Allstate Corp. (ALL) said Wednesday it plans to open 50 new
offices in Florida in a move that will create more than 130 new
jobs in the independently owned agencies.
The company said about half of the new agencies will open in the
state's north, where demand is particularly high.
"North Florida has shown incredible growth for our agencies,"
Florida regional sales leader Bob Jackson said. "In order to meet
the demands of our current and future customers, we've made a
decision to expand."
The expansion comes after large insurance companies such as
Allstate pulled back somewhat from Florida after a string of big
storms in 2004 and 2005 caused billions of dollars in insured
losses. Smaller insurers have rushed to fill the void over the past
few years.
Earlier last year, Allstate had also reduced efforts to recruit
new auto insurance customers in Florida and other states due to
concerns about the markets' profitability.
The company in February posted a lower fourth-quarter profit and
attributed part of the decline to Florida customers who dropped
coverage when the company attempted to raise rates. Allstate and
others have said they need price increases in those states to
combat an increase in insurance fraud.
-By Drew FitzGerald, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2909;
Andrew.FitzGerald@dowjones.com