Progressive Settles 80 Percent of Hurricane Dennis Fla. Auto Claims

Hurricane Dennis hit the Florida Panhandle 16 days ago, yet Progressive, Florida’s fourth largest auto insurer reports it has settled 80 percent of its auto claims resulting from the hurricane.

“The phones started ringing when Dennis came ashore on Sunday, July 10, and since then, we haven’t stopped inspecting vehicles and settling claims,” Scott Snapp, national catastrophe response manager, The Progressive Group of Insurance Companies told the Auto Channel.

Before Dennis made landfall, Progressive set plans in motion to place a Catastrophe Command Center in Pensacola, Fla., and to stage several remote sites throughout the Pensacola area and in Mobile, Ala. The company also benefited from using catastrophe claims forecast modeling techniques that are improved since the hectic 2004 hurricane season.

Progressive has also settled more than half of all reported boat, motorcycle and recreational vehicle claims. According to Progressive, these claims typically have a slower closure rate than auto claims because people tend to take care of their damaged homes and cars first.