Secured with SHA-256 EncryptionLiberty Mutual vs. Progressive | Auto Insurance
Progressive and Liberty Mutual are among the top auto insurance providers in the nation, with Progressive ranked fourth in the United States and Liberty Mutual ranked sixth in premiums written.
Both have a long history of servicing automobile drivers, as Liberty Mutual was founded in 1912, Progressive in 1937, and both have made significant impacts on the industry as a whole.
When comparing Progressive vs. Liberty Mutual, it’s important to do your research and obtain quotes from both auto insurance providers to make sure that you’re getting the best coverage for your needs at the best available rate.
Progressive vs. Liberty Mutual
To assist you in choosing the auto insurance provider that is best suited to your needs and budget, we’ve evaluated these two carriers based on numerous different elements.
Then, we’ve compared how they stack up against one another as regards each one’s pricing, discounts, financial strength, customer experience, coverage options, and benefits.
Coverage Compared
While both companies offer standard coverage options such as comprehensive, collision, liability, and medical payments, Progressive provides customers with some basic options that aren’t available from Liberty Mutual, such as uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage and personal injury coverage.
Additionally, Progressive also provides policyholders some choices that Liberty Mutual doesn’t. Both Progressive and Liberty Mutual customers can add rental reimbursement coverage to their policies.
However, Progressive goes a step beyond, also offering coverage for towing and labor costs, your vehicle’s sound system, and vet bills if your pet gets injured in an accident.
Which Company is Best for Your Needs?
When evaluating Liberty Mutual vs. Progressive, it’s important to consider not only what coverage options are available but how each company can meet your needs.
For example, while Progressive’s vet bills coverage may benefit policyholders who often travel with their pets in tow, this extra add-on doesn’t benefit pet-free drivers and shouldn’t influence their purchasing decision.
Additionally, if you have a generous life insurance policy or if you have an extended warranty on your vehicle, coverage options like funeral expenses or towing and labor cost may be redundant and unnecessary for your specific needs.
What Do Their Customers Have To Say?
As an auto insurance policyholder, your primary interaction after your initial sign-up occurs during the claims servicing process, when you file a claim to receive compensation for a covered loss.
Unsurprisingly, the efficiency, fairness, and ease with which an auto insurance provider settles claims is a driving factor in overall customer satisfaction.
Claims Satisfaction
When comparing Progressive vs. Liberty Mutual, you should consider how each company handles claims to determine which provider offers superior service.
J.D. Power is one of several organizations that conducts studies involving insurance companies, ranking them according to their performance in key metrics.
This organization rates major insurance providers in eight areas related to the claims servicing process, consolidating these into three key performance indicator categories, or KPIs, which include timeliness, communication, and ease of service interaction.
| Overall Satisfaction | Initial Claims Reporting Process | Representative Handling the Claim | Repair Process | Rental Car Process | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Progressive | 3 out of 5 stars | 3 out of 5 stars | 3 out of 5 stars | 3 out of 5 stars | 4 out of 5 stars |
| Liberty Mutual | 2 out of 5 stars | 3 out of 5 stars | 2 out of 5 stars | 3 out of 5 stars | 3 out of 5 stars |
Both insurance companies have 3 out of 5 stars for satisfaction with the initial claims reporting process and satisfaction with the repair process. According to the 2017 U.S. Auto Claims Satisfaction Study from J.D. Power, Progressive rates slightly higher than Liberty Mutual for overall satisfaction.
However, Progressive rates higher than Liberty Mutual for how its representatives handle the filed claim, with 3 out of 5 stars, while Liberty mutual got only two stars.
Progressive also achieved 4 out of 5 stars for satisfaction with the rental car process, indicating that customers believed that this insurer provides a better experience than most others in this area. Liberty Mutual has 3 out of 5 stars in this metric.
Complaints
When comparing Liberty Mutual vs. Progressive, it’s also important to consider the number of justified complaints reported against these insurance companies.
Justified complaints are instances in which the insurer breached its contract with a policyholder. The California Complaint Ratio calculates complaint ratios reported in California, which is the nation’s most populous state.
In the 2017 study, Liberty Mutual was ranked 45 out of 50 insurance providers, with a complaint ratio of 14.5 per 100,000 policies, almost triple the study’s median ratio. Out of its 379,678 California policies, there were 55 justified complaints. Progressive, on the other hand, had a complaint ratio of 5.6 and ranked 27 out of 50. It fielded just seven justified complaints out of 125,602 California policies.
On a nationwide scale, the complaint database from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners agrees with the results of the California study. Liberty Mutual shows a higher complaint ratio (complaints against total premiums) than Progressive at 4.55, almost four times Progressive’s 1.11 and significantly over the national median of 1.00.
Financial Strength
Most drivers shopping for auto insurance don’t think about a company’s financial strength as the first element that comes to mind.
Since auto insurance providers are not federally insured like banks, policyholders are not guaranteed fair and prompt compensation for a covered loss if a natural disaster occurs, affecting thousands of policyholders. The Insurance Information Institute provides insight on how to evaluate an insurer’s financial outlook by studying the ratings used by agencies such as Standard & Poor’s, A.M. Best, and Moody’s Investor Services.
Company Ratings
Comparing Progressive vs. Liberty Mutual’s financial strength can help confirm that your insurer can uphold its contractual obligations should you need to file a claim.
Moody’s Investors Services assigned both Liberty Mutual and Progressive a rating of “A2,” with the “A” being its third-highest grade and the “2” indicating that the insurers fall in the mid-range of that grade. A.M. Best gives both companies an “A” rating, which indicates an excellent ability to meet ongoing financial obligations, and both companies were rated an “A” by Standard and Poor’s.
These ratings indicate that Progressive and Liberty Mutual are financially stable insurance providers and equally able to fulfill ongoing obligations to their policyholders.
Liberty Mutual vs. Progressive Pricing
Just as there are many factors that can drive up your auto insurance rates, such as your claims history, driving record, marital status, and age, insurers also make certain discounts available to bring down your monthly premiums.
Read more: AAA vs. Progressive: Who Has the Best Coverage & Rates?
Discounts
While not all companies offer discounts, both Progressive and Liberty Mutual have an array of discounts available to eligible drivers.
Liberty Mutual offers a total of 12 discounts for drivers. Its offerings include the typical discounts for safe drivers, good students, and multi-policy customers, as well as unique discounts for newly retired policyholders, those who have recently married, and drivers who own hybrid vehicles.
Progressive, on the other hand, offers 17 different discounts, including discounts for homeowners (even if their homeowner’s insurance policy is with another insurer), those who opt for paperless billing, and drivers who have not had an interruption in their coverage.
| Liberty Mutual | Progressive | |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple Vehicle | YES | YES |
| Multiple Policy | YES | YES |
| Vehicle Safety | YES | YES |
| New Vehicle | YES | NO |
| Teen Driver | NO | YES |
| Good Student | YES | YES |
| Student Away from Home | NO | YES |
| Completed Driver Training Course | NO | YES |
| Completed Safe Driving Course | NO | YES |
| Safe Driver | NO | YES |
| Homeowner | NO | YES |
| Length of Membership | NO | YES |
| Sign Up Online | NO | YES |
| Receive Online Quote | NO | YES |
| Paperless | NO | YES |
| Pay in Full | YES | YES |
| Automatic Payment | YES | YES |
| Anti-Theft | YES | YES |
| Hybrid | YES | NO |
| New Grad | YES | NO |
| Newly Married | YES | NO |
| Newly Retired | YES | NO |
By looking at how each company stacks up in these areas, you can make the best choice for you and your family. When comparing Progressive and Liberty Mutual, it’s important to look at a variety of factors to determine which provider has the coverage that fits your lifestyle and the rates and discounts to fit your budget.