Progressive Insurance

Originally started as “Progressive Insurance Company” and now formally named “The Progressive Corporation,” this company’s stock is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
Progressive has a large advertising budget that has had several different ad campaigns over the years, but the most recognizable in recent years have been the ads featuring “Flo” and her friends and alternate identities.
Progressive has tried to be true to its name by providing innovative services such as direct sales by phone and sales by internet websites earlier than most of its competitors, as well as mobile applications for policy comparisons and claims reporting.
Who is Progressive Casualty Insurance Company?
With about $27 billion in automobile insurance policy premiums in 2018, Progressive Insurance was ranked as the third-largest auto insurer in the United States by the NAIC, an organization of state insurance commissioners, only surpassed that year by the “good neighbor” and “gecko” insurance companies at #1 and #2 in size, respectively. Progressive Insurance offers some products in home insurance and professional liability insurance, but its auto insurance premiums made up about 90% of its revenues in 2018.
Progressive was founded in the 1930s but remained small until a change in ownership and a change in marketing strategy – a decision to focus on selling auto insurance policies to high-risk drivers – in the 1960s started a period of rapid growth. In recent years, it has focused on more mainstream customers than just the high-risk market. The company is headquartered in Ohio and now employs about 35,000 people.
What Are Some Claims Practices of Progressive Auto Insurance?Many insurance companies neglect to take into account “diminished value” in vehicle damage claims, especially if claimants don’t independently bring them to the insurance company’s attention. Diminished value occurs when a vehicle – usually either a new car or a costly vehicle – sustains substantial damage that the insurance company elects to repair rather than totaling out the car.
Not long ago, our office resolved a claim against Progressive Casualty Insurance Company for a client – a woman in her early 30s – who was injured in a moderate force impact on an interstate freeway exit ramp. While stopped in traffic on the highway offramp, she was rear-ended by a vehicle traveling approximately 15 – 20 miles per hour at impact.
It became necessary to demand uninsured motorist arbitration in the matter to get things moving again. The early stages of uninsured motorist arbitration are similar to the “discovery” stages in a court lawsuit, with the sides exchanging formal questions called “interrogatories,” exchanging requests for production of relevant documents, and sometimes taking the depositions of the parties involved and essential witnesses.
In our client’s case, two key items helped reach a resolution. First was a medical opinion from a neuropsychologist – a specialist who studies the relationship between the physical brain and mental processes of behavior, cognition, and emotion. In our client’s case, this opinion helped verify that her residual symptoms – although not severe – were still remaining troublingly persistent more than a year after the accident.
The second element was our client’s own performance at deposition, where she clearly communicated to Progressive’s attorney the severity of her physical and emotional damages from the accident caused by the uninsured motorist. We were able to help in this by thoroughly explaining to our client in advance what the deposition process would be so that she could feel more comfortable and communicate effectively. Shortly after our client’s deposition, Progressive agreed to pay their full $100,000 policy limits.
Knowing which types of experts are most likely to be beneficial to a client’s case – in this instance, a professional auto damage evaluator who substantiated the full amount of damage to our client’s vehicle and a neuropsychologist who confirmed the persistent nature of our client’s symptoms – is a key service that an experienced personal injury attorney can provide to clients.
To find out more about claim tactics by insurance companies, and how personal injury lawyers deal with them, click the links below:
- Dirty Tricks Insurance Companies Play in Accident Claims
- Types of Auto Coverage and First and Third-Party Claims
- How an Experienced Personal Injury Attorney Deals with Insurance Company Tactics
- The Insurance Industry and Individual Companies -- Huge and Hugely Profitable