If you get hurt in an accident, chances are insurance will play a role in paying for your care and expenses. Your auto or health insurance may cover some costs, for example. And the at-fault party’s liability insurance might also have an obligation to pay for your damages.
To obtain money from an insurance company, you typically have to file a claim, and having a personal injury lawyer on your side can greatly improve your chances of getting the compensation you deserve. Our attorneys often handle claims for clients against Progressive, one of the country’s largest insurance companies. Here’s an overview of some of the ways we do it.
How Progressive Injury Claims Reach Us?
We are a personal injury law firm. That means we spend our days fighting to get money for victims of preventable injuries, such as car accidents, slips and falls, and medical errors. When a client hires us to handle the process of securing money for a personal injury, one of our first orders of business is to identify the types and amounts of insurance coverage potentially available to pay our client’s claims.
Broadly speaking, our clients typically have the right to pursue payment from two categories of insurance:
- Insurance they purchased or that someone purchased on their behalf that covers their injuries and expenses; and
- Liability insurance is purchased by the party or parties who have legal liability for our client’s damages.
Progressive is one of the insurance companies we frequently encounter in our law practice. As a large insurance company, Progressive issues a wide range of insurance products. In investigating a client’s claims, it’s common for us to find that one or more of the following types of insurance sold by Progressive is a potential source of payment for our client’s injury-related losses:
Coverage Purchased by or for Our Client
- Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage
- Collision or personal property damage coverage
- Uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage
- Health or dental coverage
- Life insurance
- Workers’ compensation coverage
Coverage Purchased by a Legally Liable Party
- Motor or recreational vehicle (auto, motorcycle, RV, boat) liability coverage
- Homeowners liability coverage
- Commercial general liability coverage
- Professional liability or malpractice coverage
- Umbrella liability coverage
These aren’t the only types of insurance Progressive issues that we might run across while representing an injured individual. But they’re among the most common.
Steps We May Take in Handling a Progressive Injury Claim
Every case we handle in our personal injury law practice is unique. No two injuries or clients are the same. Accordingly, we always tailor the steps we take in a personal injury representation to our client’s particular needs and priorities, taking into account the circumstances of the accident and the harm it caused. Nothing we do is cookie-cutter.
That said, our team has years of experience handling claims in which a large insurance company like Progressive may owe money to our client. So, while every case differs, it’s common for our attorneys to take at least some of the following measures on our client’s behalf.
Case Investigation
The usual first step in obtaining compensation under a policy issued by an insurance company like Progressive is to learn as much as possible about what happened to our client. We approach every case open to all possibilities. Typically, our injured client or their loved ones will give us their account of the accident in a meeting with our team and may supply us with documentation like police reports, medical records, or correspondence from their insurance companies.
But that’s just the start. As a team of experienced personal injury attorneys, we know the importance of digging deeper. Securing maximum compensation for our client often involves looking past obvious conclusions to uncover evidence proving the liability of parties and insurers that other, less rigorous lawyers might overlook.
To that end, we might:
- Visit, photograph, and collect evidence at the accident scene
- Inspect damaged property or equipment
- Interview other parties involved and eyewitnesses
- Obtain and review documents or electronic records
- Consult forensic or medical experts
There’s no telling where we might find important evidence to support a claim. But wherever our investigation takes us, our goal is to build a case against as many potential sources of payment for our client’s losses as possible.
Damages Analysis
We also need to develop a clear understanding of the nature and extent of the harm our client has suffered. This is critical information because it dictates the amount of money we can claim as damages on our client’s behalf. It often surprises our clients to learn just how broad their rights are to receive compensation for their losses.
Our team evaluates all potential elements of a client’s damage claims, including their:
- Past and future medical expenses
- Other past and future expenditures related to their accident or injury
- Past lost earnings and job benefits from missing work with an injury
- Future lost earnings and benefits if they’re unable to return to work
- Physical pain and emotional distress
- Inconvenience and loss of quality or enjoyment of life
Based on the findings of our factual investigation, we also analyze whether our client’s case qualifies for a claim of punitive damages, which serves to punish a party at fault for harming our client. As mentioned above, our mission is to establish firm evidence documenting the maximum amount of compensation our client has the right to a personal injury claim.
Insurance Coverage Analysis
Another, often critical, part of our case preparation involves analyzing the insurance coverage potentially available to cover our client’s claims. Insurance policies issued by Progressive and its industry peers are contracts. They can be written in dense, highly specific language that takes training and experience to understand.
Our team works to obtain copies of all insurance policies potentially applicable to our client’s case and then reviews them with a fine tooth comb to learn precisely which of our client’s losses they may cover. It’s only after performing that analysis that we can feel confident about which claims for payment it’s worthwhile to pursue on our client’s behalf.
It bears noting that our analysis of insurance issued by Progressive or other insurers will sometimes reveal a maximum amount our client can realistically expect to recover as damages. Every insurance policy sets an upper limit on what the insurer will pay for a covered loss. Our insurance analysis pays close attention to how these limits may affect our client’s potential financial recovery.
Claim Strategy and Execution
Having gathered evidence and gained an understanding of our client’s rights to compensation, we will often perform an assessment of how to secure payment from Progressive and others as quickly and efficiently as possible.
The strategy we recommend to our client can depend on various factors, including the category and type of insurance Progressive has issued, the strength of the evidence supporting a claim, and the limits of the applicable insurance policies.
Generally speaking, the options for pursuing payment we have at our disposal usually include the following:
- Contacting Progressive, its policyholder, or their attorney to open informal discussions about paying our client’s damages;
- Preparing and submitting an insurance claim to Progressive for payment under a specific policy; or
- Preparing and filing a lawsuit for damages against Progressive or its policyholder in court.
These options aren’t mutually exclusive. We may recommend pursuing them all at once or one after the other, for example. It all depends on our client’s needs and our assessment of achieving the best possible result.
We cannot take action on any strategy, however, without our client’s sign-off. Once we have it, work diligently to execute the plan and push for a favorable resolution.
Interaction and Negotiation With Progressive or Its Policyholder
Whatever strategy we choose, it usually provokes a response from Progressive or its policyholder. If we go the route of informal outreach or filing an insurance claim, Progressive will typically assign an adjuster to review the file and give us a preliminary response. If we opt for legal action, the response may instead come from the policyholder’s defense lawyer.
The initial response to a claim however we present it to Progressive will usually take one of three basic positions:
- Acceptance of the claim and agreement to pay it promptly;
- Rejection of the claim and refusal to pay it; or
- Neither outright acceptance nor rejection of the claim, but a willingness to negotiate after further investigation.
Obviously, the first response is the ideal, and it does happen sometimes. But more often, the response takes one of the other two approaches. And that typically kicks off a period of information sharing and negotiation between our side, Progressive’s adjuster, and (when applicable) the policyholder’s defense attorney.
Our goal in those interactions and negotiations is to demonstrate the validity and strength of our client’s claim under the Progressive insurance policy at issue. We will often respond to requests for information, for example, to resolve any concerns or questions Progressive or its policyholder raise. Through this process, we may also learn additional facts that could strengthen or weaken our client’s claim for payment.
Frequently, the process culminates in successful settlement negotiations. A settlement is an agreement to resolve a claim. In the typical settlement involving a Progressive insurance policy, Progressive agrees to pay our client money in exchange for our client agreeing to release Progressive and its policyholder from further liability. We have years of experience and a solid track record of negotiating favorable settlements with insurance companies like Progressive.
Taking Progressive or Its Policyholder to Court
Sometimes, however, negotiations fail to achieve an acceptable settlement of our client’s claim under a policy issued by Progressive. In those circumstances, we may decide it’s in our client’s best interests to take the claim to court to be presented to a judge and jury at trial. At a trial, our attorneys present evidence to prove why Progressive or its policyholder should pay for the harm our client suffered. Progressive or its policyholder has an opportunity to present evidence, too, and to argue why they should not have to pay at all or as much as our client wants.
When a Progressive injury case goes to trial, a judge or jury decides whether and how much Progressive should pay. If we succeed in proving our case and win a favorable judgment from the court, Progressive generally has a legal obligation to pay the amount awarded.
How We Charge for a Progressive Injury Claim
As the discussion above reflects, obtaining payment from Progressive can sometimes require a fair amount of work on our part. And that might lead you to wonder: Can I afford a lawyer to handle my Progressive injury claim?
The answer is an emphatic Yes, you can! In cases involving claims under policies issued by Progressive, our firm virtually always represents clients on a contingent fee basis. That means we do our work in exchange for a portion of the money we succeed in obtaining from Progressive on our client’s behalf.
We don’t ask our clients to pay us upfront for our work, and we don’t bill hundreds of dollars per hour. We only get paid if we get results from Progressive for our client.
We handle cases on contingency because we understand that accidental injuries frequently put our clients under intense financial strain. The last thing they need is to add another expense to their lives. By working for a contingent fee, we make it possible for anyone who needs our help pursuing a Progressive injury claim to afford to hire us.
Contact a Skilled Progressive Injury Claim Lawyer Today
If you suffered injuries in an accident, an insurance policy issued to you or someone else by Progressive may cover some of your losses. But you can’t count on it being easy to convince Progressive to hand you the full amount you need to pay your expenses. Often, it takes the hard work of a skilled attorney to hold Progressive to its obligations.
Don’t wait to seek the legal help you need. Contact a talented Levin Firm's Progressive injury claim lawyer today to discuss your injury and potential claim in a free consultation.