Progressive Life Insurance Review

Did you know there are over 800 companies that sell life insurance?

How do you pick the best one?

As life insurance specialists, we know the strengths and weaknesses of every company. Today we’ll explore Progressive Life Insurance Company.

About Progressive Life Insurance Company

Despite its nouveau image, Progressive has actually been in the insurance industry since 1937. It’s best known for providing car insurance and is a major advertising force in that arena. It’s grown to become one of the nation’s largest auto insurers, and has over $23 billion in written premiums, with more than 13 million policies in force. The company has over 27,000 employees and is headquartered in Mayfield Village, Ohio.

In addition to a very long list of insurance products and other services, Progressive is also a significant provider of life insurance products, particularly term life insurance. Progressive is a publicly traded company and a component of the S&P 500. Its stock (PGR) trades on the New York Stock Exchange.

Progressive Life Insurance Ratings

Progressive has high ratings among the popular third-party business rating services. This includes both industry rating services and the Better Business Bureau (BBB).

Here are the most recent ratings on the company:

• Standard & Poor’s: “AA”
• A.M. Best: “A+ Superior”
• Moody’s: “Aa2
• Fitch: “AA”
• Better Business Bureau: “A+” (on a scale of A+ to F)

Products Offered by Progressive

Progressive is best known for car insurance where they have among the lowest premiums in the industry. But that’s hardly all that they offer. Other insurance offerings include:

• Life insurance
• Home insurance
• Renter’s insurance
• Motorcycle insurance
• Boat insurance
• Recreational vehicle (RV) insurance
• Commercial insurance

Some of their more unusual insurance offerings include classic cars, snowmobiles, ATVs, PWC’s, golf carts and segues. It’s a pretty safe assumption that if it moves, Progressive covers it.

But even if it doesn’t move, Progressive has a wider variety of insurance plans than just about any other company. For example, they have health insurance for pets (cats and dogs only), health insurance for people, wedding and event insurance, travel insurance, and coverage for phone and electronic devices.

They’ve also moved well beyond insurance. Through partnerships with other well-known companies, Progressive offers the following programs:

Progressive Mechanical Repair Plans. This is a plan to manage out-of-pocket car expenses through mechanical breakdown protection. It’s provided by Warranty Direct.

Progressive ID Protection by Experian. With this plan, you’ll be notified if any potentially suspicious activity is detected on your credit report. And if it is, they have experienced ID theft protection staff ready to help. The service is available for $9.95 per month, which reflects a 37% discount for Progressive customers.

Progressive Auto Financing by Capital One. You can apply online for an auto loan for either purchase or refinance. The entire process takes place online, so you’ll be ready to go when it’s time to make the buy.

Progressive Car Shopping Service. The plan is provided by TrueCar, that enables you to browse an extensive inventory of used cars before you even go to the dealerships. They advertise that the typical new car buyer saves an average of $3,106 off manufacturer’s suggested retail prices.

Progressive Life Insurance Term Life Insurance

Progressive Life Insurance offers whole life and universal life policies, but it’s biggest life insurance offering is term life insurance. They offer it with the following terms:

• Terms of 10, 15, 20 or 30 years.
• Minimum policy death benefit, $100,000, up to a maximum of $1 million.
• Age range, 18 to 80 years old.
• Most plans require a brief medical exam to help you get the best rates.
• Premium payments can be made monthly, quarterly or annually.

Life insurance is provided through Progressive’s partnership with Efinancial, which is to say that you’re not actually getting the policy through Progressive.

Why Term Insurance?

Term life insurance has the advantage of being substantially less expensive than whole life, and other types of permanent life insurance. In fact, the premium may be no more than 10% of the cost of a whole life insurance premium for the same amount of coverage.

Term life insurance works well when you have a limited budget, but a current need for a large amount of life insurance. It’s perfect for paying off your mortgage, creating a buy/sell agreement with a business partner, or having extra insurance coverage available just in case you’re not around to pay for your children’s college educations. It can also be a viable alternative if you have certain medical conditions, that leave you unable to get permanent life insurance or get it at affordable rates.

At the end of the time of greatest financial need, you can either reduce the amount of coverage you have, or cancel the policy entirely. It’s a perfect type of life insurance to match coverage with actual expenses.

Progressive Life Insurance Customer Service

Progressive is one of the top insurance companies when it comes to customer service. However, if you purchase life insurance, you will actually be dealing with Efinancial. It’s their customer service you’ll be working with.

You can complete the entire insurance application process online, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. That’s also true of their customer support, where you can get live support any time of the day or night. (Many insurance companies only have live customer support during regular business hours.)

Efinancial reportedly has an excellent customer complaint resolution process, that’s one of the best in the industry. That’s a relief if you have any questions or issues about your policy after taking it.

Efinancial Life Insurance Drill Down

Efinancial is actually an insurance broker. They use searching technology designed to find you the best term insurance rates. You complete an online questionnaire, and the program will search through the top life insurance companies.

The end result will be a comparison of as many as 12 of the most competitively priced policies available. You will also receive easy-to-understand facts about the specific policy, as well as the company that’s offering it. Efinancial works with over 100 life insurance companies to find the best policies for their customers. This avoids the need to go insurance shopping between the various companies. You can search dozens of companies on one website.

The company claims that you can typically save up to 70% on your life insurance rates. This might be true for some people, but it’s a high volume call center type of business that may not go the extra mile to explore all options like other independent life insurance agents will.

Equally important, if you change your mind during the application process, you can receive a full refund of the premium paid, with no questions asked. The guarantee is good for up to 30 full days after you receive the policy.

No Medical Exam Life Insurance. This is a type of life insurance policy that does not require you to submit to a medical exam as part of the application process. They’re generally a little more expensive than policies that do require an exam, but it’s a way to get coverage if you have certain conditions that might result in a decline.

Progressive Life Insurance Pros and Cons

Progressive Life Insurance Pros:

• Since Progressive offers nearly any type of insurance coverage that exists, you’ll have an opportunity to get other coverages as needed from the same source, if not company.
• The multitude of insurance policy types raises the opportunity to get advantageous prices packages through “bundling policies”.
• The company is highly regarded by the rating agencies, which is a strong indication of its financial integrity.
• 24/7 customer service with both Progressive and Efinancial.
• Full menu of additional services, including auto insurance, homeowner’s and renter’s insurance, insurance for unusual vehicles, pet medical insurance, and even auto financing, repair and shopping services.

Progressive Life Insurance Cons:

• You’ll be getting your life insurance through Efinancial, which is not the same company as Progressive. The “Progressive Karma” may not carry over.
• May not have the personal attention and service from a dedicated life insurance agent who will research and shop you around to the fine policy. Efinancial will rely on automated quotes.

Should You Get a Term Life Policy Through Progressive Life Insurance?

The Progressive/Efinancial alliance is a strong partnership, one that has existed for several years. It combines the marketing prowess of Progressive, with the insurance expertise of Efinancial, which specializes in life insurance.

One of the major benefits of working with any service under the Progresive umbrella is that you have access to so many other products and services. You can start out with a life insurance policy, and later add auto insurance, homeowner’s insurance, or any of the many auto-related services the company offers.

It’s a real opportunity to combine several services with the same company, and take advantage of any discounts that are offered as a result of bundling offers.

Give us a call, or complete the quote form to the left of this article, and we’ll see if Progressive – or another insurance company – is the right choice for you. As an insurance broker, we work with them all, and we’ll work to get you the best policy for the lowest premium.