Since 1950, “You’re in good hands with Allstate” has been the slogan of the Allstate Corporation, one of the longest-running and most recognizable taglines in American business. For decades, under the ownership of Sears, Roebuck and Company, those words meant something: Allstate would, year after year, pay out the vast majority of its premium income in claims, usually generating a modest profit. The company’s agents would even make house calls—called pop-outs (as in “pop out” of the office)—to deliver claims checks in person.
