If you are a car accident lawyer in Maryland, Progressive Insurance claims present challenges we do not have with other insurers. To get a fair offer, you almost always have to file a lawsuit that we should never have had had to file.
Why I Dislike Progressive
I’ve fully exhausted the list of nice things I can say about dealing with Progressive. This insurance company just does not make fair settlement offers in car accident cases. I believe that in a given case if you could line up all the insurance companies and ask each one to make an offer based on their evaluation of the injuries from a motor vehicle crash, Progressive would give the lowest settlement offer on that case. This is also true with property damage cases. I think this insurer would be the first to deny liability in an accident case.
Why Progressive Is So Awful
Why do they do this? Largely because it often has so little to lose. My theory with them is that it tries to compete on the Internet for car insurance buyers fighting hard for the lowest price. These are often the same buyers who are not willing to set their liability insurance limits at a reasonable amount. When you trademark the phase “Name Your Price” in selling insurance, you are probably not selling a ton of coverage. So with its small insurance policies, often $30,000 in Maryland, they can stick their neck out knowing that, in the end, they can fold before trial by offering their insurance policy limits.
We used to have more claims against Progressive. This might all be costing this company market share. Progressive is 6th in private passenger auto insurance policies written in Maryland with only 6.8% of the market. I think it would higher if they changed their approach to the insurance claims process.
Classic Progressive Example
For example, we have one tough case where a man’s life was destroyed by a car accident in Ocean City. It is a rear-end car accident, he only has around $20,000 in medical bills but he needs a future surgery. So what is Progressive’s settlement offer in the case? I’m not kidding, the Progressive rep offered $5,400.
So Progressive hires its own expert to say the guy is not hurt, right? Actually, no. Progressive’s own expert did an “independent” medical exam and found that all the medical bills were related and agrees that all the treatment was necessary.
Trust me, even if all the plaintiffs’ treating doctors get the coronavirus, even if Progressive’s expert becomes our expert, our recovery at trial will be far, far exceeding Progressive’s policy limits. But they won’t let it go that far. Eventually, they will offer the policy.
Progressive In-House Counsel
Progressive has a small in-house defense firm in Maryland and does not have the resources as currently structured to wage war State Farm-like war on victims. So Progressive will often increase their settlement offers substantially after a lawsuit is filed. Here, they have rung up a lot of legal bills but will still have to settle for the policy limits. It would have saved them a lot of litigation costs to evaluate this case properly at the outset.
Is There Anything Good About Progressive?
I almost universally like Progressive Insurance company adjusters. Their claims adjusters seem nicer, more professional, and less inclined to take cases personally than a lot of other insurance companies. I can say the same thing about Progressive’s lawyers. Most are decent, straight shooters and good lawyers. They sure know how to market and use social media. They have a good mobile app… I’m done.
Fighting Back
If you need help with your case against Progressive, call 800-553-8082 or get a free online consultation.