Progressive Car Insurance Review for 2022 – Kelley Blue Book

Progressive insurance for autosProgressive insurance for autos

Progressive is among the big names in car insurance. The company is the third-largest car insurer in the United States and covers millions of drivers each year. But, do you know enough about Progressive and its car insurance?

Is the company as reliable as their commercials say? How much will Progressive car insurance cost and does it offer decent discounts? We answer these questions and more in this review.

Car Insurance Coverage Types with Progressive

Progressive provides the common types of auto insurance coverage and a few extras, too. You can find the main types of coverage listed below:

  • Liability
  • Collision
  • Comprehensive  
  • Medical payments
  • Personal injury protection (PIP)
  • Underinsured/uninsured motorist coverage (UM/UIM)

You can find additional coverage below. These add-ons are among the reasons for Progressive’s positive reviews:

  • Roadside assistance: Includes towing, change of flat tire, lockout services, and fuel delivery.
  • Loan/lease payoff: Unlike GAP insurance, this add-on will cover up to 25% of your car’s current market value.
  • Rental car reimbursement: This option covers $30 to $50 per day for a rental car in case your car is totaled or ends up in the shop following an accident.
  • Custom parts and equipment value: Covers the replacement items that you’ve added to your car.
  • Rideshare coverage: For Uber and Lyft drivers, this insurance option extends your coverage when you’re driving or waiting.

What are the Benefits of Signing up for Progressive Car Insurance?

To decide if Progressive is the right fit for you, start by considering the benefits.

Overall, a Progressive policy is a good choice for high-risk drivers, especially following a DUI citation. The insurer is also available nationwide and getting a quote is easy.

Can you save on your car insurance with Progressive? According to the company, it claims drivers can save about $700 on average on their policy. Here are some of the discounts offered by the company:

  • Multi-policy: Save 5% with this discount.
  • Multi-car: Save some 4% by adding another car to your policy.
  • Continuous insurance: Get a discount if you don’t have insurance gaps or cancellations.
  • Good student: Having a student on your policy with an A or B average can save you money; about 10%.
  • Distant student discount: This discount is for adding a full-time student who lives more than 100 miles away to your policy.
  • Homeowners: Homeowners get 10% off.
  • Online quote: Save some 7% by getting an online Progressive quote.
  • Sign online: Save 9% for signing your documents online.
  • Paperless: Lower your payment by receiving your documents via email (discount only applies in combination with the sign online discount).
  • Pay in full: Pay your six-month policy upfront and you will get a discount.
  • Automatic payment: Set up automatic payments from your checking account to save money (can’t be combined with the discount for paying in full).
  • The Snapshot® driving program: Another way to save is by using this program that tracks your driving habits and rewards you for driving safely. Progressive claims that drivers using the app save an average of $146 annually. You earn about $50 for just signing up.

Progressive Car Insurance Costs

When quoting customers, Progressive takes a wide range of factors into consideration, including how many miles you drive your vehicle per year. According to Savvy, if you drive your car between 12,000 and 15,000 miles per year Progressive costs an average of $179 a month for your insurance premium. In a study by the Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration, the average person drove 14,263 miles per year in 2019.

RELATED STORIES: Average Miles Driven Per Year: Why it is Important

Savvy collects data from consumers’ current policies, including rate information, age, marital status, and other demographics. The statistics offer a representative sample used as a general guide. See more about Savvy’s methodology.

Let’s take a closer look at how other demographics play into car insurance.

Progressive Car Insurance – Average Annual Rates 
Age Group
Gender
Marital Status
Value

18 to 24
female
married
$2,738.31

18 to 24
female
single
$2,700.56

18 to 24
male
married
$2,917.96

18 to 24
male
single
$2,843.85

25 to 34
female
married
$2,260.77

25 to 34
female
single
$2,156.00

25 to 34
male
married
$2,261.31

25 to 34
male
single
$2,252.73

35 to 49
female
married
$2,579.65

35 to 49
female
single
$2,197.95

35 to 49
male
married
$2,415.30

35 to 49
male
single
$2,073.35

50 to 69
female
married
$2,769.00

50 to 69
female
single
$2,562.33

50 to 69
male
married
$2,738.71

50 to 69
male
single
$2,410.07

70 or Above
female
married
$2,460.19

70 or Above
female
single
$2,627.00

70 or Above
male
married
$2,583.03

70 or Above
male
single
$2,514.97

Source: Savvy

Which Other Factors Play a Role?

Beyond annual miles per year, age, gender, and marital status, insurance companies consider a variety of factors when putting together quotes for current and prospective customers like location, driving history, credit history, and more.

RELATED STORIES: 9 Factors That Affect Car Insurance Rates in 2022

Location

Living near a busy intersection prone to accidents or in a big city with high crime rates will affect your car insurance rates. Similarly, smaller towns with low crime typically have cheaper car insurance.

According to Savvy, states with the cheapest insurance rates are Maine, Hawaii, Idaho, Wyoming, and Iowa. Places with the most-expensive car insurance rates are New York, Rhode Island, Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Louisiana.

DUI

Progressive is actually one of the most favorable companies for individuals following a DUI citation. According to The Zebra, you can expect your policy to increase by only $400 following a DUI. Individuals with no DUIs can expect to pay $1,604 on average a year, while those with this citation can expect to pay $2,004 annually

However, Progressive does not offer the most affordable rate itself because its policies are on the expensive side to begin with. This is something to keep in mind as well.

Car Accidents

While its penalties for DUI citations for Progressive are very low, those for at-fault car accidents are not. Progressive car insurance is among the most expensive in the country for drivers who have caused a collision or some other accident.

Following a car accident, those insured with Progressive can expect their rates to increase from $1,604 with no accidents to $2,174 in the first year after the at-fault infraction. In the second year, your premium comes to $3,941, and $5,110 in the third.

Accidents stay on a driver’s record for at least three to five years.

Credit History

Car insurance companies check an individual’s credit history for car insurance policies. Risk assessors believe that a driver’s credit history is indicative of the person’s driving habits and the likelihood of getting into an accident. That is why individuals with low credit scores pay significantly more — sometimes more than double — than a driver with excellent or exceptional credit scores.

According to data from The Zebra, a person with an exceptional credit score will pay an average of $1,349 for car insurance, which is below the U.S. average rate of $1,600. That number jumps to $2,895 for individuals with very poor credit scores.

Four states – California, Michigan, Massachusetts, and Hawaii – took measures to ban this practice. In those states, it is illegal for insurance companies to take an individual’s credit history into consideration when computing their insurance rates.

What’s Customer Satisfaction Like at Progressive?

Many people find Progressive premiums affordable. Yet, Progressive reviews vary when it comes to customer service. That’s a common issue with most insurance providers.

J.D. Power can give us deeper insight into Progressive’s overall customer satisfaction by region. In their J.D. Power 2021 U.S. Auto Insurance Study, they spoke with just under 40,000 people with car insurance and considered the following categories in their rankings: billing process and policy information, claims, interaction, policy offerings, and price.

According to the survey, Progressive ranked as follows:

Above average

  • California

Slightly above average

  • New England
  • North Central
  • Southwest
  • Texas

Below average

  • Central U.S.
  • Florida
  • Mid-Atlantic
  • New York
  • Northwest
  • Southeast

Overview of Progressive

Progressive knows how to write insurance premiums. In 2020, the company wrote more than $40 billion in insurance premiums, the National Associations of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) said.

Accordingly, the financial strength of the company is solid. Progressive received an A+ rating (superior) from A.M. Best for its financial strength and ability to meet insurance claims.

But let’s take a step back and trace the history of Progressive. The company was founded in 1937 and has been evolving ever since. Did you know that Progressive auto insurance was the first policy you could buy online back in 1997?

Also, Progressive first introduced a usage-based insurance option in 2008, enabling policyholders to pay only for the miles they drive?

Progressive is popular with its auto and motorcycle insurance policies. They are the strengths of the company, too. However, if you are looking for a cheap provider, Progressive may not be the cheapest option.

Studies on Progressive car insurance reviews show that the claims process is average. On the other hand, the company has decent customer service and a range of discounts and features.

Before you decide which auto insurance provider to go with, check around and explore quotes from several. That way, you can check rates and determine which insurer and policy is best for you.

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