Submitted by proboscisjoe t3_11e4g3e in LifeProTips
I switched from GEICO to Progressive about a year ago and got into my first ever at-fault accident in my brand new car exactly three days later (been driving for ~15 years). It was a minor fender bender a parking lot and the collision avoidance failed to detect the hitch on a pickup truck.
When my premium for the first renewal term doubled, I thought I understood why and accepted the hike. Now, I’m facing a 60% increase for the second renewal coming up in a few weeks, and an 80% increase is estimated for the third renewal six months from now.
Seeing the writing on the wall with this trend, I reached out to Progressive to find out how I could possibly lower my premium. Long story short, I was told that I had points on my record for two at-fault accidents, and that having more than one accident within three years — the first supposed one was in 2021 — was hurting my risk score badly.
They claimed to use a third-party company named LexisNexis to provide driver history reports and said I could either dispute with them or get my old insurance company to send them a letter detailing my accurate claim information.
After getting the run-around from LexisNexis, I called GEICO and was able to get the letter that Progressive asked for rather quickly. Now, I’m waiting for Progressive to process the info and tell me how much my renewal premiums will decrease. I also asked if it’s possible to get a refund for the overpayments I’ve already made based on their flawed assessment of my risk due to the incorrect LexisNexis information. We’ll see how it goes.
Tl;dr. I’ve been overpaying on auto insurance premiums for a year because my new insurance company’s 3rd-party partner told them I had an at-fault accident that never happened. I got my old insurance company to send my true/accurate history to the new one and am waiting to see how much my renewal policy for the next six months will decrease, and if I can get a refund for overpaying for my first two 6-month periods.
UPDATE: Progressive just lowered my premium by 21.35% ($370)!