Background: I have an auto insurance policy with Progressive. I had a car accident back in 2022. The other driver was completely at fault (he struck me while I was parked). But I had to pay my one thousand dollar deductible, which Progressive would supposedly recover from the other insurance company and pay back to me.
Progressive has been supposedly working on this for the last two years. I feel it has gone past any reasonable possibility that I will ever get my thousand dollars. I’m assuming Progressive has simply put the file into some drawer and forgotten it.
I’m not happy with that. I may never get my money back but I feel Progressive handled this poorly and I don’t want to have them insuring me any more.
But it appears I may not have any choice. I’ve spoken to my insurance agency and told them I want to switch to another insurance company. My agency represents several insurance companies. But they told me no other company will issue me a policy - because I have an open claim.
If this is true, Progressive has me locked in. All they have to do is continue to not do their job, as they have been doing for two years, and I can’t stop paying them whatever they wish to charge because no other company will insure me.
I suppose I will have to start calling around to verify that I can’t switch companies. But this whole situation has pissed me off. I was mad about the accident, I was made about the poor job that was done repairing my car, I was mad about not getting the money I am owed, and now I mad about this.
TLDR version: Don’t get insurance from Progressive.
I submitted this post about a minute ago. Apparently the algorithm picked up the key words. And now I’m seeing online ads offering me an insurance policy.
I don’t feel that Progressive is doing anything illegal. I just feel they’ve done a really bad job.
They’re a big corporation. I’m one individual. I can’t compel them to do better work. Just as I can’t compel the trucking company to pay me my money.
The only recourse I would normally have is to stop doing business with a company that is doing poor work and become a customer with a different company. But now it looks like that might not be a possibility.
I know this happens with some companies because they have established virtual monopolies. But I didn’t expect this with insurance companies, which is still supposed to be a competitive business.
Did you call another insurance company about a new policy? They can verify Progressive’s claim that you can’t get another policy while they have an open claim.
Is there something that prevents you from dropping your claim with Progressive? It’s the other party or their insurance company that owes you money isn’t it? For $1000 you could take them to small claims court yourself.
Hope this works out for you. I happen to have Progressive currently, but I use an agent and they find the best policy for me every year and deal with the claims. Luckily haven’t run into a problem so far.
I don’t think they have some plan to deny me a thousand dollars. I just think they don’t see it as a significant priority. The trucking company obviously has no interest in paying the money; they’re only going to do it if subjected to pressure. And Progressive probably feels it’s not a sum large enough for them to spend any resources on. As far as I can tell, Progressive’s only efforts at this point are sending me a form letter every six months, telling me they are still doing something on my claim - presumably they mean sending me the letter.
I had a similar issue with a bank. Filed a complaint with the Comptroller of the Currency and it was resolved at the regional level within a week. I suspect a complaint with your state’s insurance regulator will do something similar when Progressive gets a letter from them asking, “Do you really want us to get involved over $1000?” Even if the other insurance company hasn’t paid, Progressive would pay out of their own pocket and sue the other company (subrogation) for the $1000.
Isn’t there an agent or claims adjuster working on this? I’d call them every week then every day until I got my $1000 check.
Disclaimer - I used to be (over a decade ago) a direct Agent for Progressive (ie I worked in their call center and sold only their policies) and years later worked as a claims adjuster for another carrier.
From the first, I have a VERY low opinion of local agents. Most of them were more about selling and KEEPING a policy with whatever carrier got them the most bennies on renewal, as writing a policy doesn’t earn much money until a few years down the line. So my nasty, suspicious mind is thinking the agent doesn’t want to place you with someone new because it’ll cost them $$$.
I hope I’m wrong. But nothing about having an open claim should prevent you from getting a new policy, because what matters is what was in effect at the time of a loss. Especially (now going to the second point in my disclaimer) when such claims easily play out over years (often medical).
I’ll give an example - if, the person who hits you is at fault and proven so, but the status of their policy is, shall we say, in doubt for non-payment, then, that carrier isn’t paying out squat until they’ve established that it was in force. Ask me how I know (sarcasm).
More frequently (and less likely to apply to your stated accident) if someone causes a multi-car loss, and it turns out they’re underinsurined, they will not in most states pay out until all parties send in their final damages, because they need to pay out based on the percentage of total damage against their max coverage. If they pay out anything earlier, then they open themselves to paying out over the actual limit of the insurance policy.
So, IMHO (I know, not very Pit-like) feel free to call Progressive and ask for more information but say your next step is to to go to the BBB or local agencies. You may get more info.
Second, call around for insurance without your agent being involved.
I haven’t personally made any calls yet. I contacted my insurance agency, which represents several companies. They told me they contacted all of the other companies they represent and none of them would issue me a policy because of the open claim.
I will be making calls of my own to other companies. But I’m not optimistic. If none of the companies my agency called will issue me a policy, I don’t see why other companies will do so.
I have explored filing my own claim through the courts. I have been reluctant to do so because I’ve been questioning whether it’s worth the effort for a thousand dollars. But this new complication may push me past the point of hesitation.
My advice to you (or anyone else who has a Progressive policy) is to switch to another company before you have some accident which requires you to file a claim. I would have said this a month ago when my only issue was the poor job Progressive did on handling the claim. But now I’ve discovered it’s a bigger problem. Get out while you can.
I got rear ended at a stop light some time in 2020. Progressive did not make me pay a deductible at the time and paid for the body repair/rental vehicle promptly. But the minor medical claim (taking my kid to ER just to check it out) took months if not over a year to fix. They constantly said they fix it but it went to collections and I steadfastly told them to knock it off. I think the adjuster left the company at some point so it might have been their fault but I left Progressive shortly after because of this.
I’ve called him multiple times. I get his voice mail and leave messages.
Sometimes he calls me back a week or so later and tells me Progressive is still working on things with no details about what that means. Other times he doesn’t call back at all.
Years back I had a big problem with GEICO. I would tell people the same thing about them. Earlier this year my wife’s car needed major repairs after a minor accident. The rear wheel on an all-wheel drive car was damaged enough the total was over $12,000. They covered all of that without a problem, recovering the deductible from the other party, and provided her with weeks of a loaner rental.
Some companies are better than others. Still, everybody’s gonna hate the one that ends up screwing them no matter how well they are rated.
True. I was with Geico and didn’t care much for them, dropped them and got Progressive (which was also cheaper). And I’ve had them for years, and had a couple of accidents too, and have no complaints.
I second (third, fourth) the suggestion that you go to the state department of insurance.
I’ve had very good luck with this in Massachusetts.
BTW, when I was hit by another driver (clearly their fault they merged onto the road I was as driving on directly into the side of my car, tons of witnesses), my insurance company paid for everything and then went after the other driver and their insurance company.
I’m trying to figure out if that is unusual or your experience is unusual. I thought that having comprehensive insurance meant that you didn’t have to fight these battles, your insurer does.
The only time I complained to a state regulator was earlier this year when my insurance company’s mail-order pharmacy was doing a terrible job of fulfilling prescriptions. At the beginning of the year, the company introduced a new system and was incapable of fulfilling most prescriptions. I received a call back both from someone in the state agency and the head pharmacist at the company. Companies take any interaction with the regulators very seriously.