Progressive Insurance is the second-largest company in the United States for personal auto insurance [1]. As of 2022, it had 27.4 million policies in place. In the third quarter of 2023, the company underwrote over $15 billion in premiums and earned $2.6 billion, a 20% increase from 2022 [2].
While Progressive Insurance has a positive reputation amongst consumers, there is evidence that Progressive has acted in bad faith against car accident victims. In July 2024, Progressive was forced to pay $48 million in a class-action lawsuit that claimed it significantly undervalued wrecked cars, reducing the potential value of insurance claims [3].
If your Progressive claim is denied, you have legal options. A car accident attorney from Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers can assist you throughout the claims process. We will counter the tactics insurance companies use to prevent car accident victims from receiving fair financial compensation.
Why an Insurance Company Denies a Claim
An insurance company may deny coverage if the circumstances surrounding the accident do not demonstrate that it is responsible for the claim.
Common reasons for a denied claim include lack of coverage under a specific insurance policy, disputed liability, or insufficient supporting evidence to show the financial costs of the accident.
The Impact of a Claim Denial
Insurance settlements are essential for the financial recovery of many car accident victims. A claim denial can lead to financial burdens, including paying expensive medical bills out of pocket or relying on costly loans to supplement lost income.
The stress of navigating the appeals process and being treated unfairly by an insurance adjuster can make it difficult to focus on recovery, causing further delays in the victim’s return to normalcy.
Reasons Progressive Might Deny Your Claim
An insurance company like Progressive may deny a car accident claim for numerous reasons, some of the most common being unclear evidence of who is at fault, a lack of documentation, coverage limits, and suspected fraud.
Disputed Liability
The insurer will use information such as the police report to determine who was at fault for the accident. In clear-cut cases, when the at-fault party fails to stop at a red light and causes a T-bone collision, a company acting in good faith will typically approve the claim.
However, in some cases, who is responsible for the accident may not be obvious, or the parties may disagree.
For example, an accident in which a distracted driver hits a car backing out of a driveway may have multiple at-fault parties; the driver on the roadway was not looking, and the driver backing out did not check their blind spots. In this case, it may be difficult for the insurance company to determine who was more at fault.
Insufficient Evidence
When submitting an insurance claim, you must provide all the necessary documentation related to the accident, including police reports, medical records, witness statements, and proof of lost wages. The insurance company uses these to identify who is responsible for the accident and determine whether the specific claim is their responsibility.
They will also use medical expenses and car values to identify how much you have lost. Failing to produce this evidence may mean your claim is denied, and you have to appeal.
Policy Exclusions or Limitations
Insurance policies often contain specific exclusions or limitations that may affect liability coverage. These can include exclusions for damage caused by racing, injuries sustained while driving under the influence, or damage to personal items inside the vehicle.
Some policies also limit coverage for certain natural disasters. These exclusions and limitations can significantly impact your ability to file a successful claim.
Suspected Fraud or Misrepresentation
Insurance companies carefully review car accident claims, gathering evidence and following strict guidelines to identify suspected fraud. If your claim is flagged as potentially fraudulent, they may deny it.
This misrepresentation can include claiming that your vehicle is worth more than it is in hopes of receiving more compensation, including unrelated medical expenses, stating that they are related to the accident, or inflating the cost of vehicle repairs.
What to Do if Progressive Denies Your Car Accident Claim
A denied claim is not the end of the road for receiving compensation. By working with an experienced car accident lawyer and carefully reviewing all communications from the insurer, you can submit an appeal requesting that Progressive reassess your car accident claim.
Review Your Policy and Denial Letter
The first step is to review the insurance policy again. Every insurance company provides documentation for their policies that consumers can analyze to see whether their claim is covered under the given policy.
When companies like Progressive deny claims, they must send a denial letter explaining why they feel they are not responsible for your car accident claim or that it is invalid. These letters are generally specific, explaining precisely what information is missing or pointing to particular subsections of the policy they followed for their decision.
You and your attorney can use this denial letter to determine what evidence you must send as part of your appeal or to argue that the company’s policy interpretation was misguided.
Gather Additional Evidence
Sometimes, a car accident claim is denied because there is insufficient evidence. You will then have to gather evidence requested in the denial letter, including medical records, vehicle repair estimates, photos from the accident scene, or witness statements.
File an Appeal
Your next step is to contact Progressive with a formal letter demanding an appeal. You will submit all supporting documentation you have gathered, explain why you feel the denial was unfair, and request that they review the claim again.
Consider Filing a Complaint
Each state will have a department that regulates insurance companies, which includes investigating whether their claims process prevents victims from recovering the compensation they’re entitled to. If you believe your Progressive claim was wrongly denied, you can file a complaint with your state’s Department of Insurance.
In some cases, Progressive and other insurance companies misinterpret the policy in their favor, which is a breach of their obligation to consumers. In this instance, consumers can contact the Department of Insurance, which will investigate the issue on their behalf.
The Role of a Personal Injury Lawyer
An experienced car accident attorney is invaluable, ensuring you receive the financial compensation you deserve. If Progressive denies your claim, our Chicago auto insurance claim attorneys can assist you in filing an appeal and negotiating with the company.
We have access to various resources that ease this process and experience countering bad-faith insurance tactics.
Evaluating Your Progressive Insurance Claim and Denial
When you contact us for a free consultation about your denied accident claim, we’ll review all available evidence. This assessment includes the insurance policy, the denial letter, and your supporting documentation, such as medical records, police reports, witness statements, and vehicle repair estimates.
Our team will determine whether you have a strong insurance claim and whether your claim was unfairly denied according to Progressive’s policies. We’ll also assess similar cases to yours that were successfully negotiated as precedents for your own insurance claim.
Negotiating with Progressive
Progressive and other insurance companies use various tactics to deny claims, including stonewalling consumers, demanding extraneous information, misattributing responsibility for the accident, or misinterpreting their policies in their favor.
Our attorneys are highly familiar with these strategies and can counter them using the evidence we have gathered during our investigation. They can also represent you during negotiations and push for a fair settlement.
We will craft a demand letter explaining that you have sufficient evidence to support your claim and requesting that they overturn the denial. This step leads to settlement negotiations, where Progressive insurance adjusters will reassess the value of your case.
They will typically return with a different sum, and we will go back and forth during negotiations until we reach a satisfactory sum.
If this fails, we may settle the issue through mediation or arbitration, in which we will represent you during communications with a neutral third party.
Filing a Lawsuit
If negotiations fail, we will file a lawsuit. Our team will represent you in a court of law, explaining to the judge and jury why your claim was unfairly denied based on the evidence we have gathered.
The jury will then decide in favor of you, the plaintiff, or Progressive. If they decide in your favor, they will also decide on a sum that they feel is fair.
Filing a lawsuit has its drawbacks. If the jury favors Progressive, you will receive nothing and must pay all your expenses. The legal process is also slower and more expensive than negotiations. Your legal counsel will help you decide whether a lawsuit is right and handle the paperwork on your behalf, allowing you to focus on recovery.
Secure Expert Legal Counsel!
While Progressive is responsible for paying a legitimate insurance claim covered by its policy, it is a business that seeks to minimize its liabilities.
Having an experienced legal professional like Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers on your side is crucial. We will hold Progressive accountable, craft your appeal letter, and give you the best chance to recover compensation against this multi-billion-dollar company.
Our Chicago car accident law firm works on a contingency fee basis, meaning you pay nothing unless we win your case. We have recovered millions for clients and have years of experience negotiating with companies like Progressive, allowing you access to our legal resources and skills.
If Progressive denies your claim, we encourage you to contact us for a free consultation about your options for appeal or a lawsuit. Call (888) 424-5757 or fill out our online contact form.
References: [1] Progressive Insurance, [2] Progressive Insurance, [3] Reuters