Talked to my neighborhood independent Allstate insurance man this morning, with whom I have a good relationship. I actually called to ask him about Allstate stock cuz their numbers look real good to me when you compare them to other more "in vogue" insurance biggies such as AIG etc.
Anyway, after our discussion about ALL, I asked if he knew anything about a company called Automobile Protection. The conversation went something like this:
Yeah, I've got their products
How long have you had them?
We got the info/material about four months ago.
Are you actually selling the product?
Yeah, we just started to. Whenever someone is buying a car to add to their policy, the first question we ask is whether they need financing (Allstate can usually beat the dealer's rate), and the second question is would they like us to warranty the car for service/repairs.
So, anybody that adds a car to the policy gets offered the product?
Yup. Not only that, but we also contact all our existing clients at least annually to update their policies, usually when they are coming due. When the telemarketer sees that they have a car or cars that would qualify for the warranty protection, we inform them that we have this new product to cover service for cars and would they like us to give them prices for coverage.
What name is the product sold under, Automobile Protection Company?
No, it's offered as one of our Allstate products, just like any of our other insurances.
Where does APCO come into play?
They do all the underwriting and administration for us.
Have you had any contact with them yet?
We've called them on some occasions when we've had questions regarding coverages and claims etc.
What's your impression?
They seem fine, we got the info we needed.
I then proceeded to tell him a little bit about APCO and the stock's history, to which he replied that it sounded like a good company to get into at the early stages at the current price, so he would check it out.
Marc |
