About 26,200 Hours of Productivity Are Lost as a Result of the

ATLANTA--More than 200,000 car crashes happen in the Atlanta metropolitan area each year – that’s nearly 3,900 a week and 550 a day. And, while 43 percent of all claims handled by Progressive in the state are considered minor in terms of repair costs since they cause less than $2,000 in damage to each vehicle, the time wasted and inconvenience caused are anything but minor. About 40 percent of drivers involved in crashes report spending four or more days managing the process of getting their vehicles repaired. This means area drivers collectively lose about 26,200 hours of time – that’s nearly nine years – managing the claims/repair process because of minor accidents that happen in Atlanta every day.

To help save drivers time, The Progressive Group of Insurance Companies, which sells vehicle insurance to consumers using the Progressive Direct^® and Drive^® Insurance from Progressive brands, today announced the opening of its third Service Center in the Atlanta area; now even more drivers here can receive a “concierge” level of claims service that reduces the time each driver spends on the claims/repair process from four days to about 15 minutes. And the service is not limited to just Progressive Direct or Drive Insurance customers – it’s also available to anyone involved in a claim with these customers.

If drivers choose to use the new Decatur Service Center, they can simply drop off the damaged vehicle and, in about 15 minutes, can leave in a rental car assured that a claims representative will handle the process from beginning to end. In addition, the repairs will be guaranteed by both Progressive and the body shop that does the repairs. Without this concierge level of claims service, drivers have to spend several days doing everything themselves – arranging for alternate transportation, getting repair estimates, finding a shop, getting updates, inspecting the repairs, etc.

“The Service Center approach is simple and it works,” said Erick Castaneda, Decatur Service Center manager, Progressive. “By using a service that handles the claims/repair process from start to finish, people can save time and spend it the way they want to.”

The opening of the new Service Center at 2874 E. Ponce De Leon Ave. in Decatur marks the 51^st Progressive Service Center in the U.S. and the third in Georgia.

How the Service Center Works

• The customer calls Progressive to report the claim any time of the day or night and then schedules an appointment to bring the vehicle to the specially designed Service Center.
• In about 15 minutes, the customer can be on his or her way in a rental car with assurance that Progressive will keep him or her informed of the status of the claim throughout the repair process.
• A Progressive claims representative prepares a repair estimate and contacts an auto body shop based on its track record of providing superior service and doing quality repairs, as well as its ability to begin and complete work promptly. Both Progressive and the shop reach agreement on the cost of the repairs; the shop then transports the vehicle from the Service Center to its facility and the repair work begins.
• When the work is finished, the vehicle is returned to the Service Center where representatives from both Progressive and the body shop inspect the quality of repairs.
• Once satisfied with the repair quality, Progressive calls the customer and asks him or her to return to the Service Center where, together with the claims representative, the customer inspects the repairs.
• The customer then leaves with a written guarantee on the repairs that both Progressive and the body shop stand behind as long as the customer owns or leases the vehicle.

While Service Centers are available for repairable cars, there’s another concierge level of claims service for cars declared total losses. It’s available in Georgia, 26 other states and the District of Columbia; it will be in 28 states by year-end. Called Total Loss Concierge, Progressive helps find a replacement car if it is declared a total loss after an accident – that is, if the damaged car would cost more to fix than it’s worth. Both services drastically reduce the amount of time each driver has to spend repairing or replacing his or her car after a crash.

Progressive employs more than 13,200 claims people in more than 460 offices countrywide. Although both time-saving services are not yet available in all markets where Progressive operates claims offices, claims representatives there continue to personally handle each customer's claim from start to finish.

The Progressive Group of Insurance Companies, in business since 1937, ranks third in the nation and second in Georgia for auto insurance based on premiums written and provides drivers with competitive rates and 24/7 in-person and online service. The products and services of the Progressive Direct Group of Insurance Companies are marketed directly to consumers by phone at 1-800-PROGRESSIVE and online at www.progressivedirect.com through the Progressive Direct^® brand. The products and services of the Drive Group of Progressive Insurance Companies are offered by more than 30,000 independent insurance agencies and online at www.driveinsurance.com through the Drive^® Insurance from Progressive brand. More information can be found at www.progressive.com.

Erick Castaneda, Decatur Service Center manager, is available for interview.

Editor's note: Customer testimonials available upon request.