Progressive Explains Stance in Accident Claim That Went Viral

NU Online News Service, Aug. 21, 2:00 p.m. EDT

Automobile insurer Progressive went through a public relations nightmare this week after a blog written by the brother of a woman killed in a car wreck accused the insurer of defending her “killer.”

Progressive defended its actions in an email to PC360 from spokesman Jeff Sibel saying the insurer did what it had to do under Maryland law.

Matt Fisher outlined his outrage in an Aug. 13 Tumbler post titled, “My Sister Paid Progressive Insurance to Defend Her Killer In Court.” It began a flurry of posts to social media sites from people claiming they canceled or planned to cancel their policies with the Mayfield Village, Ohio-based insurer.

Katie Fisher, Matt's younger sister, died in an auto wreck in Baltimore on June 19, 2010—but there were some differences among eyewitnesses about who caused the accident. The family sued the driver for negligence in order to get Progressive to pay.

Therein lays the reason Progressive found itself standing in court as a defendant even though the company provided liability and underinsured motorist coverage to Katie Fisher.

There was no dispute with the liability portion of the insurance, which provided $100,000 per person. Katie had a passenger in her car and the driver who hit her also had a passenger.

But, as Sibel's email explains, “Under Maryland law, in order to receive the benefits of an underinsured driver claim, the other driver must be at fault.”

Eyewitness accounts—including Katie's passenger—said Katie ran a red light, reported The New York Times. The accident report completed by a police officer says the same.

Sibel says “there were credible conflicting eyewitness accounts as to who was at fault,” which led to a jury trial where Progressive shared the same side of the courtroom with insurance peer Nationwide, who insured the other driver, as defendants.

A jury concluded the other driver was at fault and “an agreement has been reached with the Fisher family to settle the claim,” says Sibel.

“This was a tragic accident and our sympathies go out to the Fisher family,” he adds.

Matt Fisher's outrage centered on his perception that Progressive was actively engaged in the defense of the other driver—including a closing statement, “in which [Progressive's attorney] argued that my sister was responsible for the accident that killed her, and that the jury should not decide that the defendant was negligent,” he wrote.

One of his latest blog posts reads, “My family and I are pleased at the prospect of finally collecting Katie's insurance,” adding that he hopes to work to “change the balance of power between policyholders and the insurance companies they pay to protect them.”