Posted by M. J. S. on November 27, 2003 at 00:14:55:
I bought auto insurance from a Progressive telephone agent in 2002. On October 14, 2003, I purchased a new used car to drive instead. On October 17, 2003, I logged onto the Progressive website to replace my vehicle being covered. I clicked on "replace" an auto and followed the instructions, believing that the only transaction occurring was, as stated, the "replacement" of my vehicle, rather than any "change" in coverage. There were no warnings or pop-up boxes to indicate that Progressive automatically resets its browsers to change all customers' insurance back to minimum settings. Instead, customers are supposed to figure this out for themselves, with no warning, by carefully comparing old and new insurance at the end of the transaction. A reasonable person such as myself would assume that "replace" a vehicle means just that and would not know to check for an automatic change in level of coverage.
Progressive advertises its website as being award-winning and easy to use, and actively encourages consumers to conduct transactions online. Progressive advertises its awards to encourage customers to feel comfortable about conducting transactions online. Had I done this transaction on the telephone, obviously, my insurance coverage would have stayed the same.
Less than 2 weeks later, on Nov. 1, my car was hit-and-run while parked. I filed a police report. I called to find out what I was covered for, since I had not looked into my level of coverage since initially signing up with the telephone agent, and I was shocked to learn that my hit-and-run insurance had been deleted when I replaced my coverage online, since I had taken no action whatsoever to change or lower my level of coverage.
Progressive refused to cover my claim, stating I had intentionally lowered my coverage. Had I never logged onto the website, I still would have been covered under the 30 day grace period when changing vehicles.
I acted in good faith. Progressive's poorly designed website, which they encouraged me to use, misled me into thinking that the only transaction occurring was the replacing of my vehicle. It is standard on websites to include warnings or pop-up bars if anything unusual or unexpected might occur in a transaction; Progressive had none. I regret the day I ever logged onto their site. While filing a complaint with the state insurance commission, I found that Progressive has MORE complaints registered against it than its percentage of the market share!
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