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Allstate sees independent agents gain share as auto pricing cools
Independent agents accounted for 28% of Allstate auto new business applications in Q2 2026, while auto combined ratio improved to 83.3 despite $2.1 billion of advertising spending in the first half.
Allstate reported second-quarter 2026 net income of $3.2 billion, up almost 56% from $2.1 billion a year earlier, with revenues of $18.6 billion, an 11.8% increase, according to Insurance Business. The insurer said distribution data is increasingly important to independent agents, as their share of Allstate auto new business applications rose to 28% in Q2 2026, up from 21% in Q2 2023.
Over the same period, total auto new business volume climbed 58.8% to 2,347 thousand applications per quarter, and Allstate attributed the growth to Custom360, its middle-market standard and preferred auto and homeowners product built for independent agents. Custom360 was available in 41 states as of Q2 2026, compared with 36 states at year-end 2025 and 40 states in Q1 2026.
Insurance Business also noted that the company’s “Affordable, Simple, Connected” product for exclusive agents and direct consumers was available in 45 states. Allstate implemented rate changes in 36 states in Q2, with a net neutral rate impact overall, marking a shift away from the double-digit increases seen in 2022 and 2023.
On profitability, Allstate reported a property-liability combined ratio of 86.6 in Q2 2026, improved 4.5 points from 91.1 a year earlier, while auto posted a combined ratio of 83.3 and homeowners 94.6. Insurance Business cautioned that the auto figure included reserve releases and favorable prior-year development, including $2.4 points of benefit in Q2 from prior-year development, and $1.5 billion of prior-year auto reserves released in the first half of 2026.