Fighting Progressive Without a Lawyer
If you are going to take on a giant, you should understand what you are dealing with. Progressive Corporation was founded in 1937 as Progressive Insurance Company in Mayfield Village, Ohio. Early on the company was built on insuring higher-risk drivers. Today, Progressive is one of the largest auto insurers in America with over 13 million auto policies issued. Additionally, they offer numerous other types of personal line insurance. In Texas, they are currently the second-largest insurer based upon market share–second only to State Farm. So when you fight Progressive auto insurance, you are dealing with a big company that has lawyers on staff in every major city where they insure drivers.
Progressive Insurance Claims Customer Assistance
Progressive insurance claims to be a customer-friendly insurance company that offers a comparison of rates to other companies as well as 24/7 claims reporting. However, one should not forget that when you are reporting a claim against another person’s insurance company, regardless of the company, the adjuster is not there to serve you. Insurance adjusters are there to save their employer money by denying and devaluing your injury claim, not to help you make a recovery. Progressive Insurance does offer the opportunity to compare their rates to other insurance companies’ rates–which is a rarely offered type of customer assistance.
What Must I Prove in a Progressive Insurance Claim?
In order to get reimbursed by an insurance company for your accident, you will need to establish a number of things such as:
- the fair market value of the vehicle damages
- the reasonable and customary charges for any medical services you were rendered
- time lost from work, rate of pay, and medical documentation for the need to be off work
- costs of any future anticipated procedures that you can prove are medically necessary
- the amount a jury would likely award as fair compensation for your intangible damages such as pain and suffering or mental anguish.
While some of these items can be easily ascertained, others may require the retaining of an expert and/or significant legwork. The adjuster will want to see strict documentation in order to pay your Progressive Insurance claim.
Proving Your Pain and Intangible Damages
There is no such thing as a pain and suffering calculator that can tell you what your pain was worth. Pain is personal. However, it is never going to be as personal to an adjuster as it is to you. Without substantial documentation of your suffering, you may have difficulty getting an insurance adjuster to offer you what you think is fair for your pain and suffering. Sometimes this can only be accomplished by filing a lawsuit and showing the adjuster you are serious.
What many people do not realize is that there are several elements of intangible damages. Pain and suffering, mental anguish, physical impairment, and loss of consortium are some of the more common. While these are intangible, often there are ways to document their existence. Medical records referencing physical limitations and their duration are one example. Another is to get testimony from spouses, friends, and coworkers who observed limitations.
What Happens When I Sue Progressive Auto Insurance?
Progressive Auto Insurance commonly uses captive law firms of in-house attorneys to defend much of their litigation. That means the lawyers are salaried employees of Progressive Auto Insurance and, thus, are not billing the company hourly for their services. This cuts down on defense costs substantially for an insurance company and gives them the flexibility to fight more Progressive Insurance claims in litigation. As a result of this, it is not uncommon that we find the need to file a lawsuit to seek a better settlement offer from an adjuster. The majority of car wreck cases will still settle at various points during the litigation. However, if you cannot get a better offer out of litigating the case, you may have to go to trial.
Should I Sign A Release?
Beware that anytime you file an insurance claim, any insurance company will want you to sign a release of their insured in exchange for payment. They often have separate releases for the property damages vs the bodily injury claim. Read those releases carefully before you even consider signing. Once you sign, if there is an unpaid hospital lien or insurance lien you did not know to account for, the money will come out of your settlement before you see a dime of it. You should have a car accident attorney review any release or other legal document you intend to sign.
Free Consultation
If you are struggling with filing a Progressive insurance claim and would like to have someone who handles Progressive claims regularly in Texas fighting on your side, call us. We offer a free, no-obligation consultation. If we take your case, we charge no fees or expenses unless we make a recovery for you. (713) 932-0777.