The right answer when nobody else will quote you. Rarely the right answer once they will.

New ventures and new authorities

Commercial auto for a business with no prior insurance history, including trucking authorities in their first year.

Without it — Competitively priced where most markets either decline a new authority or load it heavily.

Fleets over ten units

Fleet auto liability, physical damage and cargo.

Without it — Strong above about ten power units, where a lot of standard markets stop competing.

Non-emergency medical transport

Non-emergency medical transport and paratransit: a class most carriers will not write at all.

Without it — One of the very few markets writing medical transport at all, which makes them the answer rather than an option.

Contractors auto and package

Commercial auto and package coverage for trades, with blanket additional insured and blanket waiver of subrogation.

Without it — The blanket endorsements a general contractor’s subcontract demands, included rather than charged for.

Telematics discounts

Smart Haul and ELD-based discounts of up to 15% for carriers sharing electronic logging data.

Without it — A real, large discount that a lot of carriers never claim because nobody told them to.

Will they write a new authority, or a hot shot?

Both. Progressive writes new ventures and hot shot operations including Class 2, which puts it in a short group that takes the two together. Cover Whale and GEICO are the others. Hot shot is the class most often declined by carriers that never built a rate for it, so a decline elsewhere is usually a routing problem rather than a verdict on the risk. Expect a recorded call before binding on one to nine units, and a much longer process above ten.

Should I use Progressive Commercial?

It depends where you are, and the answer flips as your record improves. They are the right answer for a business that has never carried commercial auto, one with claims on its record, or a new authority with no history to rate — profiles most carriers price harshly or decline — and they are one of very few markets writing non-emergency medical transport. Once you have clean loss runs and a clean DOT record, that profile is exactly what other carriers compete for. Progressive gets you insured; once you have earned a better price, it is usually somewhere else.

What is the Smart Haul discount?

It is a discount of up to 15% for sharing your electronic logging device data with the carrier. On a trucking policy that is one of the largest single savings available.

Should I go direct or through an agent?

Through an agent, and on this carrier the reason is unusually concrete. Some of our clients have found that getting through on phone support takes real persistence, and independent agents have their own access and their own lines into the carrier. On a business that runs vehicles that matters more than it sounds: a filing that needs correcting or a truck that needs adding is not paperwork, because the vehicle cannot legally run until it is done. The price is the same either way: the difference is who waits on hold.

Is it true Progressive cancels policies mid-term?

Some of our clients have noticed that this carrier verifies harder than most, and keeps verifying after the policy is written.

What do you actually place with Progressive?

Commercial auto, and a smaller book than people assume from how often the name comes up. The classes are long-distance specialized freight, home health agencies running vehicles, plumbing and HVAC contractors, and automotive service shops, which is the honest version of this carrier, because a home health agency with six cars and a claim is exactly the account they price well and most standard markets do not. We quote them a lot and place a fraction of it, because most accounts do better elsewhere once they have a record.

What kinds of business does Progressive write for you?

Commercial auto, and a smaller book than the name recognition suggests: long-distance specialized freight trucking, home health agencies running vehicles, plumbing and HVAC contractors, and automotive service shops. That spread is the honest version of this carrier. They are not only a trucking market.

How does Progressive bill?

Monthly installments with electronic funds transfer are standard, and on a commercial auto policy that is usually what people mean when they ask. Payroll-linked billing does not apply here. That is a workers compensation mechanism and workers compensation is not what they write for us.

Why payroll-provider workers comp usually costs more

Why go through a broker instead of buying direct?

Because it does not cost you anything, which is the part that surprises people. Broker compensation is built into the carrier's rate whether you use one or not: buying direct does not remove the cost, it removes the person being paid to be on your side of it.

The other five reasons, and what it costs you