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MAIA Cautions Consumers About Progressive Quotes

Framingham, MA—Progressive Insurance Direct went live with its private passenger auto insurance website on May 1st. Initial reports of “dirt cheap” rates led the Massachusetts Association of Insurance Agents (MAIA) to look deeper at the actual quotes. 

According to MAIA President and Chief Executive Officer, Francis A. Mancini, “Our review of the quotes provided by Progressive reminds us of the old saying, ‘if it looks too good to be true, it probably is.’ Consumers should use extreme caution when requesting online quotes because a computer doesn’t ask the questions a live person would ask to be sure you are adequately protected.” 

The Progressive website asks a number of questions, some of which are prohibited by insurance regulations, to determine the quote. The prohibited information includes your social security number, gender, recent military service and marital status. The quote process also informs you that Progressive obtains credit reports and credit scoring information, which is prohibited in
Massachusetts for both rating and underwriting purposes. 

The “Basic Coverage” quote provided by Progressive includes just enough coverage to put a vehicle on the road, but fails to warn you that this option would not cover a guest passenger in your vehicle and would not provide coverage anywhere other than on a public road within Massachusetts (no out-of-state coverage). 

In each quote, if you indicate that all members of your household have health insurance, the quote will include an $8,000 Personal Injury Protection (PIP) deductible for the you and all your household members despite the fact that PIP provides benefits for costs not covered by health insurance, like the cost of replacement services, lost wages, dental services, professional nursing and funeral services. 

Another important issue is that all quotes include a $500 deductible for glass coverage, which means that you will pay the first $500 when your windshield is damaged each time a vehicle throws up road debris. Virtually all Massachusetts policies with comprehensive coverage provide first dollar coverage for glass damage, primarily because damaged or cracked glass is a safety issue. 

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