I suppose if you are a car dealer, car advertisements get under your skin if they don’t tell the truth. I’ve been enormously disappointed over the years in the way mega agency Selectquote advertises term insurance. They are deceptive at best. After an advertisement I saw last night I would like to add Allstate to my list of companies or agencies that could use a bit of a truth enema.

This ad claimed that Allstate’s life insurance rates were among the best available in the country. I would say that the statement is partially true if they just amend the statement to say that Allstate’s life insurance rates are among those available in the country. Just a quick check on a 40 year old male in preferred plus health, buying $250,000 of 20 year term shows that the best rate is $222.50 and Allstate is at $337.50, 47th from the best rate available.

How do they justify their claim? Well, if you buy their overpriced auto and homeowner’s insurance and then you buy their overpriced life insurance, they claim they will give you a break on your auto and homeowners and that this really makes your life insurance less expensive. Well……..no it doesn’t. If they have breaks to give tell them to give them to you because you’re a loyal customer or because you haven’t cost them any money in years. Do they really believe that they way to treat a valued customer is to offer a break that really isn’t a break to offset the fact that you fell for buying overpriced term life insurance?

And what happens when your teenager wrecks the car and you get a speeding ticket. Your car insurance rate is going up and guess what, you no longer have a little break for buying overpriced life insurance. And the frosting on this cake is that you are buying life insurance from someone whose expertise is auto and homeowners. If they’ve had any training in life insurance, it’s been primarily in how to use a rate card. If you present them with a difficult underwriting situation, they won’t have a clue what impact it will have. If you have bipolar disorder life insurance is going to fall outside standard underwriting knowledge. The Allstate agent is going to be stuck.

Bottom line. Get your insurance from people who specialize in that type of insurance. Don’t come to me and ask for medical or auto or homeowners. Legally I could sell it to you, but I don’t have any business even going there.