It makes sense that since Progressive is a major player in the property and casualty insurance market that you can trust them to be a leader in the life insurance market, right?
But does Progressive even offer term life insurance? Progressive doesn’t sell convertible term life insurance at all.
They claim to have the best rates and customer service for auto insurance so it’s only logical to expect great rates and customer service when you buy life insurance from them.
So it makes sense that we, as life insurance experts take a look at Progressive Life Insurance because maybe we should represent them.
We looked up Progressive Life and here’s what we found…
Progressive Insurance company is certainly a popular company and most people can tell you that Flo is their spokesperson. However, when I visited their website to check out the Progressive life insurance products, imagine my shock when I discovered Progressive does not sell life insurance. The first clue was on the company’s homepage where Life Insurance is nowhere to be found.
So it appears that you can purchase term life insurance, and term life insurance with no exam through Progressive but you can’t.
If you are looking for Progressive Life Insurance rates, you have to click on the “More Choices” button to find the link to life insurance products (not their life insurance products). When you click this button you are taken to another page that has 28 options and ”Life” is in the third column and four rows down.
Kind of makes you think that Progressive is not really in the life insurance business.
Next, I clicked on “Life” and was taken to another page where they ask for your zip code (not unusual). I filled in my zip code and clicked the “Get Quote” button and was taken to a quote form page. Even though it appears you’re still on Progressive’s website, you’re not. You have been redirected to “Progressive Life by eFinancial.” A quote form is a quote form; nothing new here until you read the disclaimer.
The Progressive Life Insurance Quote Form
The quote form they use is more in-depth than most websites which is probably a good thing but if you don’t enter your phone number AND your email address, you will not be able to go forward.
I went ahead and completed the Progressive life quote form and only fudged on my date of birth. I got back a quote from Transamerica. That was it.
I was surprised that no other life insurance companies were listed and that the quote didn’t include Transamerica’s A. M. Best Rating. The screen did have content that if you want more information to call eFinancial.
While I was in the middle of the quote process, I got a call that I needed to take and when I went back to finish my quote, I was informed that I needed to call the toll-free number to complete my quote and application. When I attempted to reenter the quote information, I was told to call the toll-free number.
eFinancial Insurance Agency
When I visited the eFinancial website, I was pleased to find out that they only offered life insurance products that were fully underwritten as well as no exam life insurance. They did not, however, offer a list of the life insurance companies they represent only that they represented most of the top-rated life insurance companies. After reviewing their website, I noticed that everything there was pretty similar to most independent agent websites and assumed they likely represented the top companies in term, whole life, and universal life insurance. I wasn’t sure if they had indexed universal life insurance to offer.
They did offer an FAQ page under their “Resources” tab that had a whopping eight questions with answers. Their about page was pretty much boiler-plate text where they talked about their concerns for the community and information about their “culture.” They had a lot of pictures of everybody smiling and having a grand old time while their customers are probably on hold (sorry, I’m being negative here). I thought it was nice that they invited me to “explore” their offices and the opportunity to get to know their “team.” But what I really wanted was a Progressive life insurance quote or from more than one carrier and wanted to do this without having to start over again because I had to take a phone call.
Smoke & Mirrors or Bait & Switch?
When I take my licensed agent hat off and put my consumer hat on (I am a consumer just like you), Progressive’s method of selling life insurance leaves me (the consumer) with some questions. If you are not a LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, that’s okay but why not reveal that from the beginning? Not doing so leads me to believe that they are being a little deceptive.
When a long-time Progressive customer wants to buy life insurance from Progressive because they’ve had a great consumer experience in the past, they may be likely disappointed when they find out they are purchasing their life insurance from eFinancial Insurance Agency rather then Progressive Life Insurance Company. This is similar to the way Dave Ramsey life insurance sends you to Zander Insurance.
Plus, the selection of insurance companies is rather thin which means their product selection will be thin as well. The consumer needs to have choices because choice can be what differentiates one independent insurance agency from another.
The Bottom Line
Progressive Insurance may be in the life insurance business but only as a referrer and not as an insurer. eFiancial is a typical “call center” environment and I doubt a long-term relationship is in their business model. If you are looking for the best life insurance quotes from an agent you can trust now and ten years from now, then stick with an independent agent like InsuranceQuotes2Day.com where your business will not be a small fish in a gigantic pond.
