Filing An Insurance Claim Is Easier Than Ever

On Fourth of July weekend, my now wife was driving my....our pickup truck, as we were leaving the Twin Cities area.  As we left a stop sign to turn left, we were rear ended by someone in a mini-van who failed to stop at the sign.

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The officer didn't write the individual a ticket but we both had Progressive Insurance and the driver admitted fault.  Progressive gave me the option of a payout or to take it to the shop of my choice for repairs.

The damage was not that bad, a small barely visible dent and very minor downward tweaking of the bumper.  I stopped at the shop I normally get autobody work done at and he suggested I take the payout as my truck is a lease with two years left on it and there is a chance for more damage down the road.  What I though would happen is that Progressive would come out and look at the damage and write up a total to pay me.  That didn't happen though.

I have the Progressive Insurance mobile app, and they have it setup to file your claim right on that.  It walks you through the steps of taking photos of the vehicle all around it, taking video of it, and making any comments needed as well.  I submitted the claim and within a day received a message offering an amount they thought it would cost to repair damages.  I agreed on the price and there to my surprise was no waiting for a check in the mail.  I opted to have the payout amount put on my debit card and it was there within thirty minutes.  Overall it was a pretty slick process and while getting into any kind of an auto accident sucks, it was easier for me than it's been in the past.