Progressive Insurance questions

[rgatijnet1]

As I do every year, I check with numerous insurance companies to get competitive quotes. I have a very good driving record with zero claims.
As a point of reference, I have never found any company that could beat my existing company in the last 5 years. Recent quotes from the following companies are similar to what I get every year.
State Farm, +$515 over my existing
AARP/Hartford, +$478
Travelers, +$450
Geico, +$505
Nationwide, +$550

And then I get this quote from Progressive that is $471 LESS than my existing policy for a year, even tho they only write 6 month policies.
I have never been with Progressive and this is the first year that they have even been competitive.
Has anyone had experience with Progressive "low-balling" a quote to get the new policy and then jacking up the price next year, even without a claim.

[OH48Lt]

Had Progressive for a couple of policies, for the "toys". Motorcycle and ATV's. Low ball quote for first year, almost doubled for a renewal. Won't be using them again. State Farm is hard to beat, nobody else comes close.

[mike_brez]

Progressive for rv for 12 or more years. Also only company I found to insure my composite motorcycle nobody will touch them anymore after years of insurance company's getting ripped off.

[rgatijnet1]

Thanks for the help. I guess I will give progressive a chance. Altho I have not had any issues with my existing auto insurance company, I am also not interested in giving them an extra $471 for the privilege of being a loyal customer. I guess it goes without saying that I will be checking on Progressive's rates in the future, and if they change, I know there are other companies out there. :B

[wildmanbaker]

Ron, we have both RV and auto with Progressive and are very happy. The only claim on the MH was a windshield replacement which was free. Several claims on auto that were handled quickly and to everyone's satisfaction. Other insurance companies have called us trying to get us to insure with them, but are not even close to what we pay now, We have full coverage on both cars and low deductible, and for 6 months, not the 3 that most companies were quoting.

[tinstartrvlr]

Rgatijnet you are correct. There is a central insurance database with everything about your driving record, claims, etc that they all access.

I wonder just how accurate it is, and how long they keep the info or if it gets purged after a certain amount of time. Don't need a claim from 10 years ago for a windshield giving them justification to quote a higher rate.

Gotta make money. It's what they do.

[rgatijnet1]

My current insurance company is Auto-Owner's Insurance. They only write insurance in 26 different States but they do cover RV's and offer a significant discount.
My personal insurance rating is X868, which is a combination of my driving record, claim history, credit rating, and a few other things that insurance companies use when they determine your rate.
Progressive say that they offer an additional discount if I would combine my auto policy with their homeowner's insurance. The only problem with that is that Progressive will not write homeowner's insurance for my area of Florida.
What I found interesting is that when I went to the different websites to get insurance quotes, as soon as I started entering my information, I found out that ALL of the companies already had the basics, like my address, the vehicle information, driver information, etc. This appears to show that they all share information about their policy holders or your information is available for all insurance companies to see.
Perhaps with the sharing of info, Progressive was just trying to get a policy holder that might not cost them anything in claims. :B

[tinstartrvlr]

That is exactly what they did to me. I left Geico to take advantage of the agreed upon replacement value option. They gave me a great rate, then raised it 10 percent every 6 mos for the next 1.5 years. It has settled down now, so I haven't had an excuse to leave them, but if they start doing it again, I'll start looking again.

[mikebreeze]

I've had progressive on my rig since I bought it. they have been consistant in their pricing. I got a reduction this year by taking the AARP Driver Course and asking Progressive how else that I could reduce my rate. They still had my RV value the same as when I bought it 6 years ago. When I told them what my rig is worth now, they changed the policy and reduced my rate further.

It is my opinion that insurance is a scam and a game. However, you have to have it and, if you have a catastrophic event of some sort, you are glad that you do have it.

[Dale_Traveling]

Been with Progressive since 2011. Yearly police rate has been more or less static only moving a few dollars. Never had a claim which is were the good and bad of any insurance company will come out.

[MrWizard]

i've been with progressive, for at least ten years, maybe longer
it has gone up very little, has actually gone down a couple off times from the previous year

[gb76087]

I have had Progressive in the past. Price was right for a couple of years, then got out of line. Currently getting a good rate from Hartford.

[Expyinflight]

Please share with the audience who your 'existing company' is.
We could all use a break on our insurance rates.

I would scrutinize Progressive's significantly lower rate very carefully. Be very sure it is 'apples to apples' comparison, as to the different aspects of the coverage.