Progressive Auto Insurance Guide [Everything You Need]

In 2010, CNN.com posted an article on their blog In America answering the question, “Does your Name Shape your Destiny?” While this particular article refers more to names given to babies at birth, this assumption could certainly be applied to names of companies.

Progressive began in the late 1930s, and little did the founders know that they were determining its destiny. The word itself is defined by Merriam-Webster as:

Progressive (adjective) 1b: making use of or interested in new ideas, findings, or opportunities.

We can’t promise that Progressive will offer the best rates for your unique needs, but we can guarantee that, when finished reading our guide, you can jump on Facebook Messenger and use the Flo Chatbot, one of Progressive’s latest industry first innovations to get answers to your many questions. We tested it, and its database is quite extensive.

Today, one of Progressive’s mottos is, “Innovation is in our name.” In our extensive review to follow, we explore Progressive’s history, financial future, customer satisfaction, coverages available, and much more.

If you aren’t sure if Progressive will have the right rates for you, you can use our FREE online tool to find affordable coverage in your area now before reading about the company.

Progressive’s Ratings

Being towards the top of the market share in the car insurance industry is no doubt the result of Progressive’s hard work over the last 80+ years.

However, a large contributor to the success of a company is how it’s rated by several leading third-party entities that attempt to provide some transparency for consumers when comparing companies across the same industry. 

Let’s take a closer look at how these eight rating entities portray Progressive as a company.

AM Best: Both the financial industry and consumers use AM Best ratings to judge the financial strength, creditworthiness, and accountability to policyholders. Having a rating of A+, Progressive has a superior ability to meet their ongoing insurance obligations.

Better Business Bureau: Businesses are rated based on earned points that are scaled for 13 different categories. The Better Business Bureau does not report the points earned in each category; however, in Progressive’s case, their earned points fell between 80 and 83.99 (B-) for failure to respond to four complaints.

Moody’s: Progressive last received a rating affirmation in November 2017. Moody’s rates Progressive with Aa2, and they have sustained this rating since April 2003. Obligations rated Aa are judged to be of high quality and are subject to very low credit risk. Companies rated Prime-2 have a strong ability to repay short-term debt obligations.

Standard and Poor’s: Progressive’s rating of AA reflects its strong credit and financial worthiness as well as a stable outlook. Progressive’s rating from Standard and Poor’s is as of June 2010.

NAIC Complaint Index

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) publishes complaint data every year. Trend data is shown in the table below for private passenger auto insurance policies with Progressive Car Ins Co which is available in all 50 states to include Florida.

J.D. Power

J.D. Power first provided ratings for vehicle makes and models then entered the insurance industry. They provide ratings for several companies in several regions of the US as of 2018. With its high population and multiple metropolitan cities, JD Power considers Florida a region of its own and have provided power circle ratings for some of the major insurance providers in the state.

How does Progressive stack up against other companies in Florida?

In the chart pictured below, you can see that Progressive has a score of 812 and three power circles to indicate they are about average as compared to the other major providers in the state; however, Progressive is ranked 8th at 11 points under the average for all providers in overall customer satisfaction.

Consumer Reports

Consumer Reports ratings are based on responses from over 23,000 subscribers collected in 2017. A score 80 and above indicates that respondents were “very satisfied” on average.

Consumer Affairs

Consumer Affairs reports that Progressive has competitive rates, processes claims quickly, and offers a wide variety of discounts.

Progressive History

Two young lawyers, Jack Green and Joseph Lewis, decided to make an investment and started Progressive Mutual Insurance Company in 1937. Progressive paved the way for some of the innovative practices that policyholders enjoy today: drive-in claims services and monthly payments.

And then they went big.

The company moved its offices to Cleaveland in 1951 after one of the founders, Joe Lewis, passed away. Jack Green then became CEO and Peter Lewis joined Green to run the company. In an attempt to stand out from their competitors, Progressive Casualty Company was formed to offer insurance to high-risk drivers.

Under the strong leadership of only four CEOs since the 1930s, the company experienced substantial growth becoming a public company in 1971, moving its headquarters to Mayfield Villiage, surpassing $1 billion in premiums in 1987, and then joining the stock exchange shortly thereafter.

Progressive is well-positioned to continue to be an industry leader in the decades to come.

Market Share

The same entity that tracks consumer complaints, NAIC, also tracks premiums written, loss ratios, and market share. We will examine premiums written and loss ratios a bit later when we explain how to file a claim with Progressive.

For now, looking at the trends in market shares can provide insight into a company’s past, current, and future position in the industry.

Below, we outline the three-year trend for Progressive on a national level and also in Florida alone.

 

On a national level, Progressive continues to grow in market share. Over the three year period outlined above, their market share increased by nearly two percent.

 

In Florida, however, Progressive’s market share increased by four percent in the same time period making them one of the more competitive insurance providers in the state.

Online Presence

Progressive was one of the first insurance companies to launch an informational website in 1995. The site quickly became more interactive, and within just two years, customers were able to select, modify, and purchase policies online.

Today, Progressive now offers eight 24/7 services on their website. Policyholders can:

• update information
• make payments
• report auto accidents
• schedule appointments with a repair shop
• compare Progressive’s rate with rates of their competitors
• locate an agent if purchasing a policy face to face is preferred
• ask voice-activated questions with a mobile device and be connected to a representative
• get an instant quote

Agent Option

Want to work one-on-one with a person?

If you prefer to support independent insurance agents, Progressive ensures you have the assistance you need with over 38,000 helpful hands. You can search for an agent closest to you. Agents can also handle a claim so that you can continue with your life responsibilities.

Progressive promises that agents listed in their directory will find the best policy for the best price even if you choose a different company.

Commercials

It’s hard to believe.

Flo has been around since 2008, and she has successfully recruited many other friendly faces since then to join the team. Progressive has a collection of several of their commercials with the bubbly personalities of an insurance expert and her colleagues.

Jake’s Top 10 youtube channel compiles some of her best spots.

https://youtu.be/6_LEP9dcWic

A VCU Brandcenter professor, Caley Caldwell, said, “Flo humanizes insurance – something that can feel pretty impersonal… [she] seems like the kind of person [who will] help us through an unpleasant situation.”

Progressive’s friendly Flo has certainly raked in the customers. During the ten years following her 2008 appearance, business more than doubled from $13.6 billion the year she entered the scene to almost $30 billion in 2018.

How can you beat that?

Progressive’s most recent commercial released makes references to Flo, but it doesn’t actually include her in the commercial – she has a stunt look-a-like possibly because she may not know how to ice skate.

https://youtu.be/4IZJGB6RLq0

This has created many rumors across the internet that are yet to be verified. One thing is for sure, Progressive recently updated their “Get a Quote” landing page and eliminated Flo’s friendly face; however, she does appear at step three.

Other sources have reported that Progressive has a new focus on millennials in their recent ad campaign.

“Our goal is to break through the clutter of the newsfeed and to inspire people to evaluate their own insurance choices. Nobody should blindly accept his or her parents’ choice— young adults haven’t reevaluated their insurance choices, they are probably not getting the value they deserve.” – Jonathan Beamer, Progressive

Here’s something interesting.

Out of all of their recent commercials, Progressive’s youtube channel commercial Rebel: Dishes has had the most views (3 million) surpassing views of other commercials which remain in the range of thousands of views.

https://youtu.be/3w9LWTpKvFk

Community Service

Progressive supports several causes that focus on veterans, education, and environmental stewardship.

Impressive, right?

Since 2013, every November, Progressive hosts events across the nation to honor veterans with much-needed transportation. Progressive has donated over 600 vehicles to veterans and their families through their Keys to Progress program.

When it comes to serving the education sector, Progressive doesn’t fall short. The company’s STEM Progress program began in 2013, and since then has reached more than 30,000 students through seven STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) courses. The company also donates computer equipment and supplies valued at nearly $500,000.

But wait, there’s more.

The Progressive Insurance Foundation established in 2001 matches donations employees make to non-profit agencies in their own communities up to $30,000. Employees also committed more than 18,000 volunteer hours and collected over 34,000 items for causes in their own communities.

And that’s not all.

Like many large corporations today, Progressive makes strong efforts to be environmentally friendly and sustainable. With a focus on carbon emissions, conservation, and reducing overhead, they have successfully:

• lowered carbon emissions per policy by 58 percent over a 10 year period;
• reduced paper consumption by 34 percent over a seven-year period;
• and increased recycling efforts by 17 percent in a six-year period.

If you’re looking for car insurance from a reputable and philanthropic company, Progressive may be a good option.

Position for the Future

It’s no mistake that one of Progressive’s mottos is, “Innovation is in our name.”

This is really cool.

Progressive has consistently been the first company in the car insurance industry to provide innovative services throughout the decades. Just to name a few, here are some of their industry firsts:

• 1990: 24/7 claims service with a live person
• 1994: auto insurance rate comparison service over the phone
• 1994: Immediate Response® Vehicle (IRV), a vehicle with the company logo and all equipment and resources needed when a claims professional arrives to the scene of an accident
• 1995: first to launch a Web site, auto-insurance.com
• 1996: auto insurance rate comparison online
• 1996: first to use consumers’ credit histories to determine rates
• 2007: first to offer pet insurance
• 2010: first to release a car insurance app for Android^TM

When it comes to financial growth, Progressive has always on the cusp with other leading insurance companies. The companies assets grew by an average of 17 percent each year between 1996 and 2005.

Slow and steady wins the race.

Market share and direct premiums written is tracked by the NAIC. Compared to other leading companies as shown in the charts below, Progressive has made steady progress towards overcoming other companies in market share and total direct premiums written.

Markedly, Progressive surpassed Allstate in 2017 in market share and total direct premiums written.

Progressive and Geico have followed relatively the same path in a race towards State Farm which only maintained direct premiums written and lost 1.6 percent share from 2017 to 2018.

What a bummer.

Interesting to note is that Geico gained only 0.62 percent market share while Progressive gained 1.13 percent from 2017 to 2018. Allstate lost only 0.07 percent in market share during the same time period.

It appears that Progressive is recruiting new consumers, but it’s hard to say if those new consumers were previously with State Farm, Allstate, or other companies not in the top four.

Progressive is certainly doing something right (and probably innovative). Let’s take a look at the employees that have helped make this company so successful.

Employees

With a new focus on millennials in their advertising campaigns, what better inspiration than their employees.

But, what about Flo?

One of Progressive’s goals in their new ad campaign is to convey Flo’s apron as “a symbol of hard work, pride in a job well done and progress, traits that are associated [with the shared values of millennials] but also Progressive,” as Fast Company summarizes well.

“What we’re trying to do with this campaign is pull back the veil and say, ‘Here is who we really are and what really makes us Progressive.’” – Jeff Charney, Progressive Chief Marketing Officer.

Progressive currently holds the #18 spot out of 75 Best Workplaces for Millennials (2019) and held the #10 spot for the same award in 2018 based on survey data from greatplacetowork.com. The same site highlights that 91 percent of Progressive’s employees say it’s a great place to work overall.

Also worth noting is Progressive is not only competitive in market share for customers, but it is also competitive in its industry (Financial Services and Insurance category on greatplacetowork.com) and was awarded the #5 spot in 2019 and #6 spot in 2018 out of 30 companies, ranking higher than Nationwide, Farmers, and USAA in 2019.

And that’s not all.

Progressive has over 2,000 employee reviews on glassdoor.com, and this site reports that claims adjusters’ average annual salary is around $52,000 based on 365 posted salaries.

Progressive has also been recognized by Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For® two consecutive years (2018 and 2019).

If you are interested in beginning a career with one of the most innovative insurance companies in the industry, visit their careers page.

Cheap Car Insurance Rates

The following section shows national average rates for Progressive and other companies based on various qualifiers that may apply to you. American Family, Farmers, and Travelers have all been removed from the tables below because these companies don’t provide auto insurance in Florida. Feel free to sort and/or search each table to your liking.

To see the same data for Florida alone, read this article.

Progressive Availability and Rates by State

Progressive is currently available in all 50 states and Washington D.C.

For 19 states, Progressive offers rates below the average rate for that state. For 29 states, Progressive rates range from 2 percent to 62 percent higher than the average for that state, as shown in the table below.

In Florida, however, Progressive charges just over 19 percent higher than the average of all rates provided by all companies.

This is a good thing for Florida residents.

Though Progressive doesn’t provide the cheapest rates in the state, 19 percent higher than the average rate for Florida is fairly good compared to the average percentage among all 29 states for which Progressive charges more than the average rate.

When choosing a company for car insurance coverage, it’s important to factor in more than just the cheapest rates. Sometimes, depending on your unique situation, some of Progressive’s programs may provide better services and better discounts.

Let’s dig a little deeper.

Average Progressive Male vs Female Car Insurance Rates

 

The average rate by company on a national level places Progressive as charging one of the highest rates for drivers under the age of 18. Progressive also charges higher rates for females in all age ranges except under 18 and 60 and over.

Unfortunately, compared to other companies on a national level, Progressive tends to be the second or third highest rate out of the total of the seven largest companies when viewed from the perspectives of age, gender, and marital status.

Average Progressive Rates by Make and Model

Looking at the national average rate for each company by make and model reveals that progressive is higher than the average when insuring a 2015 SUV and 2018 SuperCab truck.

However, Progressive has lower than the average rates when insuring a 2015 SuperCab truck, a 2015 Sedan, and a 2018 Sedan.

Average Progressive Commute Rates

Progressive is one of two companies that does not charge higher rates for a longer commute.

Average Progressive Coverage Level Rates

 

Coverage levels can vary, but most can be categorized into low, medium, or high coverage. Progressive, again, comes in second to Allstate as having the highest rates on a national level as well as the second-highest increase in rates when comparing low and high coverages.

Average Progressive Credit History Rates

Progressive is the most forgiving company when it comes to rates based on credit history.

That’s interesting because Progressive was the first company in the industry to use credit scores to determine rates.

The national average credit score was 675 in 2017. The percent of Americans who have really high credit scores or really low credit scores both hover around 20 percent. That means about 60 percent of Americans have somewhat average credit scores.

Average Progressive Driving Record Rates

 

For all violation types with the exception of a DUI, Progress charges the third-highest rates based on driving record. They are the third most forgiving company when it comes to a DUI.

Coverages Offered

When choosing a larger company for your auto insurance needs, the real advantages come in when you can add on other types of coverages, services, programs, discounts, and even loans and financing.

Below, we cover some of the more traditional types of coverages as well as other ways Progressive can provide protection and peace of mind.

So, let’s jump right in.

– Types of Car Insurance

You can expect most any insurance company to offer you every coverage listed below whether it is required by state law or not; Progressive offers a few unique ones. Just because it’s not required doesn’t mean it may come in handy when certain unexpected situations occur.

Bodily injury and property damage liability: this type of coverage applies to a situation in which you are at fault in a car accident. State law requires a minimum amount of coverage, but experts recommend you purchase more due to the rising costs of medical services and vehicle repair or replacement.

Comprehensive: This type of coverage is usually required when you drive a financed or leased vehicle. It will protect your car against theft, vandalism, and fire. It will also cover expenses related to hitting an animal or acts of nature such as a tree falling on your vehicle.

Collision: This covers any damage to your vehicle as a result of colliding into any object to include another vehicle regardless of who is at fault. Examples include trees, guard rails, and buildings. Also, unique to Progressive, this will type of coverage will pay for injuries your pet sustains up to a certain limit.

Uninsured bodily and property damage: Think of this coverage as a replacement for another driver’s liability. If the other driver in an accident is not covered by insurance at all (which is unlawful), they will likely not have the means to otherwise pay for your injuries or damages, even if you file a lawsuit. Most companies recommend you carry the same amount of uninsured coverage as you do liability insurance, and some states require it.

Underinsured bodily and property damage: Think of this coverage as an add-on to another driver’s liability in the case that they may cover only the required minimum liability coverage. This will supplement the costs of your medical expenses and property damage when the other driver’s policy coverage is maxed out.

It is important to note that Florida has the highest percentage of uninsured motorists (26.7 percent) in the nation which makes these types of coverages even more vital.

Personal injury protection (PIP): In Florida, this type of coverage is required because it is a no-fault state, but in some states, it’s optional or not offered at all. This type of coverage will apply to your medical bills and possibly lost wages and housekeeping no matter who is at fault. Click here to read more about PIP coverage specific to Florida.

Medical Payments (Med Pay): This type of coverage is not required in Florida; however, it is good to consider to provide further protection to anyone riding in your vehicle when in an accident or your family members when in an accident while riding in a vehicle you do not own or insure.

Roadside assistance: Just as it sounds, Progressive will provide towing, tire changes, fuel delivery, battery jump, winching, and lock-out services. Progressive partners with Agero to provide roadside assistance coverage.

Loan or lease payoff (GAP): If your vehicle is financed or leased, this type of insurance will pay the difference between the value of your vehicle and what you owe on the loan.

Rental car reimbursement: Progressive offers $30 to $50 per day to pay for a rental car while your vehicle is being repaired after a covered accident.

Custom parts and equipment value: Another unique type of coverage offered by Progressive, this will coverage will pay for repairs or replacements to enhancements you have added to your vehicle such as custom wheels or stereo system.

Rideshare: If you drive for a company such as Uber or Lyft, Progressive offers supplemental coverage to selections made as part of your personal policy while you are “on the clock.”

Deductible savings bank: Also known as disappearing deductible, this is a unique service provided by Progressive. When you purchase comprehensive or collision coverage, you must select a deductible amount usually in increments of $500. The deductible is what you will be required to pay out of pocket so that the insurance company can cover the rest of the damages.

Every six months you are claim free, Progressive will deduct $50 from your chosen comprehensive and collision deductibles. Depending on your chosen deductible, you could actually be deductible-free in as few as five years.

In addition to the auto insurance coverages outlined above, in the next section, we cover everything else Progressive offers.

Let’s get things underway.

Bundling Options

Like most companies, Progressive offers bundling options to save more overall. The most common bundling is auto insurance with homeowners or renters insurance, but Progressive takes the savings a step further.

How is that?

Some companies require that you have auto insurance with them in order to save the most on bundling; after all, auto insurance is usually the largest portion of their profit. Progressive, however, allows their customers to bundle any two or more types of policies and still receive a discount.

That’s a nice deal.

Progressive even offers policies and services you may not expect your everyday insurance provider to offer.

• General: health, life, pet, umbrella
• Residential: homeowner, renter, condo, homeshare, mobile home, flood, home security, home financing or refinancing
• Business: commercial auto insurance and business insurance
• Personal: wedding and other events, phone and electronic devices, ID theft protection, personal loans
• Recreation and travel: Mexico auto insurance, travel insurance, motorcycle, RV, travel trailer, boat, classic car, snowmobile, ATV, personal watercraft, golf cart, segway

Progressive just may be your one-stop shop to cover just about any needs that may arise in life.

Let’s look at some of the services that make Progressive stand out.

Progressive Programs

All insurance companies will offer some of the more standard programs and discounts; however, Progressive has created a few unique ones that may be useful to you.

Let’s take a closer look.

Usage-Based Insurance

Progressive offers usage-based insurance which means that your premium could be reduced based on the monitoring of your safe driving habits. Progressive offers two ways to do this:

They have an app called Snapshot® which can be downloaded to your mobile device, or you can elect to install a piece of equipment in your vehicle.

Enrolling in Snapshot® will monitor your driving habits for the first six month policy period to determine your rate for the following six month policy period, so your rate could fluctuate slightly, but you get an initial discount for trying it out.

Progressive calculated an average savings of $130 per policy when they tracked changes in rates for Snapshot® users for a 15-month period.

And your driving habits are no secret to you.

The app provides maps and logs of trips taken, offers tips to improve your safe driving, and, in some states, tracks how much you use your hand-held device while driving.

Learn more about Snapshot® from the animated Flo who is just as friendly and helpful as the real deal.

https://youtu.be/Qp1SlGuL6Eo

Additional Coupons

Perkshare® is a Progressive program that offers even more savings related to auto needs such as car rentals and tire services. Additional perks come in the form of savings on travel, outdoor adventure, and other lifestyle needs.

Learning Center

Progressive is not only transparent about making sure you get a great rate even if the policy is not purchased through them, but they also provide answers to some of the quick and quirky questions regarding car insurance.

Do you know what’s even more helpful?

Their educational articles cover a variety of topics regarding issues that relate to most of the services they provide like situations in which you may or may not be covered, costs and savings, and basic insurance knowledge everyone needs to know.

Accident Forgiveness

It’s nice to be trusted and forgiven.

Progressive understands this sentiment with their accident forgiveness programs.

Unlike some insurance companies, Progressive has two tiers of accident forgiveness based on your length of time as a customer.

Beginning with the first six-month policy, your rates are unaffected by claims made for less than $500. After being a policyholder for five years, you then have complete accident forgiveness, but only if you have had no accidents in the previous three years.

Insurance to Fit your Budget

The final both nifty and thrifty service we would like to highlight is called The Name Your Price® tool. When trying to obtain a quote from an insurance company, your first quote amount is typically the minimum requirements of coverage for your state.

We can all agree that the minimum is never enough to truly provide protection.

After seeing the quote for minimum coverage, you may then begin to adjust deductible amounts, coverage levels, coverage types, optional add-ons, and such to see how much your ideal coverage would cost you.

https://youtu.be/e_fYU-jnXcQ

Progressive helps you look at car insurance coverage that will fit your budget. The tool allows you to plug in what you can reserve towards coverage from your monthly budget, and they create policy options based on that amount.

Progressive Discounts

Believe it or not, Progressive offers a total of 36 discounts. Only one other company in Florida, Liberty Mutual, offers more discounts than Progressive. However, quantity doesn’t always supersede quality.

Our researchers contacted various companies to verify the variety of discounts they offer. In the sections below, we describe the discount types that Progressive advertises and does not advertise. Included in each table are notes our researchers made regarding the particular discount, if applicable.

Sadly, if you obtain an online quote, some of these discounts may not automatically apply. In any case, always call a representative and ask if specific discounts are offered that may apply to you, or you can consider going through an agent. Also, note that some of these discounts may not be available to Florida residents.

Vehicle Equipment

Many vehicle equipment features and discounts are processed behind the scenes when you enter your vehicle VIN number, but it’s still good to be aware of the specific ones you can verify for a discount.

Customer Loyalty

Young Drivers

Environmentally Friendly

Doing your business online and through automated services such as bank drafts will get you extra discounts with Progressive:

• online shoppers receive a seven percent discount
• accepting paperless documents will knock off $50
• electing for paperless and auto-billing will result in additional savings

However, if you take advantage of the discount for paying your premium in full, you will not qualify for the discount on paperless and auto-billing.

Stability

Progressive will provide a discount if you show a history of stability such as having good credit, being married, owning your home, and long-term residency. For more information about these discounts and to see if you qualify, contact Progressive directly.

Driving Record

Progressive identifies a safe, claim-free driver as one that has had no tickets or accidents in the last three years.

But, here’s the kicker.

Drivers who fall into this category will take advantage of a 31 percent discount.

Driver’s Education

Both young drivers who complete driver’s education and those drivers of any age that complete a defensive driving course will receive a 10 percent discount with Progressive.

There are five discount types that nine or more companies offer that Progressive does not. These are discounts based on your level of education, affiliation with member groups, military status, occupation, and being a senior driver.

If you fit into one of the above categories, Progressive may still be a good option; it all depends on your combined individual characteristics and coverage needs.

Needless to say, our researchers also discovered that out of the total 67 types of discounts they recorded, 26 of them are not offered by Progressive.

Again, the old adage applies: “It never hurts to ask.” Discounts may be added with a little coaxing.

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Canceling your Progressive Policy

Progressive’s FAQ page recommends you contact them by phone to cancel your policy.

Third-party sites do provide some information about canceling your policy with Progressive, but the best way to find out is making the call before you begin shopping around.

How to Make a Claim with Progressive

We hope that if you do choose Progressive, you will never have to file a claim, but you may have to when the unexpected happens.

You may be wondering:

What will happen if I make a claim? Should I just pay out of pocket for the repair? Will Progressive approve the claim and pay for damages? How long will the process take? Will my rates go up after making a claim?

These are all questions faced by someone who has been in an accident or experienced any other situation in which their vehicle is damaged.

Before we get into the details of the claims process, let’s take a look at how committed Progressive is to fulfilling claims made by their customers.

Let’s get started.

Premiums Written and Loss Ratio

A great way to measure the commitment of a company to fulfilling claims is to examine the consistency of total premiums written and loss ratios.

Let us explain.

A loss ratio reveals how much is spent fulfilling claims to what a company takes in from written premiums. For example, if a company spends $60 of every $100 earned on a claim, then their loss ratio would be 60 percent.

If a ratio is closer to 100, it shows that a company is loyal to its customers and they are paying out claims; unfortunately, this also means they may be losing money.

A loss ratio in the 60 to 70 percent range is considered to be in the safe zone.

How does Progressive stand with loss ratios?

The table below displays how Progressive is doing on a national level as well as in Florida alone. For both, this company has done well with balancing earned premiums with paid claims during the period shown.

Interesting to note that during this two year period, Progressive increased its total written premiums by 38 percent on a national level and 46 percent in Florida alone.

Between 2016 and 2018, Florida written premiums were consistently about 13 to 14 percent of Progressive’s total national written premiums.

Ease of Filing a Claim

Now that you have seen the data that shows Progressive does a pretty good job of balancing profits and losses, let’s review their claims process.

Progressive provides several ways to file a claim as shown in the screenshot from their website.

Accidents happen.

Be sure to download the app on your mobile device because Progressive urges you to report the claim as soon as possible.

The app will ask you to enter some basic information, and then a claims representative will call you before 5pm same day.

When the rep calls, he or she will review your coverages and deductibles. If you have photos, you can share those, or they will schedule someone to inspect the damage and provide an estimate.

Be sure to shop around.

You can search their network of repair shops or select your own repair shop. Progressive can also make arrangements for a rental car if your coverage provides it.

Progressive will then send status updates on the repair. The advantage of using one of their repair shops is that the repairs will be guaranteed for the entire length of time you own the vehicle.

How to Get a Progressive Quote Online

After reading all about Progressive, you may feel it would a great company for you, so we have created a step-by-step guide to get you started with getting a quote.

Let us show you how to get your quote.

Step One: Select a Product

On Progressive’s homepage, you will see a quote tool. Remember, Progressive offers many services and programs, not just car insurance. You will need to select “auto” to get started.

Step Two: Enter your Zip Code

After selecting “auto,” you will see a box in which to enter your zip code. This is how most quote tools begin because your state laws and zip code within your state will determine what you be asked.

Step Three: Enter Personal Information

And, here’s Flo! Next, you will need to enter your personal information. Progressive does not require a social security number to get a quote.

Step Four: Enter Vehicle Information

Progressive will need your vehicle information to determine your collision and comprehensive portions of your quote. If you enter your VIN number at this point, the tool should apply discounts for vehicle equipment.

Step Five: Enter Drivers and Driving History

Unfortunately, in most states, gender, marital status, level of education, employment status, and whether you own or rent will affect your quote. The quote tool will likely eliminate this information if it is outlawed in your state.

All car insurance companies will request information about your driving record such as prior accidents and claims. It is important to be truthful at this step because if you do not report the information accurately, you could be charged with fraud.

Step Six: Bundling and Insurance History

Progressive will also want to know if you wish to add other types of policies so that you can get additional discounts.

Next, if you have had a lapse in insurance in the past, they will need to know the details on this as well.

Step Seven: Options in Coverage

You will then be taken to a screen that will show you your quoted amount based on low, medium, and high coverage.

From here, you can play around with the tool to make decisions about the types of coverage you would like to have. You will be able to see how it affects your quote.

If your state requires certain types of coverage by law, you will see them added to your quote. If your state doesn’t require the coverage, Progressive will allow you to add them.

If you wish to return to your quote later and make adjustments before purchasing a policy, check your email for the link.

Getting a quote with Progressive is pretty easy, and Flo and her colleagues will help along the way.

Be sure to get quotes from several companies using our quote tool to get the best deal.

Website Structure

The Progressive website is very easy to navigate. The various images on their homepage will get you going in the direction you intend to go to get quotes or learn more about a certain type of insurance.

Progressive is a unique company in that they provide an online quote and agent option.

However, the “find an agent” link is small, so be sure to look for it under the quote box if you prefer to work with an agent.

Their extensive learning center called Answers, that’s previously highlighted, is an excellent addition to the website, and they place it front and center at the top of the page.

One function we find important to point out is that in the script of each page, you will see characters sending you to footnotes. Traditional documents have these just under the last bit of text on the page, but Progressive’s website places these important footnotes below the bottom bar that most sites have standardized on every page.

The footnotes will have information that may be associated with your state laws. Just be sure to scroll all the way down to see them.

Their search box is also placed below the standard bottom bar, so, again, be sure to scroll almost all the way down to find the search feature.

App Structure

Progressive’s app makes managing your policy and claims on your mobile device a breeze. Here are the actions you can take on their app:

• Review all vehicles and coverages on your policy
• Pay your bill with several payment method options
• Access your ID cards and share or print them
• Claim filing, upload photos related to a claim, and get updates on previous claims
• Stranded? Roadside assistance can help
• Contact your agent or claims representative

Pros and Cons

The Bottom Line

Based on its industry innovations throughout the last few decades, its well-balanced profits and losses, and its documented success in growing their market share over the last few years, Progressive is positioned to continue their loyalty to current customers and the recruitment of new customers.

Finally, we come to the end of our all things Progressive guide. Bookmark this page to read updates on this innovative company. What new innovation do you think Progressive will introduce next?

It won’t be too long before we find out.

If you want to go ahead and start comparing rates now, you can always use our FREE online tool to get started.