Progressive Responds to Wall Street Journal Story from May 1, 2007, "Illegal Residents Get Legal Route to Car Coverage" by Miriam Jordan
The Progressive Group of Insurance Companies has been in business for 70 years, sells car insurance in 49 states and the District of Columbia and is the third largest car insurer in the country.
The Wall Street Journal story that appeared in the May 1st edition has caused some confusion which we would like to clarify.
First, the article implies that there is something new or wrong about drivers with foreign driver's licenses buying insurance. This is not new and, in fact, most states require people who drive to buy car insurance. We simply make insurance available to all drivers who are required or permitted to be insured, as allowed by each state's regulations. In most states this includes drivers with state-issued driver's licenses or foreign driver's licenses. So, we provide insurance to drivers with foreign driver's licenses; if the states allow them to be insured, we make policies available to them.
Second, the article implies that we are profiting by insuring illegal immigrants. We have no information on anyone's citizenship, immigrant status or race; we simply know they are licensed to drive and are therefore eligible for insurance. We take no position on immigration policy — that is simply off our turf. And, we believe that, as drivers, we may all be better off sharing the roads with other drivers who are insured vs. with drivers who aren't.
Third, the article implies that there is some special pricing scheme for illegal residents, which is simply not true. We are also uncertain what the reporter meant by "market rate" in the context of her story. We price policies for drivers with foreign driver's licenses the same way we price all of our policies — accurately based on the information available to us. To the extent that prior driving history information is not able to be verified, regardless of circumstance, that may result in higher rates for those people than for people whose driving records can be verified. The bottom line is that we charge all drivers the appropriate rate for the risk they pose and we charge them our filed rate in that state.
"The 28,000 people who make up Progressive and the more than 30,000 independent agents and brokers who choose to represent us around the country are proud of our business — we make accurately priced policies available to all people who are eligible for and who need insurance. And, we're here to provide them with unparalleled levels of 24/7 claims and customer service," said Progressive CEO Glenn Renwick.
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