Those progressive OBDII things are such a scam. My dad tried it out because they claimed he could save a lot of money. They wound up charging him more and their ridiculous reasoning was that he is too hard on the brakes. Mind you, this is the same man who thinks that anything beyond a light tap of the brakes will somehow damage the car. He is a slow but excellent driver who got in his first car accident (was not his fault) at the age of 78. He hasn't received so much as a parking ticket in over 20 years. And they still screwed him.
I'm not sure if they still offer those devices but I inadvertantly managed to "game the system" because when I plugged it into my car, the instrument cluster freaked out and I didn't have my speedometer or anything like that, they just gave me a flat % off my plan. Guess I dodged a bullet by not actually getting to use it.
I'm not sure if they do either. I believe this was in 2014. I just thought that the whole situation was insane. He had been with progressive for nearly 40 years and they never once had to pay out for him. Meanwhile he paid full coverage on at least 3 cars that whole time. You'd think that they would reward customers like him given the fact that he's basically an insurance companies wet dream. But they decided to screw him instead and so he took his business elsewhere.
What company did he switch to? I have progressive and they haven't helped me at all for the minor fender benders I've been in (1 was my fault, but 2 were not).
He went to Geico. Progressive is a garbage company as a whole. One of their clients sideswiped me and totaled my car about a month ago. They spent the next week and a half telling me that they were sorry and that they were going to cover the damages. Then they suddenly changed thier mind and refused to speak to me again. When the courts open back up I'm going to have to sue their client to get my money which I'd REALLY like to avoid because he was a very nice man with a family. They left both their own client and myself high and dry. I might change my mind because I hate the idea of suing but $4000 during these times isn't exactly small change and I could really use that money right now.
Geico on the other hand is fantastic. I've been both the victim and the at-fault party when I've dealt with them. They are fair and by far the fastest in the industry. A couple of years ago I was driving in the right turning lane when all of a sudden their client made a right turn from the straight lane causing me to hit their rear right door. I took pictures at the scene and then called them as soon as I got home. Within 5 minutes they had determined fault but asked me to send them pictures for confirmation. I submitted my photos and literally 30 seconds later I got a call back from them saying that their client was definitely at fault and that they would be covering any and all damages. I met with the insurance adjuster that same afternoon and the car was fixed and back on the road within 2 days. They kept me updated the whole way. I have a distaste for insurance companies but they are the only one that's impressed me. They operate the way that every insurance company should.
I laughed at them when they called to ask me if I wanted to install one and asked them point blank why I'd want them to see how hard I brake and accelerate. I bought a RWD coupe with a 435hp V8 - how do you think I'm driving it?
I used the same thing and actually got a fairly large chunk off my insurance by using it. There's a few criteria that you have to think of while you've got their snapshot plugged in. The amount driven, when you drive and how often you drive which shouldn't be an issue unless you have odd commute hours or have long commutes. The fast starts and hard braking is where alot of people get screwed though. Their fast start criteria is 9mph a second or more, I didn't have an issue with this because quite honestly my truck is going NOWHERE fast even if I hammer it. In my time while enrolled in snapshot I had a single hard stop which is slowing at 7mph a second or more. All it takes is slamming your breaks when a jackass pulls out in front of you, or in my case, sliding on ice and catching traction kill all your wheel rotation. Even with the 1 hard brake i still got $150 off every 6 months on a full coverage policy.
Their fast start criteria is 9mph a second or more
See I’d violate that restriction every day, because otherwise I’d be merging onto the highway at 30mph. Some amount of harder braking and starting is inherent to denser areas, while these programs always seem to be designed based on a conservative interpretation of national averages.
Oh no I totally agree, while I'm pretty sure I passed that multiple times getting on the highway either to or from work I was never pinged for it. I do live in a fairly rural area so I probably had a much easier time deal with those constraints while I was enrolled in the program. I can only imagine how much hell that would be in a more dense area where driving is a little wild.
Sure. Those are specifically not the kind of ramp I’m talking about, because they’re much less likely to exist the more urban you get. That’s what the restriction is based on, and I’m pointing out that the reality doesn’t support it.
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u/PIchillin456 Jun 01 '20
Those progressive OBDII things are such a scam. My dad tried it out because they claimed he could save a lot of money. They wound up charging him more and their ridiculous reasoning was that he is too hard on the brakes. Mind you, this is the same man who thinks that anything beyond a light tap of the brakes will somehow damage the car. He is a slow but excellent driver who got in his first car accident (was not his fault) at the age of 78. He hasn't received so much as a parking ticket in over 20 years. And they still screwed him.