Progressive.com

WHO ARE THEY?

Progressive is an insurance company that sells both insurance through brokers and sells insurance direct to the consumer online. Progressive claims to save you time and money over what you are currently paying for auto insurance. Progressive promises that you will get a quote in about eight minutes.

EASY TO USE:

Progressive’s home page as it currently exists (December 2005), is too busy and the quote retrieving function has serious problems, which made me question the accuracy of the quote. It put my name in twice instead of my husband’s and mine once each, and it only gave me a quote for one car when I put in information for two. It asks about accidents, regardless of fault, in the last 36 months for each driver, comprehensive claims and traffic violations in the last 3 years and any DUIs in the last 7. Then, it gives you a quote. But, if you want to compare this rate with other companies’ rates, you have to answer questions for another five to ten minutes about accidents, claims and moving violations back to 7 years.

SAVES YOU TIME & MONEY:

Progressive boasts a quote in about 8 minutes. In the end, however, after answering all the questions and reading through the privacy policy, it took more like 35 minutes.

Here’s the upshot. AAA charges me about $1500 a year for insurance on my two cars. Progressive’s site gave me a quote for 6 months on only one of my cars, which would cost about $550 under my AAA policy. Progressive quoted $776, or about $226 more for six months of coverage. Their comparisons show that State Farm would charge $801, Geico, $487 and Allstate, $656 for the same coverage. So in the end, Progressive’s price was not the highest, but far from the lowest. Progressive has a tiny link on their home page to some notes about their comparisons, one of which says “You may be eligible for discounts from another company that are not factored into the rates we provide. You can contact that company directly for more information.”

QUALITY OF SERVICE/A.M. BEST INSURANCE RATING:

Progressive has a reputation in the insurance industry for having excellent claims service. They write their own estimates at their own service center, arrange repairs with a body shop, get the car over to the shop and provide you with a rental car all in one place. Impressively, they even guarantee the repairs for as long as you own your vehicle.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

Progressive is well known in the industry for its outstanding claims service. Although I was not thrilled with how their website functioned, the company’s integrity and exceptional service record warrants a closer look and more consideration.