NU Online News Service, July 18, 11:28 a.m.EDT

Joseph P. Lacher Jr., president of Allstate Protection, isleaving effective immediately, Allstate Corp. says.

A short statement from the company says various presidents aswell as claims and product operations executives of the variousAllstate Protection units will report directly to Thomas J. Wilson,Allstate's chief executive.

The Northbrook, Ill.-based insurer gave no other details aboutthe change in leadership and says it does not comment on personnelmatters.

Lacher, who led all of Allstate's property and casualtyofferings as president of Allstate Protection, no longer appears ona list of executives on Allstate's website.

Lacher was hired by Allstate in late November 2009 from Travelers, wherehe served as CEO of personal insurance and executive vice presidentat Travelers. He succeeded George Ruebenson, who was with Allstatefor about 40 years.

Last month at an investor conference Lacher outlined a business plan to grow Allstate's P&C segments with a newdistribution model. The National Association of ProfessionalAllstate Agents did not look upon the plan favorably.

Lacher told investors Allstate will be increasinghomeowners' rates and tightening underwriting standards in aneffort to achieve a combine ratio in the low 60s, excludingcatastrophes, by 2013.

Today in Florida Allstate subsidiaries Castle Key Indemnity andCastle Key Insurance meet with regulators to defend a rate filingto increase homeowners' rates by an average of 36 percent and 31percent, respectively.

In auto, Lacher said Allstate is primarily concentrating on NewYork and Florida, which account for 20 percent of the carrier'sbusiness.

Allstate says it has entered into an agreement to buy onlineauto insurer Esurance and independent insurance agency Answer Financial fromWhite Mountains Insurance Group Ltd. for about $1 billion. Thetransaction is supposed to close this fall.