Progressive Pays Lawyer to Defend Its Customer's Killer

There is a viral catastrophe happening at Progressive this week. And I think it proves what I have said all along. Even when you are making a claim on your own insurance policy (whether uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage, or even medical payments coverage) you should get your own lawyer. A lawyer that works for you. Your own insurance certainly has lawyers that work for them. And lawyers are like nuclear weapons. When one side gets one, the other side must get one.

Comedian Matt Fisher says: "On June 19, 2010, my sister was driving in Baltimore when her car was struck by another car and she was killed. The other driver had run a red light and hit my sister as she crossed the intersection on the green light… At the trial, the guy who killed my sister was defended by Progressive’s legal team. If you are insured by Progressive, and they owe you money, they will defend your killer in court in order to not pay you your policy."

Progressive attempted damage control by denying that they hired a lawyer for their own insured’s killer. They claimed that another insurance company lawyer hired by Nationwide represented the killer. Matt Fisher, who attended the trial, responded that Progressive was lying. He said:

At the beginning of the trial on Monday, August 6th, an attorney identified himself as Jeffrey R. Moffat and stated that he worked for Progressive Advanced Insurance Company.

• He then sat next to the defendant. 
• During the trial, both in and out of the courtroom, he conferred with the defendant. 
• He gave an opening statement to the jury, in which he proposed the idea that the defendant should not be found negligent in the case. 
• He cross-examined the plaintiff’s witnesses. On direct examination, he questioned all of the defense’s witnesses. 
• He made objections on behalf of the defendant, and he was a party to the argument of all of the objections heard in the case. 
• After all of the witnesses had been called, he stood before the jury and gave a closing argument, in which he argued that my sister was responsible for the accident that killed her, and that the jury should not decide that the defendant was negligent.

I want to take time to respond to one of Progressive’s more esoteric defenses of its actions. Progressive says that under Maryland law, in order to receive the benefits of an underinsured driver claim, the other driver must be at fault. Sometimes this can be proven without the need for a trial. What they are not telling you is that the Maryland law, which prohibits people from suing their insurance company directly and forcing them to pay in case like this, was bought and paid for by Progressive and the other auto insurance companies. I did a survey of lawsuits with insurance companies as defendants in Jackson County, Missouri. There were 17 lawsuits in Jackson County one year. The insurance company defendant lost every one of them. Insurance companies know that juries hate them when they collect premium but refuse to pay claims. So the insurance companies lobby for laws that prevent them from being sued by their own customers.

Progressive spends a huge amount on money on advertising. More than $300 million a year. Along with other insurance companies, Progressive uses an assortment of characters, endorsers and spokesbeasts. Others include Allstate, State Farm and, of course, Geico, which has its gecko and cave men, along with a “googly eyes” creature and the latest arrival, a pitchman with a loud and powerful voice who asks odd questions.

Progressive’s spokesperson “Flo,” played by actress Stephanie Courtney, has been around since 2008. She talks about everything—except insurance. And she certainly never mentions how often Progressive denies claims, negotiates aggressively and, yes, defends the people that kill their own customers.

Now, thanks to the ability of one person to publish his opinion on the internet, Flo is a liability.  BoingBoing said that the company was way too slow to replace her avatar with the corporate logo on its main Twitter account -- leaving Flo to smile maddeningly as she robo-spammed canned responses at people who had read Fisher's story and were horrified.

This is not what Progressive pays hundreds of millions a year for. In the past, the biggest question was whether Flo was hot or not. Actress Courtney said, On her sex appeal: "I don't know what it is. The way I play her, she's pretty much the most asexual thing on TV right now. I think the Geico lizard puts out more sexual vibes than Flo does."

Progressive, State Farm, American Family—they cannot hide the truth. They are in business to make money. They make money by collecting insurance premiums (that you are forced by law to pay) and they save money by refusing to pay on claims. That is the bottom line. You need a lawyer to protect your interests and make sure that you are getting the money that you deserve.

As AdWeek.com said, “In the end, Flo will survive—she's too big to fail. But don't expect her to utter a word about this. As Go Daddy would say, she's what's outside. The lawyers are what's inside.”

Do you think this is an isolated incident? Read More:

Underinsured Motorist Insurance Ripoff: Another Iowa Insurance Company Refuses to Pay Underinsured Motorist Claims

American Family Refuses to Pay $5 Million Judgment Against Its Customer

State Farm At It Again

Like A Good Neighbor: State Farm Is There Unless Your Child Gets Hurt Real Bad

All Your Protection Under One Roof: How American Family Treats Its Customers

Family Says Progressive Defended Killer