Progressive Corporation

History

Progressive was formed in 1937 by attorneys Jack Green and Joseph M. Lewis in Cleveland, Ohio, as Progressive Mutual Insurance Company. In 1956, the company found a niche by insuring more risky drivers. In 1965, Peter B. Lewis, son of Joseph Lewis, and his mother borrowed $2.5 million, pledging their majority stake as collateral, and completed a leveraged buyout of Progressive. In 1971, Progressive conducted an initial public offering (IPO) and became a publicly-traded company. In 1987, the sum of the company's written premiums surpassed $1 billion, and by 2016 that number reached $20 billion.

Progressive claims to have been the first auto insurance company to allow customers to purchase insurance policies over the phone in 1993, to have a website in 1995, and to have policies available for purchase online in 1997. Later, Progressive enabled customers to use mobile browsers and smartphone apps for rating and managing policies. It also reports to be the first to offer 24/7 claims reporting. On December 13, 2006, the company said earnings rose 58 percent in November as the company retained more of the premiums it collected because of comparisons to a month affected by Hurricane Katrina claims.

Industry information

Progressive is the second-largest auto insurer in the United States as of the 2023 fiscal year, with 15.2% of the market, behind State Farm's share of 18.3%. Progressive primarily offers its services through the internet, by telephone or through independent insurance agents. Progressive’s agency business sells insurance through more than 30,000 independent insurance agents and progressiveagent.com where customers can quote their own policies and then contact an agent to complete the sale.

In December 2009, Progressive announced it was selling car insurance in Australia. Initially called Progressive Direct, it rebranded as Progressive in 2011, and later rebranded as PD Insurance in 2019.

Segments

The company operates in three segments: personal lines, commercial auto, and other indemnity.

The personal lines segment writes insurance for private passenger automobiles, motorcycles, boats, and recreational vehicles through both an independent agency channel and a direct channel.

The commercial auto segment writes primary liability and physical damage insurance for automobiles and trucks owned by businesses primarily through an independent agency channel.

The other-indemnity segment provides professional liability insurance to community banks, principally directors, and officers liability insurance. It also provides insurance-related services, primarily providing policy issuance and claims adjusting services in 25 states for Commercial Auto Insurance Procedures/Plans.

Crash response

In September 2007, Progressive began to offer pet injury coverage, which provides coverage for dogs and cats that are injured in a crash and is included at no additional cost with collision coverage. Immediate response vehicles used by Progressive are specially modified Ford Explorers and Ford Escapes.

Controversies

In 2002, the company settled with the State of Georgia in a class action lawsuit over diminished value claims brought by policyholders. Five years later, 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 2009, Progressive 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 court ruled in the company's favor on two of the counts and the other four were dropped, pending appeal.

In 2012, the company was widely criticized online for how it handled the claims filed by the family of Kaitlynn Fisher. The 24-year-old died when the car she was driving was hit by another that had run a red light in Baltimore. Progressive fought to avoid paying out the claim to Fisher's estate. Fisher's insurance policy with Progressive included coverage in the event of an accident with an underinsured driver. The underinsured driver was found to be negligent in a jury trial brought by the Fisher family, in which the Fisher family contended that Progressive provided legal assistance to the defense. In two followup statements, Progressive explained that they did not "serve as the attorney for the defendant in this case" and then clarified that "[a]s a defendant in this case, Progressive participated in the trial procedures on our own behalf." The company's position was that fault for the accident had not been clearly established, since three witnesses (the driver of the other car, that car's passenger, and Ms. Fisher's passenger) believed that Fisher had run a red light, and filed a motion to intervene to assert that she had been at fault, and therefore was not liable to pay the underinsured motorist claim. The lawyer for the Fisher family countered by noting that two of the three witnesses were not independent, saying "I have an issue with how they examined the evidence to abandon their insured" and introduced the idea the state insurance commissioner could find Progressive had acted in bad faith. As noted, Progressive lost the case and was ordered to pay the underinsured motorist claim in addition to a separate settlement with the Fisher family "to avoid a hearing before the state insurance commissioner."