Pissed at Progressive

[hppants]

When I bought the new bike in May, Progressive gave me a choice - pay for the balance of my yearly cycle ($105.00), or start a new cycle ($511.00). I opted to pay the balance of the existing cycle, and shop around when the premium is due.

Last week, I got the renewal notice. Since May, the same policy is now up to $589.00.

So I went shopping:

Safeco - $525.00

Allstate - $659.00

State Farm - $620.00

Geico - $415.00

100/300/50

Comp./Collision - $1,000.00 deductible

Accessory coverage - $3,000

Towing/roadside assistance

Bye Bye Progressive.

Hello green lizard!!!

 

[JamesW]

Long time progressive customer, great claims service, however it does pay to get out of the habit and look around, I kept getting discounts on higher premiums and am now a happy allstate customer.

 

[rbentnail]

I'm starting to get pissed at Progressive.... Got my AMA membership renewal stuff the other day and in the envelop is a flyer saying AMA members get a discount at Nationwide. Seems for the same coverage with 1/2 the deductible, vanishing deductible included, Nationwide is $140 cheaper than Progressive. First thing I did was go to see my Progressive agent, said I was shopping around and what can you do for me. Haven't heard back from him yet.

 

[Intech]

Dumped Progressive for GEICO. Cut my insurance by more than half!

 

[Bounce]

Watch GEICO for shenanigans. I dropped them when they would cancel your account without paying a claim if you had ANY vehicle was reported to have a radar detector (even one they weren't covering). Their miles-per-day limit also sent me packing.

 

[Old Michael]

https://www.theonion.com/article/insurance-company-celebrates-50-billionth-fucking--29709

 

[rbentnail]

I'm starting to get pissed at Progressive.... Got my AMA membership renewal stuff the other day and in the envelop is a flyer saying AMA members get a discount at Nationwide. Seems for the same coverage with 1/2 the deductible, vanishing deductible included, Nationwide is $140 cheaper than Progressive. First thing I did was go to see my Progressive agent, said I was shopping around and what can you do for me. Haven't heard back from him yet.

Finally heard from my agent, stopped by the office to see. No change in Progressive coverage or price. Found another co. for $20 less per yr. Forget the name. Did the online quote for Nationwide as recommended by the AMA. Sure it was a good price for good coverage. In the beginning. Then came the undesirables. Another $48/yr to pay your bill. Really. I'm not kidding- they want to charge me to do either electronic transfers (online banking) or to use a credit card. Another $24/yr for something else. Another $12/yr for something else. So I print the stuff and go see a Nationwide agent. They gave me no definitive numbers and would not verify the quote & additions.

For me it seems to have been a huge waste of time. YMMV.

 

[BkerChuck]

I'm going to be shopping real soon myself. Wife was in an accident August 7th on her way to work. Oil on the road caused her to lowside into a drainage ditch. One broken rib, bumps, and bruises. Her 1997 HD Super Glide took the worst of it though. Lot of cosmetic damage and it hurt something in the transmission. Loyal State Farm customers for years. They pretty much called it totalled right away. Real kicker is they never sent an adjuster to even look at it! She wants to keep the bike as it was her first ever brand new vehicle in her life. We've tried to talk to them about our willingness to live with some cosmetic damage and pay out of pocket to fix that later but they won't even talk to us about it. They've told us that they don't have "specialty vehicle" adjusters for motorcycles, rvs, boats, pwc, etc. My quetion to them was how are you writing policies if you don't have adjusters to investigate or look at the damage?

Buyer beware, State Farm is not such a good neighbor!

 

[lonerider]

I'm going to be shopping real soon myself. Wife was in an accident August 7th on her way to work. Oil on the road caused her to lowside into a drainage ditch. One broken rib, bumps, and bruises. Her 1997 HD Super Glide took the worst of it though. Lot of cosmetic damage and it hurt something in the transmission. Loyal State Farm customers for years. They pretty much called it totalled right away. Real kicker is they never sent an adjuster to even look at it! She wants to keep the bike as it was her first ever brand new vehicle in her life. We've tried to talk to them about our willingness to live with some cosmetic damage and pay out of pocket to fix that later but they won't even talk to us about it. They've told us that they don't have "specialty vehicle" adjusters for motorcycles, rvs, boats, pwc, etc. My quetion to them was how are you writing policies if you don't have adjusters to investigate or look at the damage?
Buyer beware, State Farm is not such a good neighbor!

When a kamikaze forest rat took out my Wing in 2010, State Farm had me take it to a Honda dealer for an estimate. Like yours, it was mostly cosmetic but, being an older bike with some parts unavailable, it was totaled anyway. Their adjuster did offer me the option of buying it back with a salvage title but, with unavailability of some of the necessary parts, I opted for a new one. Still had to fight with them over the value of the totaled bike, though...

 

[Bill Lumberg]

Interesting. I don't have any miles per day limit, cars or bikes, and I have Geico. I don't have any detectors and haven't had any wrecks in a long time, so I haven't experienced that yet. Did they cancel your account without paying a claim or was that something that happened to someone else, which caused you to punt them?

Watch GEICO for shenanigans. I dropped them when they would cancel your account without paying a claim if you had ANY vehicle was reported to have a radar detector (even one they weren't covering). Their miles-per-day limit also sent me packing.

 

[blassoff]

So, I changed my coverages (dropped to 50-100 from 100-300) and kept my rates reasonable. Two bikes, 2006 and 2014, non-stacked limits and am paying $722 a year. I was too lazy to move, and honestly they do have great customer service. BUT...I just put out a quote request to Foremost (thanks LB). I'll see what I get, I learned a very long time ago to buy insurance from a company that will actually pay off when you need it. I had a claim about 5 years ago. Some idiot parked his car in the middle of the road at the top of a curve. I saw him, said oh shit, and promptly locked up the rear wheel (2004 Honda Shadow). bike low sided and progressive cut me checks for both the bike and my gear. No hassles, no BS.

I hate the gecko, but I'll keep looking around. It'd be nice to get better coverage for the same money if that's possible. I'll let cha'll know what happens.

 

[BigOgre]

I'm in the middle of this also. Long-time Progressive customer but way overdue for an update. Still looking but in the meantime upped some coverage with Progressive and asked some questions. According to the last call (who sounded like she was talking from her kitchen table btw) it seems I'm not covered for Under/Uninsured out of state, only in-state, and also no coverage for my gear, only accessory coverage which is defined as add-ons permanently attached to the bike. When asked if they sold anything to cover my gear I was told they didn't. Again, I'm not convinced the rep was an expert in the field nor am I done shopping around but that's where I stand (supposedly) as of now.

 

[neilj14]

I'm in Canada and cant believe the cheap rates you guys are tossing around!!! I've been Insured in Canada for about 30 years and the only time my Insurance was cheaper than $1000.00 was when I didn't ride lol!!! My 04 FJR costs me about $1400.00 per year, and if I want to ride...... I just pay. Now my driving record isn't as pretty as some, but all in all I think the rates up here are ridiculous. If someone ever offers me coverage below $1000.00 I'm going to be smiling......

 

[blassoff]

Not sure why Canada is so much more expensive. I mean, do you guys suck at riding/driving? Let's assume not, and you'll just have to explain taxes and insurance for Canadians to me.

Spoke with Foremost this morning. I was pissed at Progressive for wanting $922 for 100/300 stacked limits, Foremost wanted $1342.00, I said um...no thank you.

Also, went back to progressive last night. Got a quote for raising my coverage back to previous levels (100/300 stacked). Adds $216 to my current policy (so, $938 for two bikes where they wanted $922 for just the 14). Might have to consider that but I'll probably quote one more vendor before I jump.

Anybody else offer vanishing deductibles?

 

[rbentnail]

Anybody else offer vanishing deductibles?

Nationwide

 

[Bounce]

I went with Dairyland because the cost was 1/3rd of the quote from Progressive. That being the case, the trick of starting high and dropping to normal wasn't as much of an enticement for me.

 

[Wandering Dane]

For a number of years, I have had three bikes insured with Shelter, which also covers our two cars.

Sold my '96 BMW RT and bought a 2014 FJR1300; Shelter said NO to comprehensive and collision coverage for the FJR because "it is a sport bike". I argued that this is a touring bike, generally operated by mature riders - made no difference. Two strikes against the FJR, according to Shelter: the "sport" in sport touring and that the rider leans forward while riding - no kidding. My agent even forwarded a chart that Shelter developed to allow its agents to determine what kind of bikes can be insured and which ones cannot.

I switched all three bikes to Progressive. My Triumph and Moto Guzzi are charged virtually the same premiums as with Shelter for slightly better coverage, the FJR is $381 per year, plus $152 per year for uninsured motorist coverage to be split between the three bikes. No tickets in 15 years and no claims. Total annual bill is $835. I can live with that.

 

[Hotboot]

I would be interested in seeing that "chart", I thought rates were determined by the company, not the agent. Hell, living in my zip code seems to be the killer for me.

 

[gixxerjasen]

Timely of this post to pop back to the top. Thinking of adding something to my garage and almost choked when I tested a few quotes through Progressive. Tried Dairyland today and found much more favorable rates. Going to peruse this thread for other alternatives.

 

[Hotboot]

Progressive in Texas has changed, extreeemly expensive. So if my FJR has a slightly forward riding position it's a sportbike ?