Progressive commercial insurance is a reliable and affordable option for business owners. The company offers a variety of coverage options, including property, liability, and workers’ compensation insurance. Pricing is based on the type and amount of coverage you need, as well as the size and location of your business. You can get a quote online, and coverage can start quickly.
Progressive Pros and Cons
There are many pros and cons to getting commercial insurance through Progressive. For instance, Progressive offers the following policies for your business: Commercial Auto Insurance, General Liability Insurance, Workers’ Compensation, Business Owners Policy (BOP), Professional Liability Insurance, and Cyber Insurance. Take a look at these high-level pros and cons of Progressive commercial insurance:
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
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AdvisorSmith Rating For Progressive
- Overall rating: [2.5] / 5 stars
- Coverage options: [2] / 5 stars (35% of overall rating)
- Cost: [4] / 5 stars (10% of overall rating)
- Ratings and complaints: [1.5] / 5 stars (15% of overall rating)
- Digital experience: [5] / 5 stars (20% of overall rating)
- Customer service: [1] / 5 stars (20% of overall rating)
Progressive Coverage Options
As mentioned above, Progressive offers coverage for business with Commercial Auto Insurance, General Liability Insurance, Workers’ Compensation, Business Owners Policy (BOP), Professional Liability Insurance, and Cyber Insurance. While these policies provide some coverage for your business, there are significant gaps. Especially if your company operates slightly outside the norm, you will need other policies with another provider to be fully protected from risks. Depending on your business and industry, you should have more protection options in place.
Commercial Crime Insurance would be helpful in protecting you from any internal or external crime, such as theft, fraud, embezzlement, etc. Any Cyber Insurance you purchase should cover data breaches too. Directors and Officers is foundational coverage that should be included in any company that has a board; you can’t operate without it. Fiduciary Liability is a policy you may want if you have any benefits plans that you offer to employees. With that, Employment Practices Liability (EPLI) is a basic policy that protects you in the event of claims brought against your company by employees. Tech Errors & Omissions is excluded in Progressive’s list of coverage options, and it’s a crucial part of risk management for any company that uses technology—which is to say any company.
Progressive Commercial Insurance Cost
In 2020, Progressive provided average and median costs for their policies. Premiums have significantly increased since then. In 2020, their average cost of Workers Compensation was $86/month, and the median was $80/month. Progressive’s Business Owners Policy cost an average of $84/month and a median of $85/month in 2020. General Liability had an average cost of $53/month and a median of $57/month. Finally, Professional Liability cost $46/month in 2020 and a median of $50/month. As these costs come from 2020 without the consideration of increased premiums and inflation, you should expect higher prices.
Progressive Ratings and Complaints
Business insurance reviews of Progressive are neither positive nor encouraging. The reviews across the board of Progressive range from bad to worse. Trustpilot, an external review collection site, rates Progressive 1.3 out of 5 stars, garnering a rating in “bad” territory. 12 pages of reviews list the bad experiences consumers and businesses alike have had with Progressive. Highlights from these reviews in 2022 include:
- “By far the most disappointing insurance”
- “Worst insurance company EVER!!”
- “Terrible customer service!”
- “This is really a zero rating”
- “Underwriter was very rude”
- “Beware of hidden cancellation terms!”
- “Beware of this company”
- “Stay away from Progressive”
- “The WORST insurance company out there”
Progressive Insurance Digital Experience
You can register and get a quote from Progressive pretty quickly. The digital experience doesn’t take long, if you have all of your information available, like statements and past policies. You can also get an instant quote which estimates how much you pay.
The online account management is fairly straightforward, and you can log in to your account to see what policies you have with Progressive. All in all, signing up for an account, like you can do on most sites, does not take long. If you have trouble understanding the more complex sides of insurance or what is actually covered by your policy with Progressive, you won’t find much help here though.
Filing a claim online is also terrible. What is included in your policy, will the claim be covered, can you get a real person to help you, how long will it take—who knows? Nothing is clear in the digital experience, and there is no one willing to help you.
Progressive Insurance Customer Service
Customer service, if you are ever available to get ahold of them, which you can’t do online, is awful. Look no further than the endless reviews you can find online, and trust them when they say help is not available.
“Where do I even begin? DO NOT GO WITH PROGRESSIVE! My claim adjuster continues to blatantly lie to me with a smile on her face that you can hear through the phone,” gripes one customer in a review. The customer continues to share, “And as icing on the cake, when I did speak with a customer service representative she was extremely empathetic, assuring me that I survived the wreck for a reason and that I have a purpose, even telling me how she was involved in a near death t-bone collision, only to soften me up enough to pitch her offer of rental insurance to bundle with my policy. I thought she was so genuine at first, but I immediately connected the dots that she was trying to manipulate me because her transition statement was too obvious to ignore. It started off as a question asking me to do her a favor and consider renters insurance. Now that she gained my empathy and support she really thought that I would just bundle renters insurance out [of] the kindness of my heart. This company is the worst company I’ve dealt with ever in my entire life.”
Other Services and Features That Progressive Offers
In addition to their core commercial insurance policies, Progressive offers policies that they promise you you can bundle and save. You may pay less with Progressive, but more in pain and suffering. You can be assured that you’ll be asked to buy more every step of the way. Progressive also offers car shopping services, online banking, and personal loans. Most of these can be accessed through their online platform.
What Is The Progressive Claims Process?
The claims process for Progressive sounds simple enough but is anything but convenient. You can file a claim online. You will then have to wait days or weeks, only to be asked for additional supporting documents. As more days and weeks pass, you may or may not hear from a live person to help you with your claim. At this point, it’s still unclear whether or not your claim is covered by the policy. If not, you will be asked if you’d like to buy more insurance.
How to Get Quotes From Progressive
You can get insurance quotes online from Progressive.
Bottom Line: Is Progressive a Good Company?
In the end, Progressive offers a speedy process for getting core insurance for your business, including Commercial Auto Insurance, General Liability Insurance, Workers’ Compensation, Business Owners Policy (BOP), Professional Liability Insurance, and Cyber Insurance. What they don’t offer is vital coverage like Employment Practices Liability, Directors & Officers, and more. So you will have to find an additional insurance provider for the extra coverage you’ll need. It’s not a one-stop shop, and the claims experience far undoes any good the digital experience provides.
Alternatives to Progressive
Progressive fails to offer a comprehensive insurance package for businesses, unlike providers Allstate, State Farm, and Embroker. Some of these offer the same benefit as Progressive does, such as shopping online or working alongside a broker to customize commercial coverage. While you can get some cheap policies with Progressive, they won’t be all of the policies you need, meaning you’ll have to find another provider to supplement coverage.
Because Progressive policies do not tend to stand up well in the event of a claim, you will have to suffer through the consequences of their cheap policies. Choosing a different carrier would be helpful if you want to work with a company that specializes in commercial insurance: from buying online to working with a real person to filing a claim and getting reimbursed.