'When Less Accidents Happen, Our Expenses Go Down': Allstate, Other Insurance Agencies Lower Premium Payments
GREENSBURG, Pa. (KDKA) -- On any other typical April day, the millions of cars in the United States would be rolling along per normal. But there's been nothing normal about 2020 in the age of COVID-19 and that includes automobile insurance.
"I don't think anybody ever imagined anything quite like this," said Glenn Shapiro.
Glenn Shapiro is president of personal property liability at Allstate. His company is the first to offer policy owners a break when it comes to paying for coverage.
"We looked at the miles being driven and they've dropped off significantly. When people drive less for the obvious reasons with everything going on right now, less accidents happen. And when less accidents happen, our expenses go down," he said.
The insurance giant is cutting monthly auto premium rates by 15 percent.
"Acting on a few weeks of data, we made this decision for both April and May," said Shapiro.
While Allstate was first they've been joined by USAA, American Family insurance, Liberty Mutual, Safeco and Geico auto-owners insurance and others offering their customers similar programs.
In addition to its 15 percent break, Allstate has changed its approach when it comes to paying for premiums. It's hard to pay the bills on time when you have no income coming in.
"People who can't make their payments, we've extended it to 60 days that they can delay payments and spread that payment over their policy term so they don't lose their coverage," said Shapiro.