claims adjuster

insurance agent

call center representative

customer service representative

auto appraiser

Progressive

In the beginning,  Progressive makes everything seem amazing. Love bombing you and luring you in with promises of how wonderful everything and everyone is. You get 2.5mo of training, back trainers and lots of talk about how amazing the company culture is. I was skeptical from day one and didn't "drink the kool-aid "....although,  I was hopeful.

Training was rushed. Lots of information to absorb quickly. They would try to give you "brain breaks" and do a fun activity however I didn't feel like writing a rap song about insurance or making a fake commercial was a brain break. They took a lot of time away from necessary things. You are put into small groups in training for certain exercises...good luck with that. It was always one or two people in the group working hard and the others shrugging their shoulders or not even coming on mic or cam to help. 

I had 8yrs of prior phones experience and one thing that was a HUGE red flag was that we did not listen to calls during training. I kept wondering what they were hiding. Also... we did not learn the software for handling calls until ONE HOUR before taking calls. Ridiculous !!!!

Expect an overly aggressive liberal inclusive environment and training in inclusion regularly. Everything goes...except Christianity-- in that case-- keep your mouth shut. 

You are told from day one you will get 15min of "read time" at the very beginning of your shift to open emails, software,  and prepare for the day. Only to have that ripped away as soon as training is over. "You will get used to doing it during your shift." LOL. How?? Calls come in literally every 5 seconds. You are not allowed to log on early, unpaid, but everyone does it just to be able to read emails and check for updates. 6mo in and I still cannot check an email between calls because they come in every 5 seconds , no joke. 

About the calls. They are NON STOP. I mean every 5 seconds to maybe one minute on a slow day...ALL SHIFT LONG.  As soon as you hang up you have 2 beeps in your ear and someone else is on the line. I rarely even have time to take a sip of my drink. Had a bad customer experience? Well. Buckle up here comes another one. 

The callers are ALL upset to varying degrees. The main complaint is rate increases with renewals. I've seen increases anywhere from 7.00 to 2000.00! You are expected not only to explain why their rate increased but to show empathy and understanding when you are getting cursed out and called stupid. Their explanation for rate increases is the economy and covid. Customers don't want to hear that. So they tell you to make it personal.....guess what....customers don't care that the value of their cars has increased or that the cost for repair work and medical care has increased. They see that they have a good driving history and their rates have gone up for years. They are beyond mad. You are supposed to not only give an explanation but get them a policy review, look for savings (there aren't any)  and all this while being verbally abused. The second most common complaint is Progressive adds drivers to policies without permission.  This gives a huge rate hike and customers immediately yelling because they were not even asked if they knew the people being added. Most of the time it is someone who used to live at their address. Underwriting has to remove them. Then the customer has to wait for a refund. The third biggest upset is claims calls. Claims dept is overworked and NEVER answers their phone. You get the backlash for it. Everything is out of your control, but you will hear about it. 

Other departments don't want to take their calls. There is no billing department (surprise that is you!). There is no customer IT department (its you!). 

For all you do, the pay is NOT enough.  

You are absolutely expected to make  customers take a transfer for homeowners and renters quotes and you are watched like a hawk on your metrics for that. Nevermimnd if you saved a policy or calmed a customer down or helped them ....you didn't get a homeowners or renters transfer...WHY?? Be prepared to answer to your supervisor on every offer you don't make. Already angry and cash strapped callers don't want to hear it. No matter..
 You are graded on your metrics and expectations are HIGH. You are also expected to get customers to sign up for paperless, automatic payments, and other treatments. Metrics are high for that and you will have to answer for any offers you fail to make. No matter how good your customer service was, your call will be picked apart because you didn't get the transfer to homeowners or renters. 

If you are scheduled to work on a holiday you get paid. If not....you get nothing and are expected to use PTO. We were not told this in training.

We were not told much in training considering how much we deal with when we "hit the floor" afterwards. Sure. You can reach out to an assist group for help on a call but it is hit or miss. They are either helpful and kind or treat you like you are an idiot for asking. Keep in touch with your classmates, they will be your biggest help. 

You are also graded on hold time, call time,  first call resolution,how many times you have to reach out for help,  after call wrap up time,  breaks are watched like a hawk and everything will be brought up in your meetings with your supervisor so be sure you have an explanation for every second. If you need to quickly use the restroom or answer a call outside of your scheduled break,  there is a "mode" you can go into for that.....but its expected you won't use it daily and only use it extremely rarely and no more than 10 mins !!

They have THREE systems you have to keep time in. Better make sure all 3 match to the second. Their time keeping codes are so weird it is not user friendly and leads to mix ups. 

You will sit through meetings (better be on camera!!) where the higher ups keep pouring the kool-aid about how great things are and the whole time you are thinking....BS. The higher ups have forgotten how it is to be on the front lines. 

Out of my group of 35 in training there are 6 of us left at the 6mo mark. That speaks volumes. 

Your supervisor will non stop tell you its your fault for not making the customer feel like family,  not using empathy, etc. When you DO all that ! It's a scapegoat for the real problem.....the company and how THEY treat customers. 

I'm beyond stressed. I have cried so many times. I have heart palpitations. I get a sick feeling when I have to log in. I keep using PTO for mental health days. And I know I'm not the only one. There are many of us who were talking about burning PTO because we had to get a break for our sanity. 

Beware. Like I said, I had 8yrs experience at a call center and a letter of recommendation. This place could do WAYYYY better for its customers and its employees.

I really wanted it to work out. I'm hanging by a thread.  There are good people at the company. There are ones who really do want you to succeed. The cons just seem to outweigh the pros. 




I've been a claims adjuster here for approximately one year and anyone considering claims at this company should read this review. Its not a terrible job, but its not right for everyone. 

There are things about Progressive that I love. For example, the culture really is top notch and is the best I have seen in all of my jobs/careers so far and the emphasis they place on it at all levels is stunning. This results in the culture actually making it to local levels in productive ways. In addition, there are always new opportunities for advancement and the politics in selecting candidates is present, but minimal. Taking PTO/ETB is a breeze and they're very willing to help get you a break, but the pre and post break workload can be crushing. I love it when I can help a customer in such a way that they are back on the road more quickly than they expected they would be and leave great marks/send in great reviews. Its the only rewarding thing about this job. 

Sadly there are too many cons to justify this job for me. Although this role is a good fit for certain types of people, most of us should probably stay away. In short, many of the reviews about what I am about to say are 100% correct. 

For starters, the claims volume is very high. This makes it very hard to plan a day out where you can attend reliably to existing claims, due to requirements on when we are to begin work on a new claim. The high volume also makes customer service very difficult as there is a clear frustrating emphasis on quantity over quality and the need to quickly 'move on' from claims. You often have to choose what gets deferred over for tomorrow. Not little tasks, but entire claims, sometimes many of them, unless you can work until 7-8 PM that night to try to get it all done. My mantra has always been never do tomorrow what you can do today, and for the first time in my life this does not work for me. Claim volume fluctuates and there are times when it is very manageable, but the needle swings in the opposite direction just as quickly and spends more time on the opposite end if anything. Any job will require flexibility and pivoting through your day to make everything work, and every job that I have worked has too, but this job takes that to the extreme in a way I have never experienced and makes me feel inadequate for the role. 

Micromanagement can be an issue but this depends on supervisor. I spend far too much time in between being very micromanaged, expected to take control of my own day, and constantly dancing to accommodate new claims immediately, and this is an exhausting way to work that requires 60 hours per week on average to pull off successfully. I usually skip lunches entirely. There is a big focus on doing everything you can in a claim each time you are working in it and ruthless efficiency, but the way I am managed is counter-productive to this and I find myself working in ways that are inefficient and contrary to common sense, such as having to interrupt tasks multiple times to address non-urgent things that I can address later, resulting in an overall slower work pace and getting less done. So every day feels like I am drowning with no break or relief. Asking for help counts against you at performance review time so you learn not to. I soon realized that many things counted against me, but nothing good ever really makes it into your record, which is a real drag on motivation or feeling like the good you do even matters to your career. Endless meetings, reports, metrics etc that far exceed any other job I have worked. Again, any job will require these things to certain degrees, but are extreme in this job and very hard to deal with day in and day out. 

Burnout is a constant battle. My mental and physical health has deteriorated in tangible ways from working in this role and I'm being treated for work-related health issues for the first time in my life. Coworkers have the same struggles and some are seeking professional help for their own problems. 

 I understand customer service thoroughly and have been recognized for this, These customers are going through serious challenges and are relying on us for clarity and help, and little do they know that many of their claims are being handled by overworked adjusters who are just trying to hold it all together - how can we deliver a stunning customer service experience to customers in bad situations under these conditions? In bad mental health? Exhausted? Micromanaged?  Judging by the fact many reviewers lament the management and work-life balance issues and have for a while, Progressive must not think this is a priority or these ratings would be improving. 

The bottom line: this is far from a terrible place to work and has a lot going for it, but this does not wash away the life a claim adjuster must live to do this job. If you are a "Grade A" administrative type of person who can work 60 hours/week and spend each day dancing around inefficient, conflicting and at times humanly impossible expectations with very consistent efficiency and attention to detail, you can and will excel here. I've seen people do very well very quickly. This can be a dream career with a top tier culture to match for these folks - and these folks are always the best of the best administrative types. The rest of us, even if we are productive, good leaders, insightful, compassionate, creative, knowledgeable and organized... qualities that would work well for other high functioning jobs in other fields... will have a hard time here. Those traits are bonuses, but this job doesn't need that, it needs grade A administrators first and foremost and these are the ones who promote and get leadership roles. If this is not you, run. 

A list pros and cons of what you'll experience in the customer service role at Progressive. 

Pros:
- Pay is currently going up to around 20-22 an hour which is the higher end for you base CS role
- PTO is able to be used freely
- 10% shift differential if working past 8 or 9 PM
- The majority of management is excellent and the supervisors I have worked under are extremely accommodating and will do everything in their power to help you if you run into any problems
- You will receive a raise when you finish training for all 50 states and another for special lines (Motorcyle, RV ETC...)
- You have the oppurtunity to leave during the day if the dept is overstaffed which is great if you feel burned out.
- Training is okay but doesn't cover about half of the actual issues you'll run into on a day to day basis
- 2 yearly bonuses
- access to counciling
- bereavement leave
- Trainers themselves are aweomse people and really are great motivators this is also true for coaches.
- You can work from home
- You will actually have breaks in between calls usually around 12 PM - 4 PM and 8 PM - Midnight


CONS:
- Recruiters will tell you that you're the 2% hired into the company and exagerate the position a lot even though its a revolving door. Out of the 20 people in the class I started with back in 2021 only 3 of us are still with Progressive and 1 of those 3 are leaving for another company.

- You will feel burnout from the amount of angry customers you speak with day to day due to rates increasing and you not having the ability to do anything to lower it. 

- You will be expected to offer Renters/Homeowners insurance to customers whos rate increased by a drastic amount. IF you do not hit the goal of presenting these offers you'll get disciplinary action against you.

- There is a expection set to focus more on your CRA Tasks than actually helping the customer with their needs. CRA Tasks are a checklist you need to complete that is different every call, these include upselling homeowner/renter policies, adding paperless billing, pushing Autopay, completing fullfillment items and various other goals which is expected to be your key focus rather than the customers actual issue during the call.

- The assist line which is a help line will act extremely snobby and will treat you like a nussance when you ask questions. They truly act like you asking for help is the end of the world and that you are dumber than a box of rocks for asking for help on a task you're struggling with.  So do not expect much help from the majority of them. Not all of them are bad but enough are to make it pointless to call half the time.

- Your HR recruiter will lie to you. They will make the job seem to be focused only on customer service for Auto insurance but will fail to mention Upselling policies, the fact you have no say in the matter when being forced to train in other lines such as motorcylce, travel trailer, etc... They will also leave out crucial details such as shift bidding is mandatory and you are NOT guaranteed to keep your same shift when a bid is up. 

- If you are a work from home employee expect faulty equipment that will either break on you or become extremely slow. Within the 1 going on 2 years i've been with the company I have had countless issues with devices given to me and expected to wait for replacement devices while being UNPAID for their own devices being faulty. So if you have a issue I hope you're okay with not being paid for 1-5 days it could take to get the equipment.

- Some supervisors will micromanage you to the point its annoying. Some supervisors are wonderful and just let you work throughout the day and only really care if you're meeting goals but others will immediately message you, call you or ask questions if you go into a mode thats not taking calls. For example if you want to complete a outbound call for a task you set up the week prior you would do so but expect some supervisors to immediately expect you of ignoring your job and acting like you're in the wrong 99% of the time.

- If you're a smoker or not vaccinated you will be expect to PAY for these items. I believe the vaccination reduced pay checks by 25$ so 50 bucks a  month and the smoking is another 25 of so dollars.

- You're expected to read guidelines on every call which makes sense, you need to know what the correct information is that you're providing but good like finding half of that information since the system you will be using to look it up is so esoteric its like running through a maze and always hitting a wall which leads you to calling the previously mentioned assist phone line for help.

- Expect half of your calls throughout the day to be about rate increases which show 0 information why they increased which leads to you giving some BS answer about inflation and the such are the causes even though its just price gouging while using the excuse of inflation.

Thats pretty much about it. Most of the cons with the position could easily be solved if there was the removal of upselling products on calls and having the help line not treat you like a problem if those two things would be solved your day would be 100% better and you wouldn't feel like there is a target on your back the entire time. 

What is a typical day in the life of a Sales Representative? Long sitting hours, wearing a headset and constantly answering incoming calls in a call center environment. Adaptability is key. State guidelines are changing on a daily basis and you are required to read and stay up to date with the latest developments for each of the states you are licensed in. The work is very repetitive. Your calls are being recorded and monitored by your manager, sales lead and quality department. At least once a week or more (whether you think you need it or not), you will be “coached” side by side, remotely or in a small meeting room. A couple of your calls will be randomly selected for review. You and your manager or coach will have the opportunity to listen to the call and look for areas of strength and opportunity, this process can be tedious.

My story? I had my share of enjoyable moments working at Progressive. From the moment I entered the building, I was greeted with a smile, completed my employment application and got three interviews and thereafter an offer letter. Because of waiting for the background check, credit, and hiring enough people to fill the class and all, it probably took a good month or two to actually start working. I was delighted with the whole experience (except the waiting part). The training for getting your insurance license and sales, I must say, it was unmatched! It was THE BEST training I had ever received in regards to employment. We even got fed every day during training, but I heard they don’t do that anymore. To date, they are the standard I measure every other company I’ve worked for since then.

The enchanting experience stayed with me for many years, I believed in the product and the company. I raved about them every chance I got. The company’s CEO at the time was all about keeping the employees happy and understood that happy people meant increased sales. It was true. The bonuses for selling were decent, even low sales performers made an extra few hundred dollars per paycheck! Top performers made an extra 13k or more a year. On a regular basis, they would have lots of cool perks for us: free movie tickets, steak, gift cards, luncheons, etc.; it help kept the morale up and it was a happy and fun time. But all that came to a halt, when there was a change in CEO and top management. The fun ended. Now only a handful of agents were able to get bonuses, but the bonus structure changed as well and the big top hitters were now only making a fraction of bonus. This was a very upsetting time for many. Many left the company shortly after. That was one of the first mistakes the company made. Then they decided to get everyone cross-trained, they cut lots of corners on that training, and sure enough that blew in their face. Sales dropped significantly and morale went down the drain as well.

It took a long time for the fuzzy feeling to end. What was the straw that broke the camel’s back? Well, let me just tell you that I saw some things that were against my principles and convictions. I was no longer proud to work for them.

The company has a number of call centers across the US from California to Florida. My sources tell me that the treatment of employees is very different from site to site with the east getting the worst reviews.

How about turnover? It is a well-known secret that the company culls employees when they’ve been there too long, particularly right before they have to pay you gain share (December). They usually clean house before Christmas. Don’t get me wrong, employment with them it’s pretty stable, but not forever. Always have a Plan B.

What I enjoyed most (besides assisting customers) were the many friends I made. It was hard to leave because of them. I like their system to request time off without the need to talk to your manager…especially being able to get an immediate response when you needed time off or had a last minute vacation. The health benefits were good, but pricey. They have an on-site cafeteria and fitness center.

Promotions are all about who you know, brown nosing and whose butt you’re willing to kiss. If you are single and hang at pubs with the managers after work, you’ll be considered a “team player” and probably have a higher chance of getting promoted.

If you are new to insurance or even if you are not, this is the company I would recommend you work first mostly for the training and the experience you will acquire. You will pick up good habits and your knowledge of insurance will be off the charts.

To sum things up, I have to say that for the most part, Progressive, it’s a decent place to work with decent pay. I’ve been out there and I have to tell you I’ve seen worse, of course, there’re exceptions and the experience can certainly vary from site to site. At the end of the day, if I had to do it all over again, with the good, the bad and the ugly, would I do it? Maybe.

Good luck!

I applied three times before scoring an in person interview. The interview process was a tad daunting consisting of a phone interview, assessment, and two in person interviews. I applied for a customer service position, but instead was funneled into a claims representative position in centralized auto after the assessment. I initially thought this was an amazing opportunity, but found quite quickly that I was sadly mistaken. The initial training consisted of being stuck in a room not permitted to talk for days cramming information for the licensing test. After, the claims or liability training began, it taught the very basics of claims but did not by any measure prepare me for the intense boot camp that would come later. Boot camp was awful and I excelled at it. The leads did not want to answer questions and yelled constantly often embarrassing other employees. The order training commenced during boot camp was not efficient and left many holes. I graduated boot camp with awards and led my assigned team for 11 months with little to no official acknowledgment. After a year I was completely burned out, used and abused. There were times I found grown women crying at their desk or in the restrooms because of the stress of the workload. Vacation time and sick time came with demerits and the supervisors could not personally approve any time off as it was done through an automated system that often approved employees by seniority, wait listing anyone there for less than two years. We were to process up to 14 claims a day, making sure to triple call, leaving two voicemails, a text and an email. This was on top of our rotating claims that we would have to follow up on daily. We were also responsible for returning upwards of 20-50 voicemails within a 24 hour period and were never permitted to roll a claim. If this was not enough an hour or two of our day was taken to perform a task called auto in, where we had to assist on other representative's claims. Claim assignments were not adjusted to reflect auto-in time or claim types such as backing claims which could take twice as long as a rear end or single vehicle accident. Progressive says that they pride themselves on advancement opportunities, however my supervisor made it clear they did not want to lose me as my numbers often carried the team percentages and they often discouraged me from applying outside of the department or to work from home. Progressive paid a decent wage and offered gain share, but it was not enough to withstand the stress and abuse. Lunches were stolen out of the break room daily and I once got food poisoning from eating food that I was unable to keep refrigerated. Thefts of food were reported often resulting in a sticker on the refrigerators stating that "they were being watched" but nothing actually came of it. The managers pushed the reps to strictly stick to policies, but when the customers asked to speak to the supervisors, management would then throw the reps under the bus and apologize on their behalf for following the rules. The climate was horrible, everyone complained and seemed stressed and depressed, continuously counting down the days they had left to serve in centralized claims before they could "post out". People were so distressed that they became bitter and would write unnecessarily rude things in the claims of other reps when in "auto in". Centralized claims suffered from a serious case of crab in a barrel syndrome which only led to more stress, everyone was overwhelmed and no one wanted to help anyone if it meant having to squeeze out any more work. I would not recommend this experience to anyone. I cannot speak for other departments but centralized claims was a nervous break down in a cubical. All I can say is if you apply for something else and they try to funnel you into centralize claims run!! That department is a revolving door of people quitting, getting discharged, or posting out as fast as possible. We often referred to the department as "doing hard time" and management referred to it as "paying dues". I once asked to be demoted, willing to take a pay cut just to get out of that department, but was advised this was not an option. I was often asked why I would want to leave when I was doing so well, but I left everyday with nothing left. They paid for eight hours but took so much more. Two thumbs down!!

Upon applying for the position, you have to go through a few separate interviews. They make it sound as if it will just be assisting people who have questions about their policies, but it's so much worse. If you are anything other than an extreme extrovert with extremely thick skin, this job is not for you. 
Upon being hired, I was placed in a class with around 25 other new hires. We spent 3 weeks in classroom training before they surprised us and threw us to the wolves during week 4. After week 4, it alternates odd weeks are classroom weeks and even weeks are call-taking weeks until week 12 when you "graduate" (they make it seem like a big deal to make you feel good after going through the grueling training process). Luckily my trainers were great so the classroom portion was great - but I have colleagues who had horrendous classroom experiences.

They'll tell you that they're always looking to hire from inside and they love to flaunt the fact that the corporate leaders started out on phones (like us, the millionaires are just like us isn't that great??) The actual role of call-taking is easily the worst job I have ever had and it's not particularly close (and I have worked some terrible jobs before). 

On a normal day you can expect to take 50+ calls ranging from simple correspondence to billing and coverage issues. On a busy day, you can expect upwards of 100 calls with less than 5 seconds of a break between them.
What they don't tell you until week 10 of training is that a large percentage of the calls you will be taking are angry customers. If things are going well, people don't call in - people call in when something is wrong and they're upset. So you get trained for less than an hour on "how to handle difficult calls" before you're thrown into the academy portion. You have to go through onboarding for 12 weeks and 3 additional months of the phone role before you can even have a *chance* at promotion. Something else they don't tell you is that if you're on an "improvement plan" you won't be able to get promoted.

Everything you do all day is monitored. If you expect to have any amount of autonomy or freedom, think again. They record every single call and they currently have it set up to where AI will scan through your calls and grade them. You can't use more than 10 minutes for bathroom time a day or you're reprimanded (which is absurd for someone with UC). They have you fill out a document staring how you'd like to be coached, but the supervisors clearly don't read them because mine has done everything I requested not to do when coaching me. 

You're expected to sit on a call and listen to someone yell at you for hours upon hours each day, because they keep raising rates across the country. All we can tell customers is that there was a price increase due to inflation. You are not allowed to hang up on a rude customer unless they attack you directly, which is ridiculous. I don't need to sit on the phone and listen to people curse and tell me I'm a con artist because their premium increased 100%.

They also force you to work weekends and there is no way out of it until you're done with academy. The entire onboarding experience has felt like basic training. It does not matter if you've demonstrated that you can perform the role well, you are stuck on phones until they decide otherwise.

In summary,
This is a great place to work if you're an extrovert with no other responsibilities and nothing you want to do in your free time. If you don't enjoy being yelled at, cursed out, and strung along for months, run far away. If you want a reasonable work-life balance, this is not for you - it will consume you. The customers will make you feel terrible for working for a company that they feel is a scam. 

It took me a year to really trust that the whole company, co-workers and management, was as positive, supportive and dedicated as they claimed at the beginning; but honestly, they've demonstrated repeatedly that it's EVEN BETTER than they could explain. 
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The job itself can take a long time to learn and get any sense of comfort for, it can be tedious and very repetitive. If it weren't for the support and mentorship of my team and supervisor, I would have left long ago. 
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However, it pays extremely well, the benefits are top shelf and the culture and environment can't be beat. 
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If you do well in your initial role, promotion or lateral transfers (your choice) are always available and encouraged. 
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They're pretty picky about attendance and the only thing I think they could improve would be how much discretionary time off and sick time you earn. Being able to bank overtime as compensated time off would be hugely appreciated. They do have pretty flexible scheduling that's largely self- service, but it takes a long time to build up enough time to get a full day off, let alone a few in a row. There's a LOT less opportunity to take unpaid time now, because of COVID, it used to be much more available. 
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The job was already complex and COVID made it much worse and extremely stressful. For months the rules for how to handle different situations changed almost daily, but the requirements for call metrics/standards/quality hardly changed and when they did, they got HARDER to meet. 
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My position is primarily helping customers with their accounts when they call, but the MAIN thing you're tracked, graded and coached on is upselling Renter's and Homeowner's insurance to callers with auto policies and especially during a pandemic, most people aren't looking to spend even more money than they already are, so it feels pretty overwhelming having to try to convince people (who may be on the edge financially) to get a quote to spend on something they hope they never have to use. 
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If my attendance had been better (I got very sick and needed unpaid time off which affected my performance review and employee rank) I would definitely have tried to move into a different department- something more technical or research based vs intensive customer service/sales. 
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Overall, this company is incredible, though! Committed to actual diversity, supportive of the LGBTQIA+ community and employees, they encourage you to "bring your whole self to work" (and they mean it! ), no drug testing, they have no concerns about tattoos/visible piercings/unusual hair cuts or colors; everything they say about the company culture is TRUE. In over 25 years of employment, I've never seen that happen and it took me almost a year to trust it, even after it was repeatedly demonstrated, because it just seemed unrealistic. It isn't. I wish I could stay! 

Progressive did well with COVID-19 and definitely cares about their employees in that regard. They’re very accepting and have strong company culture. They pay well as well with good benefits and expect a lot out of you in return. But many don’t think the claims work is worth it, turnover is very high. 

Progressive has great training, they get you where you need to be to start and then there is quite a bit of hands on training. There is 4 weeks of claims ownership training where you just learn insurance and get the basics, then 10 weeks of onboarding where you get ramped up on claims slowly and only can get certain less complex claims throughout the first few weeks… if you make it entirely depends on the luck of the draw in the area and your work load. Some people in my class didn’t make it passed the first few weeks after realizing what it was really like.  I had a great supervisor and mentor who were really there for me for any questions or struggles I had. But they avoid talking about the work load throughout it all and everyone just has the attitude like it’s normal because they got used to it. The claims load is unrealistic for you to handle every claim with great care that some people deserve no matter how good you are, it’s hard to get through everything you need even with good “diary management” but if you do well and stick with it for 1-2 years, you can move up to better positions within claims that may not be as demanding. 

Some people are able to get over the stress, not care about missing out on helping with someone’s claim within proper time, and just work their normal hours 9-6 with lunch. But many end up working early or late, 8-6 or 9-7 with not much of a lunch in between. My supervisor liked to say you work to live, you don’t live to work, but really not much time to live without being worried about claims when you’re in this role. 

Lots of phone calls, lots of bad news to deliver but also some good news, everyone is stressed because you’re dealing with stressful and traumatic experiences for people, the phone calls aren’t pleasant most of the time because obviously these people have been in wrecks but you do the interviews and explain the process. But it can obviously feel great because you’re helping many people in tough situations and when you wrap up a claim that took weeks, it definitely feels good to get it off your “diary.”

 In the claims adjuster role, claims are set up by someone else, you are assigned the claim, you review it for any reason to deny coverage possible then start making calls to the insured/claimant/witnesses and sometimes agencies, police departments, anything you can to get more information on the wreck (don’t forget about the trashy lawyers that try to squeeze pennies out of accidents), and even though you do the interviews and know the liability decision, you still have to do Progressive’s liability activities to back up your decision most of the time, then deliver the bad news to someone and the good news to another.

Sometimes you’ll be thanked, sometimes you’ll be called  trash names, racist and stupid, etc. for just doing your job but someone doesn’t like the decision, it is what is is because everyone thinks they’re in the right when they’re on the road.  

If you can stay positive and leave work at work, this’ll be great!

The company is a good company to work for as far as the benefits, work life balance and perks however, the opportunities for advancement are few and far between. It's a good job if you're just starting in the work force and/or looking to earn a fair living. The hardest part of the job and the most trying part of the job is some of the callers can be very ignorant, belligerent and at times down right obnoxious. They know your job better than you do even though they don't work your job or in your field. They call with this sense of entitlement and they are paying customers to which I agree whole heartily and that they deserve the best services that their money is paying for. But the biggest issue with most of, NOT ALL of the callers is that they feel that it gives them the right to talk to you any kind of way and you are forced to sit there and endure it for the sake of their monthly premium payment. You never know what type of caller you're going to get that day and if they are a problem callers you don't know how many of them you will get in a given day. Though you are part of a team of reps at a centralized location you can find yourself being moved to a different manager every year in addition to a different location to go along with that new manager or new structure. It is at many times a very mentally and emotionally draining position if you are in the Call Center. If you are hired in the call center whether it be services, sales or as a blended rep, unless you know someone who can get you into a better position, expect to be in your current role for a while. Degrees mean nothing, unless it applies to one of the few opportunities that may present itself, but even then, you're in competition with about 5,000 to 10,000 other candidates depending on the available and the qualifications associated with that position who are also trying to get off the phones. I personally have a Bachelor's of Business and work with a gentleman who has a Master's degree and we are both doing a job that doesn't require a degree. Your move within the company will be more of a lateral move than an elevated move. The company has a high turnover because of various issues associated with the position (in addition to the fore mentioned item, there are certain metrics  associated with "HHV" Homeowners/Renters Insurance, Ask For Renewal Payments, Electronic Fund Payments, etc:)that have to be met in order for you to keep from being put on "Performance Management and/or fired the fact advancement opportunities are so limited and it can be very stressful. You are always "One Phone Call" from being written up and/fired that's a great way to start you work day each day.At times it seems the only real light at the tunnel is the end of tunnel is the end of your shift or your off days or vacations. Maximum pay for a call center rep is about $16.00 an hour but for what we have to endure I feel it should be at least $19.00+ They need call center reps more than anything because the ones that they do get are always coming in looking for a way out. I can only say that if you are seeking a call center position with the Progressive Insurance organization, proceed with caution.

Your typical work day is spent mostly on the phone: obtaining statements from drivers, arranging vehicle repairs, and so on. Adjusters are assigned several new claims each day in addition to their existing workload. The goal is to resolve more claims than you receive on average. Aside from working claims, be prepared to spend a lot of time in meetings, group presentations, and/or job related trainings. 

Like many phone-centric jobs, your performance is primarily judged by metrics and customer surveys. Efficiency is the most important aspect of the job, while accuracy/quality of work is less of a priority. In my experience, there is a disconnect in expectations where adjusters are told to focus on satisfying metrics to produce results, but are judged negatively if results are not great regardless of the underlying metrics. 

Progressive is a good company in many ways: it is very inclusive of many different people, it offers a ton of benefits, and the pay is solid. Most of the negative stuff comes from local branch management failing to be aligned with corporate or other teams within the branch. Each team leader has specific expectations for how work should be done, and those expectations do not align with the extensive corporate training new adjusters go through. This is a huge problem when teams within the branch are constantly in flux, as was my experience - I had four different supervisors/teams in the first year working there. The lack of consistency makes a challenging job much more difficult. 

The good: Progressive offers extensive training and continued education, they pay for you to get your insurance license, and they pay a good salary along with profit sharing. Their health plans aren’t spectacular, but should be fine for the average person. They match 401(k) contributions up to 6% and give plenty of paid time off. There are a lot of internal job opportunities that are regularly available. 

The bad: The work isn’t impossibly difficult, but there’s a lot of it, and it’s time sensitive. Even the top performing adjusters usually have to invest time beyond their scheduled hours to keep up just due to the nature of the work. Taking time off usually results in a backload of work upon your return because your colleagues have just as much work as you do. The company’s emphasis on work-life balance applies more to higher level positions, which also have a smaller workload. 

The bottom line: If you have the time to invest, this is a great job that can turn into a solid career. The work is challenging but not impossible, and you learn a lot about the insurance, body damage, and finance industries. On the other hand, if you have obligations that may take priority over work, like kids/family or medical needs, it’s going to be very difficult to keep up with the work. Management will be personally supportive of you, but you will be expected to work as many extra hours as necessary to catch up regardless of your circumstances. Making a first impression is very important at this company, as management either lacks the time or interest in supporting employees that are unable to work long past their scheduled hours on any given day. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Claims adjuster 233 salaries reported	$65,801 per year
Insurance agent 1 salary reported	$22.00 per hour
Call center representative 47 salaries reported	$21.39 per hour
Customer service representative 12 salaries reported	$20.61 per hour
Auto appraiser 65 salaries reported	$76,401 per year

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