Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Terrible experience with Progressive Insurance

Comments:
: I am assuming that is actually an "uninsured motorist property damage" coverage. Many companies are offering this now. Of course, if you have collision, it essentially only covers the amount of your deductible. : Again, another reason to buy insurance from a real, live, agent who can tell you about your policy and what it covers in person. : Insurance contracts are contract of ADHESION. What that means is that the insurance company wrote the contract; you had no input in the wording. Therefore, any ambiguity in the contract is normally adjudicated in your favor. However, if you just didn't have the coverage written, I doubt contract law will be much help. You might pay for an hour of an attorney's time for a consultation if you feel you have a case. : : Thank you for your reply, but there are some inaccuracies. First, there is such a thing as "hit and run property damage" insurance through Progressive, at least in Oregon, and I was covered for it. It is separate from "hit and run personal injury." It is not the same as collision or comprehensive. You can look it up on their site online. Or I will email you a copy of my former policy. I have heard that separating hit-and-run insurance like this is unusual, but that is indeed what I had, not collision. My car was used, but not ten years old. Further, the damage amount did not total out my car. : : Second, contract law (which I have been learning a lot about!) explicitly states that the originator of the contract must be clear about the contents of the transaction. Legally, this is still somewhat a grey area in the internet for e-commerce agreements, but I have found some legal precedents to support my assertion that I had to actively make changes to my policy (which I never did) coverage to create a binding contract, or I had to receive adequate warning that changes to my policy would occur unexpectedly. : : Third, warnings and pop-up bars are indeed standard on websites, but perhaps I didn't explain what I was talking about well enough in my original email. By warning, I meant something in writing on the page alerting the consumer that insurance levels were automatically changing--since the transaction I clicked on was "replace" a vehicle, I was reasonable to believe that that was, indeed the only transaction occurring. By pop-up warning, I meant one of the pop-up bars common to any online transaction that alerts the customer when something unusual is happening, such as "Your insurance coverage levels are changing. Click 'OK' to proceed." These are in fact extremely commonplace across the internet, and I am sure I can find some examples to post if you would like a better explanation. : : Once again, thank you for your reply. I've done quite a bit more research since my first post, and I feel confident that a judge will agree that I did not click "confirm" on a binding contract to change my coverage, particularly since I was never sent any forms to sign (as I was when I initially signed up with Progressive). Since this was not a binding contract, I should still have been covered under the grace period of my former policy. I feel very empowered by everything I have learned, and am confident that this situation will work out, despite the frustration. I am certainly a far more educated consumer regarding insurance, and I now have a policy with three times as much coverage for less money from a company that has almost no complaints filed against it in the state, unlike Progressive. : : Once again, thanks for your input, and Happy Holidays!

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