You’re probably quick to recognize “Flo,” the bubbly, energetic spokesperson for Progressive Insurance. She's even become a popular Halloween costume choice! Her cheerful commercials make choosing insurance seem easy—and even fun! In all their ads, Progressive makes dealing with insurance look like a breeze. But for injured car accident victims who need to file a Progressive auto insurance claim, a storm is brewing.
Trust us when we say there isn’t anything “easy” about filing a car insurance claim with Progressive. Progressive might make it simple to purchase or change a car insurance policy, but they make it almost impossible to get paid for an injury claim! They only care about maximizing their profits, which explains why Progressive has a net worth of over $60 billion.
Our law firm has fought against Progressive Insurance claims adjusters for years. We know all their tricks, and how to successfully negotiate the most compensation for our clients. Progressive knows who we are, too, and that we won't back down when advocating for injured car accident victims.
We are a national law firm based in Houston with multiple offices around the country. We also work with affiliate law firms in most states that share our focus and dedication to excellence. No matter where you are located, we may be able to help you, so call or contact us now. We are open, for FREE, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, at 800-898-4877, or contact us now by completing our simple online form to submit your case for review.
7 SECRETS of Progressive Insurance Claims Guide
- SECRET #1: Profit Is The Top Priority at Progressive
- SECRET #2: Progressive Uses Sneaky Settlement Negotiation Strategies
- SECRET #3: Filing A Lawsuit Can Increase Your Compensation
- SECRET #4: Progressive Lowballs Its Own Policyholders on Uninsured Motorists and PIP Claims
- SECRET #5: Progressive Insurance Pressures Victims to Give Recorded Statements
- SECRET #6: Progressive Insurance Adjusters Know You Are Under Financial Pressure After a Crash
- SECRET #7: Progressive is Counting On You Not Realizing the True Value of Your Losses
- Consult a Law Firm That Knows How to Negotiate Progressive Auto Insurance Claims and Fight Adjusters Trying to Reduce Your Recovery
When it Comes to Progressive Auto Insurance Claims, Their Greed Knows No Bounds
Like any other insurance company, Progressive loves collecting the premiums its customers pay every month, but it will fight tooth and nail when someone makes a claim. All of this coming from a company with a reported net income of $5.7 billion—that’s billion with a B!—in 2020.
Worst of all, the injured people filing claims often desperately need the money to pay for their accident-related expenses, bills, and even their food and rent or mortgages. Even though it's aware of this harsh reality, Progressive does everything it can to hold onto every penny at the expense of regular people like you. Where is your insurance coverage when you need it most?
We know Progressive has its own interests in mind—but we also know how to fight Progressive so you can get the money you deserve.
The car accident attorneys and legal professionals at Stewart J. Guss, Injury Accident Lawyers, have handled thousands of claims with Progressive. We know how to combat the company’s tricks used to pay out as little as possible when their policyholder caused your injuries… or even when you’re one of their customers and need to file a claim with Progressive under your own policy.
A car accident can be the most overwhelming time in your life. Insurance companies should not add more stress, but they often do. Luckily, you don’t have to go into this battle alone. Here we'll share seven secrets we’ve learned from our years of experience filing and resolving Progressive auto insurance claims.
SECRET #1: Profit Is The Top Priority at Progressive
Progressive has a huge presence in TV commercials and online, touting itself as “The #1 Insurance Website.” Across the nation, it’s become one of the biggest names in auto insurance. Progressive policies cover nearly 15 million vehicles in the United States. With numbers like those, if you’re ever in an auto accident there’s a strong chance the other driver has Progressive insurance, and you will need to gear up for an accident injury claim with this corporate giant.
Let’s be honest. Progressive didn’t build its success by making generous payments on claims. Instead, the company historically focuses on limiting payments whenever it can. Despite those “feel good” commercials with Flo, our research and decades of firsthand experience show that Progressive is laser-focused on minimizing the amount it pays out on personal injury claims. It’s not personal; it’s just how they keep their business financially successful. But this is bad news for anyone who needs Progressive to cover their bills after an accident.
To be perfectly clear, Progressive’s priority is always its bottom line, and it will do everything it can to pay you as little as it can to settle your case.
As a result, you must retain an experienced law firm to represent you from the very beginning of your Progressive insurance claim. Failing to do so could result in a settlement for far less than what your injuries have cost you—or worst, obtaining no compensation at all. With stakes this high, you need the aggressive legal team of Stewart J. Guss, Injury Accident Lawyers fighting for you.
SECRET #2: Progressive Uses Sneaky Settlement Negotiation Strategies
When Progressive calls with an initial settlement offer on a claim, do not be surprised if it’s an insultingly low offer. This is a key part of Progressive’s negotiation strategy. From their perspective, there’s no harm in making a ridiculously low offer right out of the gate. After all, some people (especially those not represented by a law firm like ours) will actually take it.
Unfortunately, once you sign on the dotted line to accept a settlement, you are also signing away your legal rights! Don’t fall for this trick. Most people don’t realize that accepting a settlement also involves signing a waiver of your right to seek any further compensation regarding this particular claim.
If you realize weeks or months later that the settlement was far too low to cover your losses, it is impossible to ask for additional compensation. You will be responsible for paying any expenses or bills that the settlement didn’t cover. It’s absolutely imperative that any settlement you accept fully compensates you for your injuries. A car accident lawyer can help you calculate the true value of your claim and ensure you do not settle for less than you deserve.
Progressive insurance adjusters also have a tendency to invalidate, question, dismiss, or deny the seriousness of your injuries. Adjusters often claim you’ve inflated your medical expenses, exaggerated your pain levels, had unnecessary treatments, or had pre-existing conditions. This mistrust can be hurtful and discouraging since you know how traumatic and painful your injuries really are. Questioning the legitimacy and seriousness of your injuries is personally insulting (after all, you were in that accident, not the adjuster), but this is all “business as usual” when Progressive tries to limit the amount it pays on a claim.
Sometimes, Progressive will monitor your social media activity or even hire investigators to spy on you in person to obtain “evidence” that your injuries are not as serious as you claim. They will use any evidence they can to make this argument, so stay off of Facebook, Twitter, or other social media platforms during the claims process. We all want to present our best lives on social media, but the truth is Progressive could use an innocent picture of you smiling and standing with friends to challenge the severity of your injuries.
These are only some of the many tricky tactics that Progressive adjusters have in their “playbook.” Often, you won’t even realize when they employ these strategies until it’s too late. The entire time, they’ll promise they’re on your side (as if they’re Nationwide—although that’s a myth to bust on another day.) At Stewart J. Guss, Injury Accident Lawyers, we know for a fact that insurance companies are not looking out for your best interests, so you need someone who is on your side. You need our dedicated car accident claim law firm!
SECRET #3: Filing A Lawsuit Can Increase Your Compensation
While Progressive may play hardball with low settlement offers during the initial insurance process, when you hire an attorney, it lets them know you mean business. If you file a lawsuit or simply threaten to go to court, you may discover the insurance company suddenly becomes more cooperative.
When we file a personal injury lawsuit, companies take our clients seriously. They may immediately offer a more reasonable amount to settle the case. Perhaps Progressive wants to avoid expensive litigation costs, or its in-house attorneys might not have time to handle every lawsuit filed against the company and its policyholders. Whatever the reason, we know that this is a common pattern with Progressive auto insurance claims!
Our law firm will provide solid input and opinions about the risks and benefits of all offers you receive. As your expenses start increasing, you may feel tempted to accept an offer, even if you know you truly deserve more. Many accident victims may not want to “press their luck” by waiting for a higher offer, or they may just want to close the case as quickly as possible and move on with their lives. However, patience can pay off, and having a law firm with skill and experience in dealing with Progressive car insurance claims can make a huge difference in the outcome of your case.
If you filed an auto insurance claim with Progressive, don’t feel discouraged if your initial offer is much less than you expected. This is par for the course with this company, and sometimes people cannot resolve their cases fairly without filing lawsuits. Our law firm is familiar with the tactics of Progressive insurance adjusters, and we will not back down.
When your medical bills are piling up, you may feel rushed to get some money, but accepting an offer prematurely could mean you’ll have to pay substantial out-of-pocket costs. Filing a lawsuit can mean the difference between receiving the FULL amount you deserve versus MUCH LESS than you deserve. Fortunately, we are aggressive litigators who will not hesitate to take a case to court if Progressive refuses to make a reasonable settlement offer. Call us to discuss your claim or settlement offer right away!
SECRET #4: Progressive Lowballs Its Own Policyholders on Uninsured Motorists and PIP Claims
If you are a Progressive policyholder who needs to file an uninsured or underinsured motorist claim or submit a PIP claim for your medical bills, you may think that Progressive will make the process easier for you because you pay premiums.
Think again.
Like other insurance companies, Progressive will often fight against these claims. Their profit margins are more important to them than their loyalty to their own customers.
If someone hits you and drives away, you may be relieved to remember you have uninsured motorist coverage… until Progressive delays, reduces, or denies your claim!
The same goes for PIP insurance. When you live in a no-fault insurance state and suffer injuries in a car accident, you may assume the process will go smoothly because you have your own PIP coverage. These claims, however, present their own unique—and extremely frustrating—challenges.
In theory, a non-adversarial claim should prove easier, right? Not necessarily. If you were in a hit-and-run accident or an uninsured driver hit you, you will still need to fight an uphill battle, even though you are filing a claim with your own insurer. In some cases, you may even need to file a lawsuit against Progressive if it refuses to offer the full amount of your uninsured motorist claim.
If you are in this situation, you should seek assistance from a law firm with experience dealing with Progressive insurance injury claims. Even if you've made all your insurance premium payments on time and even if accident liability is clear as day, you may still encounter obstacles. Don’t get treated like just another claim number. Partner with a car accident lawyer who will give you the respect you deserve and fight to get you the money you need.
SECRET #5: Progressive Insurance Pressures Victims to Give Recorded Statements
One of Progressive’s favorite tactics is telling injured victims that the adjuster needs a recorded statement about the accident to speed up the claim processing. They may even tell you that you must give them a recorded statement to receive a settlement offer.
This is simply not true. Recorded statements are unnecessary, and you are not obligated to provide one.
Progressive and other insurance companies only want recorded statements from injured claimants because it gives them an opportunity to ask leading questions or trick you into saying something that will hurt your claim. They’ll twist your words and poke holes in your story to try to justify a lower settlement offer or even deny your claim altogether. Even if you’re confident you would never say anything against your interests to an adjuster, many people are shocked to realize that adjusters can twist around even the simplest statements and use them against you!
To understand the serious risks of giving a recorded statement, consider this example:
During a recorded statement, a Progressive claims adjuster may start the interview by asking, “How are you today?” Most people, even those in a great deal of pain, will automatically answer “fine”—it’s just what we do out of habit. The adjuster, however, then notes that you are feeling “fine,” which must mean that your injuries aren’t causing you any pain and you are healed, right?
Unfortunately, adjusters can use something as simple as this hypothetical conversation to argue that your injuries are not as severe as you claim.
In addition, an adjuster may ask questions specifically designed to get you to accidentally say something that implies you were partially or even wholly at fault for the accident in question. For instance:
An adjuster asks where you were driving when the accident happened, and you honestly answer that you were driving your kids to school. She asks when school starts, and you don’t think twice before answering 8:30 a.m. The adjuster then notes that since the accident happened at 8:25 a.m., about a mile from school on a crowded street, you were running late and in a hurry. Also, the adjuster notes that you had two kids in the backseat, who may have distracted you while you were driving. Suddenly, Progressive claims that your distracted and possibly hurried driving meant that you weren’t paying enough attention to the road, resulting in an accident. If the insurer can find a way to hold you partially at fault, the company can limit your settlement!
Giving a recorded statement to an adjuster without speaking to an attorney can cause unexpectedly disastrous results for your claim. When you consult our office, we’ll inform you of your rights. We’ll also handle all communications with your adjuster to ensure you’re not caught in a trap of unknowingly saying things they can use against you. Remember, Progressive has no right to demand a recorded statement from you.
SECRET #6: Progressive Insurance Adjusters Know You Are Under Financial Pressure After a Crash
A serious car accident can leave you with serious debt! Even relatively minor injuries can result in tens of thousands of dollars in medical expenses. Victims who suffer injuries like traumatic brain injuries and spinal cord injuries often face medical bills in the seven figures or more. For severe or permanent injuries, you may need specialized medical care for the rest of your life.
In addition, injuries can keep you from working for weeks or even months after a serious car accident. As a result, you may lose out on a lot of income that you usually rely on to pay for your housing, utility bills, expenses for your children, and necessities like food or medicine. We know how losing even a small amount of income can throw off your entire household budget and put you into debt or behind on your bills. Weeks or months without work income can even lead to bankruptcy if you don’t receive proper compensation.
In some cases, a car accident injury can cause permanent disabilities that keep you from working for the rest of your life or cause you to settle for a lower-paying job. For example, someone who suffers a brain injury may not return to work as a lawyer, researcher, accountant, or similar profession. Someone with a hurt back that causes chronic pain and limitations likely can’t return to work as an athlete, trainer, construction worker, or any other job that requires physical labor. Needless to say, a lifetime of reduced income—and not working in the profession of your choice—can have overwhelming effects on you and your family!
Medical bills plus lost income plus other intangible losses can put a TON of pressure on you and your household. Progressive adjusters know that most people don’t have the funds to pay medical bills out-of-pocket or enough emergency savings to cover bills while they’re out of work. They know that as your bills start to pile up, you will feel extremely anxious to receive a settlement payment. This is understandable!
However, Progressive will use this financial pressure against you. They will often try to make a quick lowball offer, hoping that you’ll accept it so you can begin paying your bills. When it comes to a car insurance claim time limit, Progressive can also try to convince you that if you don’t accept the first settlement offer, it could take a long time before you can receive a higher payment, if ever. These are all tactics to use your financial situation against you, hoping you'll accept much less than you deserve.
Accepting a quick offer may seem to solve your financial problems immediately, but it can also create new ones. When you realize your settlement won’t cover all your bills and losses, it’s too late, and you can't go back to ask for more!
One accident shouldn’t ruin your life, especially if it was not your fault.
When you’re feeling the financial pressure of a car accident, call a knowledgeable law firm instead of accepting a quick payment. Or if Progressive's claim time limit seems to go on forever, we can make a demand on your behalf. We’ll let you know if that first settlement is adequate or not, and we know how to fight for the amount you deserve while minimizing delays whenever possible.
SECRET #7: Progressive is Counting On You Not Realizing the True Value of Your Losses
If you file your own insurance claim, you must include the amount of money you’re seeking for your losses. This is known as the demand phase of the case. Many people simply add their repair bills and medical expenses and submit them to the insurance company. Progressive will probably be happy to pay this amount even though they know you likely have other losses that you missed or will surface later. They realize claimants who are not working with a lawyer regularly request less than they deserve, but Progressive will keep quiet about it! As time passes, claimants may realize they grossly underestimated their claim value, but it’ll be too late to reopen the claim.
The best way to learn the full value of your claim is to talk to an experienced car accident lawyer as soon as possible. And you can do this for free at Stewart J. Guss, Injury Accident Lawyers! We know your claim can involve more than just your current bills. We look at the big picture, and we investigate all of the potential compensation you deserve.
For example, your claim might include expenses related to your medical care, such as fuel to get to doctor appointments and childcare, future medical expenses, lost income and future lost earnings, pain and suffering, and much more. We will always take the time to fully understand and maximize your claim value. Trust that when you hire us, the insurance company knows that you mean business!
Don’t let Progressive and its adjusters cheat you out of the payment you deserve after someone else causes a car accident. Instead, let our law firm fight for you!
A car accident lawyer can handle all this and more:
- Investigating the accident, collecting evidence, and determining who was at fault
- Connecting you to the medical care you need
- Tracking your expenses and calculating the value of your claim
- Negotiating with Progressive insurance adjusters
- Filing a lawsuit and presenting evidence to a judge and/or jury
Consult a Law Firm That Knows How to Negotiate Progressive Auto Insurance Claims and Fight Adjusters Trying to Reduce Your Recovery
Big insurance companies like Progressive have professional legal teams on their side, and so should you.
While you may believe that an insurance adjuster has your best interests in mind, this usually isn’t the case. Insurance companies have procedures in place to increase company profits by reducing claim payments whenever possible. Not all law firms are familiar with the tactics of Progressive and similar companies, and they may not know all of the possible ways to maximize your claim.
Our legal team has handled claims for clients against all of the major insurance companies, and we know how to play hardball with these large billion-dollar corporations. We don’t back down when we’re up against difficult insurance adjusters or companies like Progressive, and we won’t let our clients be intimidated. You can trust we will identify the full value of your claim and will do everything we can to fight for that amount for you.
The lawyers of Stewart J. Guss, Injury Accident Lawyers, are nationally recognized car accident lawyers who have protected the rights of injured car accident victims for more than 20 years. If you were injured in a car wreck and are dealing with a Progressive auto insurance claims adjuster, call our office right now for a free consultation!
Because we take all of our personal injury cases on a contingent fee basis, you will not owe us a dime unless we win your case. We are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For your free case evaluation, call us today at 800-898-4877 or contact us by filling out our online form.
