requirement. Allstate Identity Protection helps protect people from identity theft and financial fraud and provides more control over information shared digitally. U.S. residents can get the free identity protection product through Dec. 31, 2020, regardless of whether they are already Allstate customers, by signing up in April or May.
- Payment Relief - Allstate customers experiencing financial challenges can call Allstate to learn how to delay payments without penalty. The Special Payment Plan gives auto and homeowners insurance customers the choice to delay two consecutive premium payments. Customers also can choose to pay what they can afford.
- Extended Auto Insurance Coverage - Allstate is expanding insurance coverage for customers who use their personal vehicles to deliver food, medicine and other goods for commercial purposes. Standard personal auto insurance policies typically exclude this coverage

If you are an Allstate, Esurance, or Encompass policyholder and need more information, check out Allstate's information page.

John Goreham is a life-long car nut and recovering engineer. John's focus areas are technology, safety, and green vehicles. In the 1990s, he was part of a team that built a solar-electric vehicle from scratch. His was the role of battery thermal control designer. For 20 years he applied his engineering and sales talents in the high tech world and published numerous articles in technical journals such as Chemical Processing Magazine. In 2008 he retired from that career and dedicated himself to chasing his dream of being an auto writer. In addition to Torque News, John's work has appeared in print in dozens of American newspapers and he provides reviews to many vehicle shopping sites. You can follow John on Twitter, and view his credentials at Linkedin.