Posted on 05/20/2007 2:14:06 PM PDT by DogByte6RER
Auto insurer's repair program crashes straight into criticism
By Penni Crabtree
STAFF WRITER
May 20, 2007
The advertising for Progressive Insurance Co.'s Concierge program makes the prospect of a fender bender seem almost like a vacation.
A man lies back in a hammock, arms folded behind his neck, eyes closed, with a broad smile. “Announcing the only claims service that lets you relax while the insurance company does all the work,” Progressive's brochure proclaims.
Earnie Grafton / U-T Maria Vasquez Lopez says her car still had problems, such as a faulty back hatch, after she had it repaired through the Concierge program. Yet some consumer advocates and auto repair industry trade groups find little to be relaxed about in the Ohio-based insurer's collision repair service. They maintain that the program – in which Progressive examines a customer's damaged vehicle, writes the initial repair estimate and picks an auto repair shop out of the company's small network of contract shops – undermines the state's anti-steering laws.
In California, where more than 2 million repair jobs are done annually, it is illegal for an insurer to direct or recommend that a vehicle be repaired at a particular shop unless a customer requests a referral.
Auto repairs in the state amount to about $4 billion to $5 billion a year, according to the California Autobody Association.
Critics of Progressive's Concierge program also say its focus on controlling costs can lead to cut corners.
Rosemary Shahan, president of the Sacramento-based Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group, said the Concierge program is “fraught with peril” because Progressive has undue control over the auto repair process.
“California outlawed steering, but this is like steering on steroids,” said Shahan. “It's 'Welcome to my parlor, said the spider to the fly.' The consumer is taken out of the repair-process loop, and that opens them to some real problems, including cut-rate repairs.”
One auto repair trade group, the Collision Repair Association of California, has filed a court action that challenges the legal status of the Concierge service center in San Diego, the only site in California where the program is currently offered.
Progressive officials counter that their program, which is intended to be rolled out statewide, is legal and consumer-friendly. Progressive, the nation's third-largest auto insurer, operates 55 Concierge centers in 25 states.
Stann Rose, state claims manager for Progressive, said the program's focus is to retain customer loyalty by providing insured clients with a fast and convenient service. Progressive is the eighth-largest auto insurer in California.
Under the California program, a Progressive client involved in a collision, or a car owner whose vehicle is hit by a Progressive client, can choose to drop off the damaged car at Progressive's Concierge facility on Ruffin Road in Kearny Mesa and leave the repair process to the insurance company.
The Concierge facility performs the initial inspection, writes an estimate and farms the work out to a contracted repair shop in its network. The repair shop picks up the car at the Progressive facility, and has an opportunity to go over the estimate and argue for repair changes and additions.
During a three-way telephone call among the insurer, the repair shop and the car owner, the repair shop's representative goes over the estimate with the owner and gets approval for the repairs.
After the repairs are completed, the repair shop delivers the car to Progressive, where the insurer conducts an inspection before contacting the customer to pick up the vehicle.
Rose said the Concierge process is “transparent” and that there is no pressure on customers to use it. About 15 percent of Progressive customers in San Diego who had damage to their vehicles chose to use the Concierge service in the past year.
“If the customer tells us they have a shop of their own, we don't offer them any other choice – they've made their decision,” said Rose. “In areas served by our service centers, we let them know they qualify for our Concierge service. If they say they want to hear more about Concierge, we tell them. If they say they're not interested in Concierge, we explain their choice of using their own body shop.
“The idea that somehow this thing is designed around how to cheat the consumer is absurd,” Rose said.
Allen Wood, executive director of the Collision Repair Association, said the Concierge program is aimed at reducing Progressive's claim costs at the expense of auto repair shops and consumers.
The group maintains that the Concierge facility is a de facto auto repair shop operating outside state law. In October, the association filed a legal action against the California Bureau of Automotive Repair, which regulates auto repair shops in the state, alleging the bureau was failing to enforce laws that require such shops to register and comply with licensing and regulatory procedures.
The Collision Repair Association maintains that Progressive does “tear-down” work on damaged vehicles to come up with its repair estimates. Not registering its San Diego facility with the state bureau gives it an unfair business advantage over regulated auto repair shops, Wood said.
Progressive's Rose said the facility does not do full tear-downs and so should not be governed by bureau regulations. He acknowledged that the facility removes parts, such as bumpers, to determine vehicle damage, but said the work does not qualify as a tear-down.
Wood said Progressive does not want to register with the bureau because it would have to comply with state laws regulating the auto repair industry – including shouldering certain liabilities for shoddy repair work.
“They are trying to pass all the liability onto the repair shops they contract with, but Progressive controls the transaction by controlling the costs of repairs,” Wood said. “There is a facade of helping the consumer, but in fact, it is all about getting the cars fixed as cheap as they can, and in some cases ignoring repairs that need to be done.”
Cease-and-desist order The insurance industry's influence in Sacramento is noted by critics who have watched Progressive's effort to introduce the Concierge program in California. One veteran insurance lobbyist, Dan Dunmoyer, is now the governor's deputy chief of staff. Dunmoyer used to represent the Personal Insurance Federation, which represents Progressive, State Farm and other insurers; those companies have donated more than $200,000 to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaign accounts.
In 2005, Progressive and the Personal Insurance Federation backed a failed bill that attempted to remove a provision in California law that prevents insurance companies from acting on behalf of a vehicle owner to arrange for the repair of a car.
The bill, sponsored by then-Assemblyman Ron Calderon, a Democrat from Montebello who now serves in the state Senate, would have allowed a slightly different version of Progressive's Concierge program in California. Among the differences, consumers would have had no communication with the repair shops used by Progressive.
Although that bill failed, Progressive opened a modified version of its Concierge program in San Diego in April 2006, despite warnings from the Bureau of Automotive Repairs at the time that the insurer would likely have to register the facility as an auto repair shop.
The bureau, then under the leadership of Richard Ross, inspected the facility last May and, in August, issued a cease-and-desist order barring Progressive from operating the facility until it registered. Ross resigned that month to accept a position at the California Gambling Control Commission.
Progressive attorneys and lobbyists disputed the bureau's findings, and informal meetings were held between the bureau and Progressive representatives.
Meanwhile, in October, the Collision Repair Association filed its legal action to get the bureau to enforce the cease-and-desist order.
The same month, Schwarzenegger announced the appointment of a new bureau chief, Sherry Mehl, a former chief deputy director for the Department of Consumer Affairs. On Dec. 6, the bureau rescinded the cease-and-desist order.
Russ Heimerich, a spokesman for the California Department of Consumer Affairs, which oversees the bureau, said the bureau had presumed tear-down activities were taking place when the cease-and-desist letter was issued. The bureau subsequently determined that tear-downs were not occurring at the facility and rescinded the letter, he said.
Progressive's Rose said allegations that politics played a part in the bureau's actions are unfounded.
“It is easy to make accusations, but I don't think they are fair, and I don't think they are accurate,” said Rose. “This isn't some political deal.”
Customer comments Rose said that 3,500 cars have been serviced through the San Diego Concierge program since it opened last year, and customer surveys indicate a high level of satisfaction with the process. Angelic Luna of North Park said she appreciated the speedy, no-hassle service she received through the Concierge service when her Progressive-insured car was hit by another vehicle in March.
“They told me about the program and how it works, indicated they'd be able to work within the time range I needed, have a rental vehicle for me, and that it would be a fast in-and-out process,” said Luna, 23, who agreed at Progressive's request to talk to The San Diego Union-Tribune. “Literally, all I had to do was sign a paper and pick up the rental.”
Luna said the damage estimate on her 1999 Nissan Sentra was $1,700, which included replacement of the driver-side door.
“They kept the original window but replaced everything else,” Luna said. “They actually vacuumed the car, so that was nice as well.”
Yet critics say programs like Concierge can create incentives to cut corners. For example, an insurer might stop giving business to contracted repair shops that dispute the initial cost estimate, or that deem extra work necessary after repairs are under way, critics said.
Maria Vasquez Lopez, a San Diego woman who initially had her Chevrolet TrailBlazer repaired through the Concierge program in November, said she believes corners were cut when her vehicle was worked on. She filed a complaint with the Bureau of Auto Repair.
Vasquez, whose vehicle was hit by a driver insured by Progressive, said she agreed to have her car towed from a repair shop that wasn't part of the Concierge network to a Progressive-affiliated shop after a Progressive claims representative told her the company would guarantee repairs done only within its network.
Rose said Progressive “cannot stand behind work done by shops with which we are unfamiliar.”
When Vasquez and her husband, Ricardo Lopez, went to pick up the repaired car, they immediately noticed several problems, including a back hatch that didn't close properly.
The couple asked that the repairs be made again and, a few days later, went back for the re-repaired vehicle. But the hatch still didn't close properly and more problems were identified, including scratches on the window and mismatching paint on the bumper, Vasquez said.
In frustration, Vasquez took the car to an auto body shop that wasn't affiliated with Progressive and paid for a new inspection. The shop found that some repairs that had been charged weren't done or were done in a substandard manner, according to Vasquez.
Ultimately, Progressive agreed to pay an additional $9,700 to restore the SUV to its preaccident condition, Vasquez said.
“I remember telling Progressive at the time that I was having to fight for a right that was mine – to have my vehicle fixed,” Vasquez said. “And it was being taken away by them.”
Shawn Fergus, a spokesman for Progressive, said that in Vasquez's case, “our estimate wasn't as accurate as it should have been.” Additionally, the shop doing the repairs “didn't identify the additional damage that should have been discovered once the repair process was under way,” he said.
“These circumstances led to the incomplete and poor-quality work that was originally done on Ms. Vasquez's vehicle,” Fergus said. “Based on our customer satisfaction numbers, this is clearly not indicative of the quality of the estimates we write or the work of the shops with which we do business.”
A couple links regarding Progresive Insurance’s ties with far left-wing causes:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1375232/posts
http://www.afa.net/progressive.asp
http://www.hannity.com/forum/showthread.php?t=45257&page=12
I was recently involved in an auto accident after which my vehicle was repaired at a dealership. I asked the guy handling my account which insurance company, from his perspective, was good at handling claim work. He mentioned a couple without identifying a favorite but one thing he said emphatically, stay away from Progressive. PS - Luckily for me my accident involved an illegal alien who possessed neither a driver’s license or insurance so I got to claim all the repairs on my own insurance. Yea!
Good points. Anything that cuts them is ok with me.
Agreed.
13 Dec 2005 15:52 GMT
Conservatives Urged to Avoid Progressive Insurance
CNSNews.com
A conservative advocacy group is urging its supporters to cancel their
policies with Progressive Insurance, after Peter Lewis, the company’s
chairman, reportedly gave $8.5 million to the American Civil Liberties
Union. The multi-million dollar donation will help the ACLU advance
its liberal agenda, including its “war on Christmas,” the American
Family Association warned. In an email message, AFA Founder and
Chairman Don Wildmon urged his supporters to “sign a letter to
Chairman Lewis, letting him know” that his donation to the ACLU is
prompting conservatives to cancel their insurance policies.
Now that congress has deemed illegality as a justification for reward I want my car insurance premiums adjusted downward based on the number of stop signs I run... :-)
Progressive is near our own back yard in Mayfield Hts,(Cleveland freeper burbs).
Agreed!
Kalifornicate Deserves Progressive Ins Co......LOL...
“there should not be one FReeper that uses ‘Progressive’”.
You mean there is one?:)
I bet there are a few hundred that still use progressive, alot of freepers just don’t know the facts or care.
I wouldn’t buy anything from Progressive since they give money to far left groups.
AIG...isn’t that China based and/or funded?
I don’t have Progressive and never would, but I had to deal with them recently when I was hit by an idiot who did have them. Overall it was an ok experience. I used Progressive’s recommended body shop after checking on them with the local BBB. I’m satisfied with the work so far and it has a lifetime guarantee.
I use progressive for my ATV insurance. Less than three months after taking out the policy, my ATV was stolen (from the church parking lot during services). Progressive paid promptly with only the expected questions. I insured my replacement with Progressive with no increase in premiums.
"Women, men, and children involved in accidents hit hardest."
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