Progressive does not own the repair facilities. They use the same facilities that every other company uses, they can simply provide volume and a steady stream of work for the shop, which warrants faster repair times and hence, more satisfied customers. The intent here is strictly for the customer experience, Progressive breaks even on this process.
so, they so-called patented this idea, but does not the word itself already been used by other industries? for example, is there not a concierge service at casinoes, or cruise ships. so why is the auto insurance industry getting a patent for something that has already been in place in other industries, are we not copying the same thing? sounds like it to me!
Let me see if I remember how my last claim went: file the claim and wait for the adjuster to call, get an appraiser assigned and wait. Finally get the estimate, try to find a shop that will do the repairs for the “insurance” price and find a rental car (and find out the daily rental fee far exceeds my daily coverage amount unless I agree to rent the super-de-duper ultra sub compact car). Next I get a call from the shop that there is more damage, call the adjuster (who does not have the time to return my calls because they are too busy with the quantity and cost efficiency of their claims, not quality and satisfaction of the claimant) then wait for the appraiser to come out to the garage to view and approve the additional repairs. Wait, wait, wait, the clock is ticking on my rental…
Despite what you think, I see the merit in “concierge” SERVICE.
Why would an Insurance Copmapany of this magnitude endorse a shop that used inferior parts? Wouldn’t that be a surefire way to get a nice lawsuit of some sort? Especially if those parts were found to be the cause of an accident, injury, or worse yet death. I doubt a company that large would willingly put itself at risk like that. Is it a way for them to control where the car is repaired? Of course. Are they getting a discount for those repairs? Probably. Are those discounts manifested through lower end parts or shoddy work? I doubt it.
It has either been a while since you’ve had a claim or the insurance company you’re dealing with is very much behind the times. All major insurance companies have several body shops on a preferred list that will remove majority if not all of the hassels you mentioned. What they don’t do is decide which shop to take YOUR car. Unless the reporting in the article has a few things wrong, then the only real difference between Progressive’s and the other carriers service, is the choice of shop…..If Progressive is choosing the shop then shame on them……if the owner is really choosing the shop, then their program is no different than everyone else and instead of being the leader of the pack they in essence are way behind. Most major carriers have had their program in place for the better part of 7-10 years now.
The program has been in place since 1974 by I a major company for whom I once worked. The adjuster would tell the customer about several shops that would guarantee the repairs and together any issues would be resolved to their satisfaction. The largest drawback was the issue of steering. But when customers took the money and selected their own shops, the issue usually became the amount of the repair estimate. Now, at that point it became double work: requiring the original adjuster or another adjuster visit the shop; the volume of claims work kept rising for the adjuster; meetings to iron out the differences; or, even pulling out the car from the shop. There is not enough time in the day for claims work! It keeps piling up. As it turned out, under such situations everyone was unhappy, phones rang with complaints, letters were written to Claims Managers, the adjusters were cursed out, on-and-on-and-on, etc. Progressive is on the right track provided the customer is agreeable to getting his vehicle fixed and not wish to “profit $$” from the property damage. Follow the $$!
My agent is an independent who placed me with a regional carrier; I had two auto claims in 15 years….both times, my agent coordinated the whole thing for me (with my permission and without having an agreement to steer my business to any one repair shop)…but the main thing was to get the car to a shop quickly, have it repaired quickly and get my out of my rental a back into my car. From start to finish, it was 10 days for the longest. But I did have to do some of the talking. My agent is the best, in my estimation and I have not given it a thought to “save 15% on my car insurance to switch to GEICO”. If this service can be patented, then many carriers must have lousy service…..and Progressive is beating them to the punch. But not my agent!
you’re probably right; there is no way we’ll continue with the oil based, internal combustion, single user automobile for much longer. What happens when the oil really does run out? I happen to like trains and would gladly ride light rail if it were available in my area.
Other insurance companies have “Concierge” claim services and call it that as well. So what in the world could progressive be doing that is so different from every other company that follows the marketing heard?
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Progressive does not own the repair facilities. They use the same facilities that every other company uses, they can simply provide volume and a steady stream of work for the shop, which warrants faster repair times and hence, more satisfied customers. The intent here is strictly for the customer experience, Progressive breaks even on this process.
so, they so-called patented this idea, but does not the word itself already been used by other industries? for example, is there not a concierge service at casinoes, or cruise ships. so why is the auto insurance industry getting a patent for something that has already been in place in other industries, are we not copying the same thing? sounds like it to me!
Let me see if I remember how my last claim went: file the claim and wait for the adjuster to call, get an appraiser assigned and wait. Finally get the estimate, try to find a shop that will do the repairs for the “insurance” price and find a rental car (and find out the daily rental fee far exceeds my daily coverage amount unless I agree to rent the super-de-duper ultra sub compact car). Next I get a call from the shop that there is more damage, call the adjuster (who does not have the time to return my calls because they are too busy with the quantity and cost efficiency of their claims, not quality and satisfaction of the claimant) then wait for the appraiser to come out to the garage to view and approve the additional repairs. Wait, wait, wait, the clock is ticking on my rental…
Despite what you think, I see the merit in “concierge” SERVICE.
Why would an Insurance Copmapany of this magnitude endorse a shop that used inferior parts? Wouldn’t that be a surefire way to get a nice lawsuit of some sort? Especially if those parts were found to be the cause of an accident, injury, or worse yet death. I doubt a company that large would willingly put itself at risk like that. Is it a way for them to control where the car is repaired? Of course. Are they getting a discount for those repairs? Probably. Are those discounts manifested through lower end parts or shoddy work? I doubt it.
Blondie….
It has either been a while since you’ve had a claim or the insurance company you’re dealing with is very much behind the times. All major insurance companies have several body shops on a preferred list that will remove majority if not all of the hassels you mentioned. What they don’t do is decide which shop to take YOUR car. Unless the reporting in the article has a few things wrong, then the only real difference between Progressive’s and the other carriers service, is the choice of shop…..If Progressive is choosing the shop then shame on them……if the owner is really choosing the shop, then their program is no different than everyone else and instead of being the leader of the pack they in essence are way behind. Most major carriers have had their program in place for the better part of 7-10 years now.
The program has been in place since 1974 by I a major company for whom I once worked. The adjuster would tell the customer about several shops that would guarantee the repairs and together any issues would be resolved to their satisfaction. The largest drawback was the issue of steering. But when customers took the money and selected their own shops, the issue usually became the amount of the repair estimate. Now, at that point it became double work: requiring the original adjuster or another adjuster visit the shop; the volume of claims work kept rising for the adjuster; meetings to iron out the differences; or, even pulling out the car from the shop. There is not enough time in the day for claims work! It keeps piling up. As it turned out, under such situations everyone was unhappy, phones rang with complaints, letters were written to Claims Managers, the adjusters were cursed out, on-and-on-and-on, etc. Progressive is on the right track provided the customer is agreeable to getting his vehicle fixed and not wish to “profit $$” from the property damage. Follow the $$!
My agent is an independent who placed me with a regional carrier; I had two auto claims in 15 years….both times, my agent coordinated the whole thing for me (with my permission and without having an agreement to steer my business to any one repair shop)…but the main thing was to get the car to a shop quickly, have it repaired quickly and get my out of my rental a back into my car. From start to finish, it was 10 days for the longest. But I did have to do some of the talking. My agent is the best, in my estimation and I have not given it a thought to “save 15% on my car insurance to switch to GEICO”. If this service can be patented, then many carriers must have lousy service…..and Progressive is beating them to the punch. But not my agent!
we need to go back to passenger trains anyway; more efficient with less energy usage
you’re probably right; there is no way we’ll continue with the oil based, internal combustion, single user automobile for much longer. What happens when the oil really does run out? I happen to like trains and would gladly ride light rail if it were available in my area.
Other insurance companies have “Concierge” claim services and call it that as well. So what in the world could progressive be doing that is so different from every other company that follows the marketing heard?