Watch out for Progressive Insurance

[ProTouring442]

Ah yes, Progressive insurance...

According to articles on Wikipedia;

In 2009, the company was sued for allegedly deceiving policyholders by employing illegally-operated, unlicensed body shops to make repairs on vehicles for their clients in order to save money. The class action lawsuit of Blue Ash Auto Body Inc. v. Progressive Insurance is pending in Ohio.

In 2007, the company apologized after it was revealed they hired private investigators to infiltrate a church group and pose as congregation members to collect information on litigants seeking redress from the company. Another lawsuit was filed by the litigants over the affair against the company for invasion of privacy and fraud.

In 2002, the company settled with the State of Georgia in a class action lawsuit over diminished value claims brought by policyholders.

Further, the chairman of Progressive, Peter Lewis has donated;

$3,000,000 to the Marijuana Policy Project

$10,000,000 to America Coming Together (a left wing organization)

$2,500,000 to MoveOn.org (do I have to explain?)

$15,000,000 to the ACLU

$159,005 in support of Proposition 19 (California) A.K.A. the Regulate, Control & Tax Cannabis Act

A real tool if you ask me.

Shiny Side Up!
Bill

[MattO]

I'm no lawyer, but I do know that the law states that you can take your car wherever you want and they HAVE to pay that shop for their estimate (the shop, not the insurer). Regardlerss of anything that is in their legal paperwork when you sign on with them as an insured body, you have the legal right to tell them where your car will be repaired.

[Sandbagger]

So howdo we go about getting a labor rate increase . Ive been complaining for years .. There will always be a shop that will do it a few bucks cheaper.
Suggestions ??? legal ones

[tellyv]

Legally we don't suppose to discuss labor rates but they don't suppose to be able to steer our customers either so every shop needs to be on the same page with the same rates which will never happen. There's to many greedy shops that will do stuff cheaper just to get the work (drp's). So basically nothing is going to change. And there's to many people like me who are just going to quit and get out before it gets even worse.

[BBC69Camaro]

Originally Posted by ProTouring442

$3,000,000 to the Marijuana Policy Project

$10,000,000 to America Coming Together (a left wing organization)

$2,500,000 to MoveOn.org (do I have to explain?)

$15,000,000 to the ACLU

$159,005 in support of Proposition 19 (California) A.K.A. the Regulate, Control & Tax Cannabis Act

Can we keep the politics out of this thread please?

A sleezy company is a sleezy company regardless of the politics of owners/people running the company.

Thanks

[lnirenberg]

As for profit entities, all insurance company's are established to take our money and pay out as little as possible, whether their insuring your car, your house, your health whatever. The claims reps are taught a single catch all answer to all questions--NO. They all suck, the most important elements in the process is to have an agent that you trust to help you navigate the minefield and take it to a body shop that knows the game. My wife was in an accident last year and I brought it to a friend's body shop and he informed me that my coverage required new OEM parts only. I had no idea but my agent did and it cost no more than my previous policy. On the other hand, I had Safety Insurance on my company car and I was side swiped by a lady driving a Crown Vic who ran a red light while playing with her dog. It was an MB SUV and it was obvious to me it was totaled. The adjuster estimated $9k of damage and I laughed and bet him dinner it was at least $30k. Under Safety's rules the vehicle had to be fixed because of this ridiculous estimate and after 6 supplements, over 200 individual parts and 3 months, the total cost was--$42k for a vehicle that had a book value of 56k. They offered me $29 a day to rent a car and for anyone who has rented a car in the Boston area that gets you a Geo or a Corolla previously rented by smokers and not cleaned since the 1st Bush presidency and that's if you get a deal. The law here is comparable vehicle and I told the claims agent they could either pay for the car or pay for the car and my legal fees when I sued them, so they made an "exception" just for me which cost them another $6000. I was such a pain in the ass that someone at Safety finally figure out that the adjuster really f***ed up and he lost his job for which I feel no remorse because he was an idiot and besides he never bought me dinner. Thankfully the vehicle was leased which means when MB went to sell it with the carfax report they must have lost their ass. Insurance companies are blood sucking parasites and you need to fight to the death to get what you paid for. Other than that, I have no strong feelings about insurance companies one way or the other!

[Fluid Power]

Originally Posted by Jamess113

None of them they all s**k. Most of time it's just the adjuster that works for a particular insurer. Adjusters have the ability to paid the bill. Most don't though because they don't want to lose their job.

As shop owner I have suggested Insurance company's that I know I have a good adjusters in my area I won't have problems with.

When buying insurance you should NOT buy it base on price. You can buy policys that states OEM parts, it cost a little more, but you can buy it.

When it gets right down to it, it's not the body shops problem that the insurer won't pay. That's the customers problem. This is what most auto body shop owners don't get and never will.

Probably the best advice. Which, like most things, is buy from someone that values you as a customer, realizes that if he keeps the customer happy, they will stay a long time. I have yet to find an insurance guy that would do any of these things. I had an interesting issue when I first bought my 69 Camaro. It was not restored at this point and had my guy write a policy for it. The bill shows up and it is listed as a 67 coupe, not a 69 convertible. I called, he said it would be fixed by the next billing cycle. Next billing cycle, still listed the same way. Called and asked about it to which he replied, "I am not sure what the big deal is." My next call was to another insurance company. I am not sure if I was involved in an accident with car being underwritten was a 69 and not a 67, let alone a convertible and not a coupe, but it seems like it should be "a big deal" and I did not want to find out if it was or wasn't. Seems pretty basic to get that part right.

Darren

[will69camaro]

Switched from Farmers to USAA recently and knocked my rate down by about 40%. Pretty excited about it!

[Fluid Power]

Originally Posted by will69camaro

Switched from Farmers to USAA recently and knocked my rate down by about 40%. Pretty excited about it!

I think you are missing the point of the discussion. If you get in a wreck, and they monkey up the car sending it to a DRP shop who doesn't care if the car has junk parts and just cranks the work through without regard to the proper repair techniques and work quality, did your 40% premium reduction save you any money in the long run?

Maybe the car you are insuring warrants that kind of policy, in some instances it could be a nightmare.

[kennyd]

Originally Posted by Fluid Power

I think you are missing the point of the discussion. If you get in a wreck, and they monkey up the car sending it to a DRP shop who doesn't care if the car has junk parts and just cranks the work through without regard to the proper repair techniques and work quality, did your 40% premium reduction save you any money in the long run?

Maybe the car you are insuring warrants that kind of policy, in some instances it could be a nightmare.

This is the typical comment that a non-drp shop will make . i have a bodyshop that is a drp for allstate , hartford ,usaa , progressive ,shelter ,statefarm, phh , and wheels . WE ( complete shop ) are I-car gold . we do 25-30 car a week , every car i would send my wife and kid anywhere in at anytime ! so to say they " monkey up " the car is not correct !
plus we just fixed a car that farmers wrote the estimate on and guess what , it had the same " type " of aftermarket parts on it . NON DRP

i hate to see small shops go out of business BUT thats not a insurance companys fault .