Pluspunten
Working in the claims department of any insurance company is almost always unpleasant, and Unitrin is no exception. If you must work for an insurance company, Unitrin Specialty is probably one of the best of a bad lot.
Minpunten
In the last few years the company has gone from being a reasonably pleasant place to work to being a micro-managed nightmare. The company used to be results-oriented - i.e. - get the job done and they would leave you alone. It has now become process-oriented - the important thing now is to do everything exactly the way they want you to, whether or not it makes any sense or applies to the situation. We are constantly asked to do more and do it faster and faster, but all the changes they have made to the claims-handling process are things that increase handling time, not shorten it. The company motto seems to be "Think inside the box - better yet, don't think at all - just do what we tell you and don't ask why." The company seems to expect perfection, but acknowledges that they pay less than the competition. Speaking of pay, one of the stranger aspects of the company is that new hires start at whatever the existing employees are getting - no matter how long you work for the company you will never make more than the person they just hired. And, the company seems to have zero trust of their employees. Just getting a box of business cards requires the approval of 2 department heads, and getting reimbursed for any expense requires the approval of 5 people, including a senior vice-president. The company electronically monitors their employees so closely that it seems a bit Orwellian at times, and your performance is measured in more ways than you might think possible.