Is Progressive Dragging Their Feet?

[lorrieduke]

I was involved in a car accident September 25, 2014. Other party was at fault and has Progressive Insurance who back in October accepted liability. About a week before Christmas I finished up with physical therapy and I'm pretty much fully recovered. My medical bills total is nearly $20,000. Progressive has sent me a check for damage to personal property. No settlement offers been made yet because like I said I finished with all medical treatments towards the end of December. At that time they received the last remaining medical bills from me.
I guess I'm frustrated because it's been three weeks since last speaking to them. At that time the claims department said since my bills were so much money they had to be sent to another department/person and they were going to call me back in a day or two. I haven't heard from them since (3 weeks). My question is.. Is this normal? I do realize it's only been 3 weeks but my mind is spinning with all kinds of negative things and maybe I should relax and just give them time?? But how long? What is normal?

 

[djs]

They will normally clear this in about 30 days, so you still have a bit of time.

If it goes over 30 days, they will likely send you a letter with a reason why its taking longer than that. No need to worry till then, and even then, its usually an administrative thing.

The only concern I would have is the other parties liability limits and that he had enough coverage to pay for it all. They usually mention this part pretty quickly though.

Dan

 

[agentinsouth]

I was involved in a car accident September 25, 2014. Other party was at fault and has Progressive Insurance who back in October accepted liability. About a week before Christmas I finished up with physical therapy and I'm pretty much fully recovered. My medical bills total is nearly $20,000. Progressive has sent me a check for damage to personal property. No settlement offers been made yet because like I said I finished with all medical treatments towards the end of December. At that time they received the last remaining medical bills from me. I guess I'm frustrated because it's been three weeks since last speaking to them. At that time the claims department said since my bills were so much money they had to be sent to another department/person and they were going to call me back in a day or two. I haven't heard from them since (3 weeks). My question is.. Is this normal? I do realize it's only been 3 weeks but my mind is spinning with all kinds of negative things and maybe I should relax and just give them time?? But how long? What is normal?

Your complaining about a huge corporation not sending a check in under 3 week! Really? 30-45 days is normal, but it could take longer depending on the circumstances.

 

[lorrieduke]

Your complaining about a huge corporation not sending a check in under 3 week! Really? 30-45 days is normal, but it could take longer depending on the circumstances.

Yea really!!
I'm complaining because this "huge corporation" didn't call me back in a day or two like they said. Regardless of their "size" I do have $20,000 worth of medical bills that need to be paid.

 

[agentinsouth]

Yea really!! I'm complaining because this "huge corporation" didn't call me back in a day or two like they said. Regardless of their "size" I do have $20,000 worth of medical bills that need to be paid.

Our experience contradicts Veto's, I mean Obama, comments on the state of industry. Claims adjusters, especially on the auto side, are over worked w/ more cases than ever before and not paid that great. Not making excuses for the claims adjusters because it is hard for an agent to get a return phone call due to their work load. I have found that claims adjusters respond w/ in 48 hours with a nice email. If you are
rude.... Forget it, you will never get anything returned other than the check and letter in the mail one day.

Also, it is a lot of money and they have to make sure everything is correctly documented. As a result, it is going to take longer to receive a $20k check than a $1,500 check.

If it were me, I would leave a polite voicemail message on Monday, followed by an email simply asking for a status update.

 

[lorrieduke]

Our experience contradicts Veto's, I mean Obama, comments on the state of industry. Claims adjusters, especially on the auto side, are over worked w/ more cases than ever before and not paid that great. Not making excuses for the claims adjusters because it is hard for an agent to get a return phone call due to their work load. I have found that claims adjusters respond w/ in 48 hours with a nice email. If you are
rude.... Forget it, you will never get anything returned other than the check and letter in the mail one day.

Also, it is a lot of money and they have to make sure everything is correctly documented. As a result, it is going to take longer to receive a $20k check than a $1,500 check.

If it were me, I would leave a polite voicemail message on Monday, followed by an email simply asking for a status update.

Thank you! That's what I'll do.

 

[lorrieduke]

Okay so here I am. Six months later. I left polite voicemails, emails and finally just two weeks ago got a call from the adjuster. She tells me she's been trying to find out what Blueshield paid because, she says Progressive is entitled to the same discounts etc. I agreed and told her all she had to do was call and I would gladly fax over all the explanation of benefits regarding the accident.
Come on, I thought.. Rediculous! Pick up the phone and call me lady. Anyway, I faxed them to her. This was two weeks ago. Just wondering what the hell they're doing over there at Progressive. Although they've already said they're accepting liability, I'm beginning to question their motives and wonder if stalling is a tactic? For example- after Blueshield pays I still have a $2,000 deductible plus $1,590 in co-pays. Knowing these doctors are going to want ALL their money sooner rather than later maybe Progressive is dragging their feet and maybe, just maybe I'll be so desperate by then, I'll settle for less! I know. It's laughable but nonetheless, it's crossed my mind.

 

[djs]

They are trying to get hold of Blueshield, they need all of the payments and need confirmation of that. They likely have to reimburse blueshield for the payments that were made by them.

You may be in a situation where the policy limits of the person who hit you have been exceeded or are close to the limit. If this happens, they make payments based on a pro-rata basis, so they need to see who is owed what and then split it up appropriately.

Dan

 

[indienoise]

Plus, you can't hold an adjuster to a timeline based on when the incident was. They can't start trying to pay out until ALL expenses have been tallied, they don't pay this stuff piecemeal. So really, you're still under 60 days and you have both subrogation AND policy limits issues at play. This may take a while.

I know you're anxious about getting this settled, but it WILL take some time.

I've worked this kind of stuff from every angle EXCEPT claims adjuster: I spent five years in the personal injury law field, several years as lienholder, and a couple of years now as an insurance agent. I understand you're experiencing a bit of a delay, but this is not out of the ordinary. Hope everything works out for you in a timely manner, best of luck.

 

[lorrieduke]

Indienoise- what do you mean I'm still under 60 days? The accident was September 24, 2014. I don't understand what you're saying.
Dan- they can't just pay Blueshield unless I accept a settlement offer right? I mean they won't just pay Blueshield before settling up. Is that correct?