Posted on 08/16/2012 11:53:15 PM PDT by SmithL
McLEAN, Va. (AP) — The Progressive Corp. insurance group is defending itself against an onslaught of negative publicity after it tried to avoid paying $75,000 to the family of a client killed in a car crash and tried to blame the wreck on her.
The criticism began Monday with a blog post from 33-year-old Matt Fisher of Brooklyn, whose sister Kaitlynn Fisher had Progressive insurance and was killed in a June 2010 car crash in Baltimore. In order to avoid the payout to Kaitlynn Fisher's family, Progressive interjected itself into a lawsuit the Fisher family filed against the other driver.
Last week, a jury found the other driver negligent, despite Progressive's efforts to persuade the jury otherwise.
Matt Fisher said Thursday that the deluge of online support his family has received is gratifying. The backlash against Progressive was strong enough that the Ohio-based company felt compelled to issue a public statement on the case. The statement denied Progressive was representing the driver who was ultimately found negligent. And it prompted even further backlash because it failed to acknowledge that, as a practical matter, Progressive's lawyer was indeed working in court as a third party to combat the Fisher family's claims.
While Fisher didn't quite anticipate the wave of support he received, he was sure others who learned about the case would be as shocked as he was that his sister's own insurance company was going to such lengths to cast the blame on her for the accident.
The Fisher family's lawyer, Annapolis, Md.-based attorney Allen Cohen, said it is technically true that Progressive was not representing the driver who caused the crash. During the trial, though, Progressive's attorney coordinated with the defense and put on witnesses who tried to undermine Kaitlynn Fisher's case, Cohen said.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
The woman (sister/daughter) that was killed had progressive insurance. The man that was at fault had another insurance company, but he was under insured. His insurance paid out, but the family then went after Progressive for their sister/daughters extra insurance for under insured motorists of which she paid for.
Progressive then brought them to court even though the other guy was already deemed at fault. They had the faulted driver at their table and tried to convince the court that the deceased was at least a little at fault so that they did not have to pay out.
Maryland has a law that if the insurance company can prove that the insurer was at fault by at least 1%, then the insurance company does not have to pay out. Ridiculous!
Anyway, it made the family feel like their sister/daughters insurance company was siding with the other driver. I don’t blame them at all!
Thanks, that makes sense.
yes, Maryland forces us to pay for insurance to cover ourselves if we are hit by an uninsured driver. Unfortunately that is routine here in Maryland especially since they went out of their way to give drivers licences to illegals so many years.
When I first moved here from out of state finding and picking an insurance company was a challenge, I finally settled on GIECO because they discrimainate based on all types of risk factors that others dont to give the lowest rates without being a ripoff company.
I always wondered about their name, “Progressive”.
It’s somewhat concerning in relationship to other insurance company names: All State & State Farm.
Aren’t all three just a variation of the Marxist ideal?
While i have had good experiences with insurance companies...
I learned a long time ago that the insurance company’s job is to say “No”. You have to be absolutely unafraid to climb their corporate ladder, yelling and jumping on desks until you find someone that says “Maybe”...and you know you’re on the right track. Then you yell and jump some more until you find the person that says “Yes”.
You have to wear a cup...and keep the pucker factor high and tight.
Not paying claims.....now that’s Progressive!
What did anyone expect? Progressive insurance is owned by a far left progressive. Far enough left that he is standing next to Obama, a Marxist communist.
The Liberal/progressive world is a world where to lie, cheat, steal even murder to advance their agenda, is laudable behavior.
I went with Allstate when I first moved to MD. Then, when I added a fourth car for my daughter, a 14 year old beater, they wanted to double my rates. GEICO is cheaper for four cars than Allstate was for three cars.
The four drivers in the family have 76 combined years of driving. One ticket, zero accidents together yet these vultures feel the need to charge to the max. I buy as little insurance as required and drive cars that are paid off and if they get wrecked, it will be painful but they can be replaced. I refuse to pay the value of the car in annual insurance premiums.
My story is very similar. GIECO obviously does detailed statistical risk modeling that includes all types of factors that other companies do not bother with. If you are low risk based on those factors then GEICO is the place to go.
back 15 years or more I had my car hit three times when it wasnt even moving , the other driver got the fault and paid. Yet I couldnt get in the lowest discount rate because of that. It's statistical risk modeling.
A couple of years ago Allstate called and we compared theirs with my GEICO and Allstate told me that no one could match the rates GEICO was giving me,.
Everyone’s experience is different. I have Allstate, pay $163 for 6 months liability coverage (I have the Premiere Plus Policy) they have 3 policy types ask to qualify for Premiere Plus but the level of Bodily Injury coverage you have, credit, driving history will determine if you qualify. Anyways no one can touch their rates and in 2001 a guy leaped on my hood on a bike as I turned into the street, he faked being injured & Allstate paid his claim fast & in full despite my objections.
You do know, don't you, that GEICO was founded as "Government Employees Insurance Company" and is owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway? Somehow I doubt that its purpose is to beat up lefties.
Yep..... my first autos were insured by GEICO back in the day when I worked for the Navy
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