Company type | Public |
---|---|
Industry | Insurance |
Founded | March 10, 1937 |
Headquarters | Mayfield, Ohio, U.S. |
Key people | Lawton W. Fitt (Chairperson) Tricia Griffith (President and CEO) |
Revenue | US$49.61 billion (2022) [1] |
US$1.487 billion (2022) [1] | |
US$721.5 million (2022) [1] | |
Total assets | US$75.46 billion (2022) [1] |
Total equity | US$17.04 billion (2022) [1] |
Number of employees | 55,100 (2022) [1] |
Website | www |
The Progressive Corporation is an American insurance company. In late 2022, Progressive became the largest motor insurance carrier in the U.S. [2] The company was co-founded in 1937 by Jack Green and Joseph M. Lewis, and is headquartered in Mayfield, Ohio. [3] The company insures passenger vehicles, motorcycles, RVs, trailers, boats, PWC, and commercial vehicles. Progressive also provides home, life, pet, and other insurance through select companies. Additionally, Progressive offers auto insurance in Australia.
The company ranked #88 on the 2023 Fortune 500 list of the top American corporations. [4]
Progressive was formed in 1937 by Joseph Lewis and Jack Green as Progressive Mutual Insurance Company. [5] 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. [6] [7] In 1971, Progressive conducted an ipo and became a publicly-traded company. [8] In 1987, the sum of the company's written premiums surpassed $1 billion, and by 2016 that number reached $20 billion. [8] [9] Progressive boasts being the first auto insurance company to have a website and to allow customers to purchase policies via that site. Later, Progressive would pioneer the use of mobile browsers and smartphone apps for rating and managing policies. [10] It was also the first to offer 24/7 claims reporting. [11]
The company operates in three segments: personal lines, commercial auto, and other indemnity. [12]
Progressive is one of the largest auto insurers in the United States, with over 13 million policies in force, [13] along with State Farm, Allstate, GEICO, Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, Farmers Insurance Group, and USAA. Progressive primarily offers its services through the internet, by telephone or through independent insurance agents. [14] Progressive’s Agency business sells insurance through more than 30,000 independent insurance agents [14] 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. [15] Initially called Progressive Direct, it rebranded as Progressive in 2011, and later rebranded as PD Insurance in 2019. [16]
Progressive's marketing campaign is known for offering quotes of its competitors along with its own quote. It was the first major insurer to offer auto policies through the phone and through its web site. 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. [17]
Immediate Response Vehicles (IRVs) used by Progressive are specially modified Ford Explorers and Ford Escapes. [18]
Since 2008, many of Progressive's television advertisements have featured a woman named Flo (played by actress Stephanie Courtney), who explains the benefits of Progressive Insurance. [19] [20] In December 2010, the company introduced the "Messenger", as a complementary campaign. He was played by John Jenkinson. [21] The Flo universe also includes Jamie (Jim Cashman), an awkward fellow Progressive employee; and Bill and Tom, rival insurance salesmen from the figurative straw man "A. Nother Insurance Company". Bill and Tom were largely discontinued after Allstate filed a claim with the Better Business Bureau alleging that Progressive was making a false claim that they offered discounts that Allstate and other insurance providers did not. [22]
In 2012, Progressive introduced another character, a personified box (voiced by Chris Parnell) representing the company's products. It is portrayed as having an entourage (including a personal trainer). [23] Progressive later added more characters like Flobot, Mara (Natalie Palamides), Dr. Rick, and Motaur to its advertising series. In 2019, Progressive began the At Home with Baker Mayfield ad campaign during the National Football League season. The campaign featured the Cleveland Browns quarterback living with his wife in FirstEnergy Stadium. [24] After he was traded to the Carolina Panthers in the 2022 offseason, Mayfield stated that the advertisements will end, calling it a "missed opportunity". [25] [26]
In 2022, Jon Hamm appeared in several TV commercials, as himself, unsuccessfully pursuing a romantic relationship with spokesperson Flo. [27]
This section needs additional citations for verification .(August 2012) |
This section contains promotional content .(November 2013) |
According to a February 2011 Wall Street Journal article, Progressive has a leg up on its rivals in Pay As You Drive insurance, a form of vehicle insurance also generically known as usage-based insurance. [28] Progressive has seven U.S. patents covering usage-based insurance methods and systems, with more patents pending.[ citation needed ][ needs update ] Progressive began working on the concept in the mid-1990s and continues to refine the concept and bring it to the mass market.
Snapshot is Progressive's Pay As You Drive, or usage-based insurance program. Snapshot is a voluntary discount program where drivers can save money on their car insurance by sharing their driving habits with Progressive. According to Progressive, Snapshot is best for people who drive less, in safer ways and during safer times of day. [29] Snapshot customers can make changes to their driving habits that will lead to bigger discounts by checking their driving data and projected discount on progressive.com over the course of their initial policy period. [30]
Drivers plug a device the size of a garage door opener into the on-board diagnostic (OBD) port of their car. The device records and sends the driving data to Progressive, and Progressive uses that information to calculate the rate. After 30 days, customers find out if they're eligible for a discount based on that 30-day "snapshot" of their driving habits. At the end of a six-month policy period, Progressive calculates the customer's renewal discount and customers return the device to Progressive. The company doesn't take into account how fast the car goes although it does take into account how fast and frequently the vehicle operator brakes. Snapshot is voluntary and customers can opt out at any time. The customer is charged up to $50.00 if they do not return the snapshot device to Progressive should they decide not to engage in the program after receiving it. [30]
Snapshot is currently available in 45 states plus the District of Columbia. Because insurance is regulated at the state level, Snapshot is currently not available in Alaska, California, Hawaii, and North Carolina. [29]
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. [31]
In 1999, Progressive Auto Insurance was the title sponsor of the Super Bowl XXXIII halftime show. [32]
In January 2008, Jacobs Field in Cleveland, Ohio, home of the Cleveland Guardians, was renamed Progressive Field. Progressive signed a 16-year contract for the naming rights, as well as sponsorship rights to become the Official Auto Insurer of the Cleveland Indians. The agreement costs around $3.6 million per year. [33] (Mayfield Village, Ohio, where the company is based, is a suburb of Cleveland.)
In March 2008, Progressive announced its title sponsorship of the Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE and their funding of the $10 million prize purse. The Progressive Automotive X PRIZE is an international competition designed to inspire a new generation of viable, super fuel-efficient vehicles. The competition is open to teams from around the world that can design, build, and bring to market 100 MPGe (miles per gallon energy equivalent) vehicles. [34]
On December 14, 2010, the Gator Bowl Association announced that Progressive Insurance would become the title sponsor for the 2011 Gator Bowl [35] college football bowl game.
On September 24, 2019, Progressive became the official sponsor of Friday Night SmackDown broadcast on Fox. [36]
Starting in 2020, Progressive sponsored Roush Fenway Racing's Ryan Newman car at races at Atlanta and Pocono.
Starting in 2021, Progressive sponsored Sesame Street on PBS Kids replacing Blue Lizard Australian Sunscreen.
Progressive has been the Title Sponsor of the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) boat shows since 2012, and will maintain title sponsorship through at least 2022. [38]
In 2002, the company settled with the State of Georgia in a class action lawsuit over diminished value claims brought by policyholders. [39] 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. [40]
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. [41] The court ruled in the company's favor on two of the counts and the other four were dropped, pending appeal. [42]
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. [43] [44] [45] In two followup statements, Progressive explained that they did not "serve as the attorney for the defendant in this case" [46] and then clarified that "[a]s a defendant in this case, Progressive participated in the trial procedures on our own behalf." [47] 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". [48]
Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to protect against the risk of a contingent or uncertain loss.
Vehicle insurance is insurance for cars, trucks, motorcycles, and other road vehicles. Its primary use is to provide financial protection against physical damage or bodily injury resulting from traffic collisions and against liability that could also arise from incidents in a vehicle. Vehicle insurance may additionally offer financial protection against theft of the vehicle, and against damage to the vehicle sustained from events other than traffic collisions, such as vandalism, weather or natural disasters, and damage sustained by colliding with stationary objects. The specific terms of vehicle insurance vary with legal regulations in each region.
The Government Employees Insurance Company is an American auto insurance company headquartered in Chevy Chase, Maryland. In addition to auto insurance, GEICO provides motorcycle, ATV, RV, boat, snowmobile, travel, pet, event, homeowner, renter, and jewelry insurance options. It is the second largest auto insurer in the United States, after State Farm. GEICO is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, which provides coverage for more than 24 million motor vehicles owned by more than 15 million policy holders as of 2017. GEICO writes private passenger automobile insurance in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. The insurance agency sells policies through local agents, called GEICO Field Representatives, over the phone directly to the consumer via licensed insurance agents, and through their website. Its mascot is a gold dust day gecko with a Cockney accent, voiced by English actor Jake Wood. GEICO is well known in popular culture for its advertising.
The Allstate Corporation is an American insurance company, headquartered in Glenview, Illinois since 2022. Founded in 1931 as part of Sears, Roebuck and Co., it was spun off in 1993, but was still partially owned by Sears until it became an independent company completely in June 1995. The company also has personal line insurance operations in Canada.
American Family Insurance, also abbreviated as AmFam, is an American private mutual company that focuses on property, casualty, and auto insurance, and also offers commercial insurance, life, health, and homeowners coverage as well as investment and retirement-planning products. It is a Fortune 500 company and its revenues were over $9.5 billion in 2017.
Esurance Insurance Services, Inc. is an American insurance company. It sells auto, home, motorcycle, and renters insurance direct to consumers online and by phone. Founded in 1999, the company was acquired by Allstate in 2011.
Erie Insurance Group, based in Erie, Pennsylvania, is a property and casualty insurance company offering auto, home, business and life insurance through a network of independent insurance agents. As of 2021, Erie Insurance Group is ranked 347th on the 2021 Fortune 500 list of largest American corporations, based on total revenue for the 2020 fiscal year.
Usage-based insurance (UBI), also known as pay as you drive (PAYD), pay how you drive (PHYD) and mile-based auto insurance, is a type of vehicle insurance whereby the costs are dependent upon type of vehicle used, measured against time, distance, behavior and place.
An uninsured motorist clause is a provision commonly found in United States automobile insurance policies that provides for a driver to receive damages for any injury he or she receives from an uninsured, negligent driver. The owner of the policy pays a premium to the insurance company to include this clause. Although not exclusive, this coverage is typically added to an automobile insurance policy. In the event of a qualifying accident, the insurance company pays the difference between what the uninsured driver can pay and what the injured driver would be entitled to as if the uninsured motorist had proper insurance.
Farmers Insurance Group is an American insurer group of vehicles, homes and small businesses and also provides other insurance and financial services products. Farmers Insurance has more than 48,000 exclusive and independent agents and approximately 21,000 employees. Farmers is the trade name for three reciprocal exchanges, Farmers, Fire, and Truck, each a managed by Farmers Group, Inc. as attorney-in-fact on behalf of their respective policyholders. Farmers Group, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Swiss-based Zurich Insurance Group.
Bennetts is a specialist insurance broker for motorcycles headquartered in Peterborough, with a contact centre in Coventry, owned by Lucida Group since May 2021.
In insurance claims, a total loss or write-off is a situation where the lost value, repair cost or salvage cost of a damaged property exceeds its insured value, and simply replacing the old property with a new equivalent is more cost-effective.
Auto insurance risk selection is the process by which vehicle insurers determine whether or not to insure an individual and what insurance premium to charge. Depending on the jurisdiction, the insurance premium can be either mandated by the government or determined by the insurance company in accordance to a framework of regulations set by the government. Often, the insurer will have more freedom to set the price on physical damage coverages than on mandatory liability coverages.
Assigned risk is a government-required method of providing insurance coverage to an individual by compelling insurance companies to service them when such companies would ordinarily not do so due to perceived risk of insuring the individual as a customer.
Safe Auto Insurance Company is an American property and casualty auto insurance carrier. It is a privately held carrier and provider of state-minimum private-passenger auto insurance for drivers in the nonstandard insurance market in 20 states across the US, including Oregon, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Georgia, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi, Illinois, Missouri, Arizona, Oklahoma, Kansas, Virginia, Texas, California, Alabama, and Colorado.
Aviva Canada Inc. is a Canadian property and casualty insurance company and a wholly owned subsidiary of the UK-based Aviva plc. It provides home, personal, automobile, recreational vehicle, group and business insurance to more than three million customers.
Diminished value or diminution in value are the terms generally used to describe the loss in a property's market value after it was damaged in an accident and repaired. Diminished value is most often associated with automobiles but it is applicable to other property of value including real estate or collectibles such as jewelry and artwork. If a property was damaged and repair failed to restore it to its original market value then said property has suffered diminished value.
Vehicle insurance in the United States is designed to cover the risk of financial liability or the loss of a motor vehicle that the owner may face if their vehicle is involved in a collision that results in property or physical damage. Most states require a motor vehicle owner to carry some minimum level of liability insurance. States that do not require the vehicle owner to carry car insurance include New Hampshire and Mississippi, which offers vehicle owners the option to post cash bonds. The privileges and immunities clause of Article IV of the U.S. Constitution protects the rights of citizens in each respective state when traveling to another. A motor vehicle owner typically pays insurers a monthly or yearly fee, often called an insurance premium. The insurance premium a motor vehicle owner pays is usually determined by a variety of factors including the type of covered vehicle, marital status, credit score, whether the driver rents or owns a home, the age and gender of any covered drivers, their driving history, and the location where the vehicle is primarily driven and stored. Most insurance companies will increase insurance premium rates based on these factors and offer discounts less frequently.
Encompass Insurance Company is a subsidiary of Allstate Corporation and is one of the largest personal property and casualty insurance brands sold through a network of more than 6,500 independent agent locations across the United States. The company that would become Encompass was founded in 1897 and officially became the Encompass Insurance Company in the 1990s. The company has its headquarters in Northfield Township, Illinois, near Northbrook, Illinois.
Nextbase is a British consumer technology company and the manufacturer of dash cams.