Progressive

Here is an important explanation for you to understand the merits and hindrances of going with Progressive auto insurance.

Overview

1937 was a big year in many ways; Howard Hughes had just set a new record for flying by making it from Los Angeles, CA to New York City, NY in 7 hours and 28 minutes, Joe Kennedy became our ambassador to Britain, and Progressive was founded by Joseph Lewis and Jack Green. You might be wondering why the founding of an insurance company ranks with the likes of first-time historical events, but Progressive has claimed a lot of firsts as well. In fact, they have introduced a number of insurance services and extra features that have become standard practice within the industry.

What are these wild new additions, and inventive alternatives, you ask? Well, to start off, Progressive was the first to offer automotive insurance that was payable in installments, instead of just one lump annual sum, and in 1995 they were the first major auto insurance company to launch a website with the sole purpose of informing their customers, and potential customers, all about auto insurance. Two years after that initial site launch, customers were able to actually purchase their insurance off the site. This may not sound like a major marker to some of you, but this wasn’t an era when you could buy everything online. This company was setting trends that are still followed to this day.

Progressive Pros And Cons

Pros

• Progressive offers some of the most useful discounts, and has developed a program called Snapshot, that can save drivers an average of $130.
• If you happen to have had the misfortune of acquiring a DUI on your record, Progressive provides pretty competitive rates for your insurance needs.
• Another boon of Progressive, is that they’ve maintained their financial stability, and have also managed to continue on path of productive growth.  

Cons

• Though it’s strange to hear, since this has been a company that has set a lot of markers for the auto insurance industry, they still have less than a 50% satisfaction rate from studies based around their clientele.
• Only about 30% of their clients that were part of an insurance study claimed that they would recommend Progressive to someone else.

Progressive Coverage

Being a trend setter for the auto insurance world, means that Progressive also offers unique coverage that other insurance companies don’t. Here is a list of some of the different options that are unique to Progressive:

• Custom Parts And Equipment Value is designed for those that like to customize their cars with added accessories. Progressive offers $1,000 of coverage for custom parts and accessories, navigation systems, and grilles, under collision and comprehensive coverage. You can purchase extra coverage for this feature as well.
• Gap Insurance is for anyone involved in an accident, to cover the balance on a loan, or lease, that isn’t covered by your car’s value. This is limited to only 25% over your car’s actual value, but only costs you an added $5 a month.
• Pet Injury covers if your dog or cat is injured in a car accident, then Progressive will pay for your vet bills. This coverage falls under your collision insurance, and may have a smaller deductible than any pre-existing pet insurance you already have.
• Rental Reimbursement will reimburse you for car rentals while your car is being repaired. This will only be available for the first 30 days of your repairs, and is limited from $30-$50 a day.

Outside of these rather unique forms of coverage, that aren’t offered by a number of insurance companies, there is also the standard coverage that Progressive offers its customers.

Standard Coverage Offered

• Hospital and Medical Payments
• Liability Coverage
• Uninsured Or Underinsured Body Damage
• Collision Coverage
• Uninsured Motorist Property Damage

Car Insurance Rates (H2)

The average rates for Progressive are $1,274 a year for low insurance coverage. If the driver wants medium coverage pays an average of $1,373 a year. For the highest coverage a driver can expect to pay $1,489 a year. Due to the cost differential being so low between the low coverage, and the high coverage, studies declare that it is a worthwhile expense to go with better coverage.

Since the expenses of getting in an accident may run on the high side, especially in regards to injuries, it’s deemed worth it to pay the small increase in the yearly expense of Progressive’s insurance. When you damage another person’s property, or have yours damaged, you’ll want to make sure that your insurance will cover most of the cost.

Car Insurance Discounts

There are a number of discounts offered by Progressive Auto Insurance, and are well worth looking into when deciding whether to use them as your insurance provider.

• Online Quotes will grant you a discount that you can then transfer over to your phone conversation with a Progressive agent.
• Safe Driver is available when you drive for three years without receiving any tickets, or getting into any automobile accidents.
• Multicar is a receivable discount when the insured has multiple vehicles with Progressive.
• Homeowner is granted for anyone that owns their own home, even if that home isn’t insured under a Progressive policy.
• Continuous Insurance is for customers that maintain car insurance coverage without any cancellation or gaps.
• Online Documentation Signing offers a discount for any customers signing their documents online when they purchase a policy.
• Paid In Full grants a discount for any customers that pay their entire yearly policy upfront, instead of on a month-to-month basis.
• Good Student applies to if you have a student on your policy that maintains a “B” average or better, or if you have a child away at college.
• Auto Bill Pay is applied for any customers that have their payments set-up as automatic recurring payments.
• Teenage Driver is a discount granted to any policy holder with another person that is under 18-years-old on their policy.
• Property And Automobile Policy Bundle applies to policy holders that have their homeowners insurance, and auto insurance, bundled together under a Progressive policy.

Progressive Car Insurance Vs. Competitors

We took 3 different top-rated insurance companies to give some comparisons for you.

Allstate Vs. Progressive: Progressive offers way better rates than Allstate auto insurance, and will save you a lot of money for equal, or better coverage.

Here is a list of annual rates for 9 of the most well-known auto insurance companies, from lowest to highest average annual rates:

• USAA $885
• Travelers $1,267
• Progressive $1,373
• American Family $1,391
• Farmers $1,682
• Nationwide $1,864
• Allstate $1,880