I thought we talked about this a while back, but couldn't find it.

Looks like we can save $120 / month by switching. We've been with Allstate for ten years and are friends with the agent, but $1400 a year is a lot of money.

Anybody have experience with them? I've heard good and bad, but it's all old stuff.

Dunno about progressive but I just ditched Allstate after 20 years and my parents did after 40 years.

Moved to State Farm and my auto insurance dropped in half with more coverage. Not to mention I had a wreck and I wound up paying for it out of my pocket because I never could get an Allstate adjuster to look at it.

I used to didn't mind paying a premium for Allstate because I felt I got better than average service from my agent(s). Not anymore.

George Soros is the owner or at least part owner of Progessive Auto.

Actually I don't think he does or doesn't anymore. However he's good buddies with the largest owner Peter Lewis and have cooperated on a lot of stuff involving moveon.org etc...

Progressive Largest Stock Holders

The best body shop in town won't take Progressive claims because they don't pay claims. I'd go to an independent agent & have him shop your insurance.

Progressive pays just fine and they are prompt to settle. I quit them because they raised our rates $30.00 a month and couldn't tell us why. I wouldn't have State Farm or Allstate either.

I would not buy their product just based on their asinine TV commercials.

I cancelled my GEICO some time back, for the same reason.

An independent usually represents several companies so he has a wider selection. He is paid a commission on premiums submitted. Guess which one you're going to get. The lowest??????

Progressive is an ok company.
I had them for years and they did well by me for hail damage , and a deer strike.
Never had an issue taking my car to any shop.

I switched to them from Alstate when they just went insane with rates.

We now have everything with State Farm and are more than pleased with all services.

GEICO? I would Never consider them.
Google Geico politics and issues and you will see why!


Besides the commercials do suck.


Bassed on ads, I think the Mayhem ads are great ( but would never go back to Alstate )

Be open with your friend/agent and give them a chance to match it...

If his friend can match a lower quote why was he not getting the lower rate already? A friend does what's best for his friend/customer at all times with no pressure.

I had Progressive coverage on one of my boats for a period. They were one of the few companies that would cover a boat only without having auto and/or home with them.

I actually had a claim on the boat--an Answer Cuddy Cabin. They sent a representative out to look at my boat and see what they could do. About two months later I received an email stating that they wouldn't honor the claim I had against my Marlin Smoker Craft.

I called and dropped the insurance the next day. When they asked why, I told them if they couldn't even remember what kind of boat I owned (or couldn't read their computer screen properly), I don't want them insuring my property. Could you imagine if they had that kind of mix up on an automotive accident and people were hurt?

I haven't had Progressive since--and won't.

Peter Lewis' father started Progressive.

At one time, Peter Lewis was one of the largest contributors to the Democrat National Committee.

My F.I.L. is a Progressive customer and he always touts them... then I bring up the DNC information and he gets frustrated.

You can get cheaper rates (a lot of times cheaper than Progressive). It just takes some homework and research.

I switched to Ameriprise for car and homeowners and saved a bunch of money. Customer service has been excellent.

No way to get on with USAA?

Good question. The friend/agent may be able to point out his present coverage is better, or maybe not. I've done this with an agent before and they have matched price and coverage although the agent wasn't a close friend but it was just good business. You are correct about the no pressure aspect Mickey. That is how it should be.

I have two buddies that own body shops. Both shops have thrown out Progressive. Apparently they force the body shops to use aftermarket replacement parts that require more labor hours in order to look satifactory, resulting in turning no-profit jobs out the door. The same holds true with Allstate.

As much as I hate the commercials, Geico did save me quite a bit on my car insurance.

I don't mind a friend making a little money off of me. It's how they make a living. But I'm also not going to pay her $1400 a year just because I'm a nice guy. It's not going to change the friendship either way...it's just car insurance.

No, afraid not.

I been with GEICO for auto insurance now for 22 years, Never thought I needed to change. As far as their Commercials, they are stupid and fun to watch, R Lee was a hoot as a shrink.

I am as big of a fan as buying for value and because of what the company stands for.

However, this only goes so far.

I've had other insurance agencies not even go through the trouble of quoting me once I tell them off the bat what Geico does for me. They just politely say you're wasting your time getting quotes.

In addition, I've "tested" our Geico insurance pretty hard twice and it has come through with flying colors for me and my family.

I have absolutely nothing bad to say about Geico.

Something we agree on.

Geieco's customer service and follow through have always been first rate in my experience.

I suspect we agree on a lot of things Jim.

Our respective levels of [bleep] are likely our major difference, generally speaking.

As others have stated, I wouldn't buy from Progressive.

We switched our auto's from Allstate (where we had been for 10 or so years) to Texas Farm Bureau in October 2009 and reduced our auto insurance by $2,185.00 per year. We also moved our homeowner's, liability umbrella and some rental property at the same time to maximize our savings. By moving it all, we reduced our total fire/casualty/auto/liability insurance expenses by $3,157.49 annually.

That can be mutual at times.

'Nuff said.

Have a good day, Greg.

I shopped around not too long ago and compared Geico, Progressive, Allstate, and State Farm. State Farm was much cheaper with full coverage insurance, than the others were with only liability.

Be careful. I switched to them several years ago because of their low rates. They immediately jacked the rates as soon as I paid. No tickets since 1988, so that wasn't the problem. It took the Insurance commissioner to get my money back.

Progressive is owned by Peter Lewis, a commie.
I'd never subsidize his agenda.

State Farm, Best..........................................................




















in the world................................................

I have to agree.
I have had my cars, motorcycles, and house with SF for 13? years now. I have nothing but good things to say about them.

Interesting. I've never gotten a competitive quote from State Farm, and I've checked with them everytime I've shopped for a change in insurance providers.

My experience with insurance companies, as it regards premiums is, they all suck. That's my experience. Every company I've been with will draw me in with a teaser rate. Then they start incremental increases. I expect it due to inflation somewhat. But somewhere along the way it get's out of hand. Then I shop for another provider and drop the old one. I had Geico years ago. It was great until they got out of hand. Then I switched to AIG Auto. Saved a bundle. Then due to the AIG fiasco (which was really a separate part of AIG), AIG auto was split off as 21st Century Auto Ins. AIG handled a claim in that interim period, and I had no complaints. But then their rates got out of hand, and I went to Farmers. Then Farmers rates got out of hand, and I went back to Geico. Geico for now, is the best rate I've found. It's all a crap shoot. I almost forgot to say, I've always checked the Progressive quotes, and they've never been competitive when I've checked. I also think the Geico commercials are stupid, but then I don't care for most commercials and they are a fact of life. I've resigned myself to the fact that I will have to shop for a new insurance provider every few years, because they don't reward customers for loyalty with competitive premiums. Rather, they try to slowly cook the frog. That's been my experience.

Im a Geico guy

WildandiuseallstateforthehouseAlaska ��2002-2011

I used Progressive for a dozen years. I called to ask them to change the date of the month that my draft was pulled for payment. They refused to do this for me after 12 years of clockwork payments. I told them to shove it and to cancel immediately. They said they would have my tags taken. I told them that I would have another company insure me before the end of that business day. I think they stink, personally. When I give a company more than $200 a month, I expect a little service once in a while.

There is a hidden danger in doing it this way. Believe it or not, if you have a long history of safe driving with a company and then have a run of bad luck your history will influence their decision on whether or not you pose a risk serious enough for them to drop you.

No reputable company drops an insured after just one loss unless it involves DUI and I've even gotten State Farm to file an SR-22 for a long time insured when he got caught DUI and had to have an SR-22 filed to keep his license. It is not an every day occurrence but it has happened more than once with people insured by me. Of course State Farm knew me well enough to know that I would not ask them to do that unless I had confidence in the insured.

Too many people go through life always looking for the cheapest route and it's not always the best. Heart surgeons come to mind plus many other examples.

Purely hearsay, but my understanding is that the most progressive thing about Progressive Insurance is the progressive rate increases each year after your first one. They are carefully calculated to keep the customers who are too busy or lazy, etc, to compare year after year. They then can afford to lose the others.

I'd be happy to hear from anyone with contrary experience.

I'll keep operating the same way MColeman so long as the insurance companies keep operating the same way. We've had only one auto claim to AIG which wasn't our fault (bump to the rear bumper at a redlight). And that claim was to the other driver's insurance policy which just so happened to be AIG as was ours. Since every insurance company I've dealt with has used the same tactic, I don't really see much about being reputable beyond avoiding the fly-by-night and unheard of companies. Our stats, other than being unwilling to overpay for insurance, makes us very desireable policy holders. Geico has our homeowners and auto insurance right now. Farmers had it and lost it in short order. I stick with a provider as long as the premiums remain competitive. I do check the insurance commissions stats and complaint index each time I shop. I don't bother to jump ship for pennies, have a high deductible and full coverage. So pigeonhole me as a cheapskate which you essentially just did, but I think there's a difference between expecting reasonable premium increases to loyal customers without any claims, and someone looking to save an insignificant difference. The hassle and aggravation of finding a new provider demands a certain premium in and of itself. If an insurance company ever denies a justified claim which is the only kind I would make, I'll see someone who operates at their own level -- a lawyer.

another recent thread ...
http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/5348448/Progressive#Post5348448

The rates hasn't changed so far but I'm looking into USAA. State farm said they couldn't touch them and they,State Farm, are not less than progressive either.

Geico has been treating me good for going on three years now for premiums. The previous time I'd been with Geico was for a five year stretch before they got out of hand back in 2003. Will see how far it goes this time. The online experience and service over the phone has been painless. I've never made a claim, so I can't personally relate such an experience. A very good friend of mine has had a couple of claims with Geico which he was happy with though.

Progressive is no friend of conservative, main stream America.
They forward leftist programs and dialogue and make no bones about it. The company brass are good freinds with the current administration.

About the time they hired Whoopie Goldberg, aka Karen Johnson as their spokesperson, she was spewing anti-christian bile with regularity. She fits the company profile perfectly.

I think you read "cheapskate" into my statement on your own. I didn't say that nor did I mean to imply it. Let me say up front that I was giving you what I consider to be good advice. It makes absolutely no difference to me what you do with it. I've seen many insureds jump from one company to the other always seeking the lowest premium and when they got dropped it was difficult, and expensive, to find coverage. That was many years ago but the situation may be different now. Do what you want to.

We were notified by The Hartford that they were no longer writing in Fl and we would be not renewed, that after a solid no claims history of some 12 years (since I needed insurance). They are now back in FL through AARP (NO I do not belong) and I would not sign with them again if it was free.

A friend had just started selling Allstate so we went with him some forty years ago and now use his son as our Allstate agent.

The "lower your premiums" ads are usually BS as they don't offer the same level of coverage we maintain at the advertised prices. We have full coverage on both vehicles and very low deductibles which a different company will not write as one is 12 years old and the other 10. We have had claims, not at fault or comp and the rates have stayed very competitive with multi vehicle, safe driver and other discounts we continually get.

I just ain't about to jump around to save a couple of bucks.

That's a smart move.

I worked in a body shop for twelve years and have worked for a insurance company the past five. They all will pay what they owe with the exception of State Farm, they will pay a helluva lot more. What does that do to ALL of our premiums? When I worked at the shop we always wrote way more than we needed and EVERY shop does! There will be horror stories with every company and they are basically all the same.

Yep. Allstate rewarded your decade of loyalty like most of them do. But I'm sure that Allstate insurance agent was just the friendliest agent and they really valued your relationship . Chummy!

If I had gone with State Farm, I'd be paying about $1800 more per year than with Geico (home + auto), and about half that with the best competing quote to Geico. That's more than just a few bucks of savings.

Seriously Geico couldn't beat my State Farm coverage for less money. I asked the to give me a quote and they fell on their ass?????

My son is an adjuster for Progressive. During the busy summers, he's in the motorcycle/boat/RV division. When the season slows down, he's in fraud investigation. He says the biggest claim problem is they don't hire enough adjusters to get the job done in a timely manner. He's always weeks behind because he just can't keep up with the load.

been with Allstate for umpteen years now, used to be with State Farm before that (but didn't have anything but an auto)

Allstate, insures all 5 vehicles, our boat, our house, our rental properties and at least one biz.

called Geico once as a curiosity but the rates they quoted me were a good bit higher than what I was paying with Allstate.

Allstate just paid out 250K to a claimant against our policy for a wreck my knuckle headed daughter was in 6 years ago


sometimes I feel insurance poor, but lordy how do you get along with out it?

Very wise advice.
T Lee knows of what he speaks.

ALWAYS make sure you're comparing apples to apples.

My mother in law was lured into a different policy bases on price.
Being the last of the great bargain hunters she thought she was getting a great deal and trusted her agent.
Within a year he was in a wreck and the other driver was injured.
She nearly lost everything and had to come up with over a half million dollars of her own money to settle the lawsuit filed against her.

Bitter, bitter lesson learned.
The more you own the more coverage you need.
Don't be suckered by prices alone, be ABSOLUTELY POSITIVE your assets are protected.
Sit down with a competent agent and itemize anything that could be taken from you in a lawsuit.

Good insurance is well worth the money when that crisis is upon you.

My wife and I went with a large umbrella policy soon after her mom's catastrophy.

What other industry is garrrunteeed a profit?
By Law?

None other than insurance.

That's why they can change the rules on the fly.
And grow, and grow and get fatter...

In other words the body shops pads the estimates with phony (fraudulent) charges and the ones that the insurance companies don't catch is all profit. Do I have that right? And when the adjuster tries to pare off the unnecessary charges the insured usually thinks the insurance company is trying to get out of paying what they owe? I watched that game played for nearly 48 years and during that time I found exactly two body shops that could be trusted and they got a lot of our business because they were honest. None of them were in Selma, AL, either.

I might add that a lot of body shops did it at the urging of the insureds to cover their deductible. There's dishonesty in the industry and it ain't all the insurance companies, I can promise you that.

I strongly suggest USAA for those that qualify. I have everything I can through them

I don't know where you are getting your information but don't let them do your taxes just in case you are audited. Insurance companies cannot raise rates without getting approval from insurance commissioners, at least in Alabama.

I remember the story about one of State Farm's insureds who thought that he had 100,000 of liability (this was many years ago when 100K was a lot of money). He did but it was bodily injury coverage. He had 100/300/10 which means he only had 10,000 in property damage liability. Everything was fine until he ran a semi loaded with Vick's cough drops off the bridge into Lake Ponchatrain in LA. When the got the truck out and totaled the cost it came to $140,000 and State Farm gladly paid their share of $10,000.....guess who paid the rest.

In the last 10 years I was an agent we played CYA as best we could. Had that happened 30 years after it did the agent could have been sued, and probably would have been, because he did make sure the insured had adequate coverage. No matter that the agent had maybe tried to get the insured to raise his coverage and was viewed by the insured as one who was just trying to sell more insurance. Being an insurance agent is a suck life most of the time. I still have nightmares about being in the bidness.

I have had USAA since I was 15(thru my Dad), tried GEICO for awhile before anyone could get it, they were not even on the same string as USAA. We have everything thru them, home, auto, life, and even a savings account with their bank. If you qualify for it, none, and I mean none of the other agencies can touch their rates. They didn't even give me guff about my rider for my firearms. I remember when USAA was Officers and their immediate family only and when GEICO was ONLY for Government employees, they were a much better company then. Les

USAA has a very good reputation. I remember them being only for officers but things have changed since I was active. I remember when GEICO was about to go under and State Farm loaned them a ton of money to keep them afloat. This was over 30 years ago. It was explained to me that were GEICO allowed to go under the market couldn't handle all the business that would be looking for new insurance. Understanding that concept was way above my pay grade but that's what was told to me.