Progressive Insurance says I owe them money.

[RazielKayne]

** Back in April, I was shopping for car insurance online. I received 3 or 4 quotes from different insurance companies.

** Progressive automatically sends something by snail mail stating you recently used their online quote system.

** Fast forward to June 8th, I get a cancellation notice and a bill from Progressive. It says I failed to pay insurance from April until May.

** The bill is $622.00. They're threatening to report me to a credit agency.

** Of course, I call Progressive. They weren't any help because they said I bought their insurance online and they have my credit card info.

** I told them that I never bought any insurance online and that I only wanted a quote.

** I told the lady that I didn't have a credit card at the time. She didn't care and basically said you owe us money.

I was really pissed. When my mom got home, I told her the scenario. She called Progressive back and there was a new turn of events. Supposedly, the credit card info is not mine (someone else's name). Duh! I already told them that I didn't have a credit card. The guy said that doesn't matter because they have my SSN and birthdate and DL # which means I'm responsible. Of course they have that crap because their quote system asks for it.

I never received any letters, ID cards, or anything that said I had insurance with Progressive. And I did not sign anything!

With all of that said, who's right? How would I go about getting this resolved? I'm pretty sure you have to sign something when you purchase insurance.

Please help!

[ngcsubutterbar]

very simple, are you a minor?

when you got this quote did you tell them you were a minor?

If so, you can back out of ANY contract without repercussions.

If you didn't tell them, then you have to man up

[RazielKayne]

No, I'm not a minor.

Why should I have to man up if I never wanted their insurance?

I never signed or mailed anything to them. I didn't even get anything from them except this bill.

[ngcsubutterbar]

check over their quote service online again, sometimes companies through terms and conditions in there expecting people to not read them. Check over their site carefully, and hire a lawyer. It's a big business they will railroad you.

[Recondo]

lol..."man up"..I dont think so!
You do need to review exactly what you did when you entered into thier online quote system, it sounds as though you may have un-intentionally entered into a contract with them, if so, you should have received other documentation from them during this time you were supposedly covered..umm..like an insurance card for your vehicle, terms of service agreement,,etc. they have to have a signature from you somewhere to make it legal I belive..which would require paperwork & a local contact office.
If not, then you can hire an attorney to review the situation & guide you thru the process, but this can get spendy for something that may not be your fault, sueing them for attorney's fees, loss of time, etc could be a long frustrating process even if your right.
Other options are the BBB and of course you can file a direct complaint/case with your states Insurance Commisioners Office...this will get results & they have to respond to your claim, but you must be 110% sure you did not sign up for insurance by accident or default..if they are this firm that you did, it maybe correct as I dont think they would go this far - threaten you with credit/collections action, etc, if they were not right or have you by a technicality - as they have rules & ethic codes, no matter how crooked the whole industry really is below the surface, that they must abide by..get busy & get to the bottom of this as soon as you can, Good Luck!
Recondo

[dragonspider]

I had a similar incident...It was with CitiBank. One day, out of the blue, I got a credit card statement from CitiBank, which said I owed like $1300. I've NEVER had a CitiBank credit card. So, I called CitiBank, and they said they had all my information, SS#, DL#, Address, etc, but couldn't reveal the actual transactions to me. I didn't hire an attorney or anything, especially since my odds of winning against a large organization like that are slim to none. So, there it sits, on my credit report, $1300 delinquent account, never paid. I'll end up having to pay it off, once I catch up on a couple of legitimate cards!

[baseballguy]

yo just tell them yer gonna hire a lawyer and do it, itll cost them more to pay for their lawyer than what you owe them, 9 times outta 10 they eat the bill because its cheaper....these companies only look at one thing....whats the cheapest thing....insurance companies know every angle how to screw people....you didnt have a CC at the time, tell um to charge it to that card...look at yer credit report and make sure u dont have it tho....one

[FORMER_MARINE]

Sounds simple to me, If you did not give them a Credit card number and they say they have your SSN, they got it through you giving them your DL Info. Look this may sound funny but you might become a victim of a White Collar crime. A word to the wise, never, and i mean never, give out you SSN to any one except A future employer, LEO, or official personnel. If you want me to explain in detail PM me.

[RazielKayne]

Thank you guys for all of the information.

I'm concerned about the credit card. They named the person on the card and it wasn't me. So who is that person and why is their information connected to my SSN etc?

[ngcsubutterbar]

well, some ahole in the Ukraine got ahold of my paypal account once, almost fudged me out of $540. I got to em first though, made that bastard pay dumbbut used his real name/address/etc to try to use my account to get someone to send him a phone.

[Evnings]

Credit reporting companies also have provisions for contesting bad reports on your credit history. Contest the charge and demand proof. If the company making the bad report cannot provide proof that the charge is valid against you, the charge should be dropped from your credit history.

It sounds like you may have been a victim of identity theft. If this is the case, contact the credit reporting agencies and tell them not to extend credit reporting in your name until such time as they have contacted you through a means that they know they are extending credit reporting in your name. I don't know of any credit card company that will extend credit with out a credit report. Even most of the legal shylocks get credit reports before they extend credit.

[Island_Girl]

Can you really pay for coverage after you've been insured? As long as I can recall, I've always had to pay my premium before I got covered. For instance, I'm covered on our vehicles until August. I will get a statement in the mail letting me know that my premium is due on or before August 5, 2004 if I wish to continue my coverage.

This is with GEICO from 1992-1997, Farm Bureau from 1997-2001, St. John Insurance 2002 (had to pay the year in advance), and most recently we've been using GEICO again. All of them require payment before coverage....I would check into what the policy entails. Something doesn't seem right about what you are saying.

Let us know what happens.

[brownman40]

If you didn't tell them, then you have to man up

If you didn't agree to a contract, you don't have to man up to anything no matter what age. In fact, I would tell you to sue Progressive under your state's Deceptive Trade Practices law. That will put a stick up their ***.

You have the right to contest anything on your credit report and go through their process for dealing with it.

[brownman40]

It should be noted they won't hire an attorney at $500 an hour for something they are probably in the wrong for.

[Group9]

Another option is to do nothing and ask to have an explanation attached to any negative report they make on your record with the three major reporting bureaus. If you write it up well, it will probably not even be looked at if it is an isolated event.

I have a weird thing like that on my credit report. It comes up every time I have taken out a mortgage or refinanced a home and I have no idea where it came from. All of my lenders have told me that when banks and lenders see an entry that looks out of whack with the rest of your history, even they discount it. They all just want a letter saying I have no idea what it is. I keep meaning to write the credit bureau and try and have it removed, but I just never get around to it.