‘I’m an agent and will never put this in my car’: Woman warns about Progressive Insurance loophole that’s secretly dinging you
Ever wondered if that shiny new insurance gadget is really designed to help you save money or just another sneaky way to squeeze more out of you? Well, Kailyn Richards (@kailynrichardson1) recently blasted Progressive Insurance’s Snapshot program in a viral video that has ticked off over 64,000 viewers. Her irate message: the risk of penalties could actually outweigh the so-called savings.
All for the ‘Golden’ Rate
Kailyn and her partner were duped into the Progressive Snapshot program for a sweet, quoted rate. But after 6 months of grimacing at every beep from their car, she’s now spilling the beans on the device’s dark side—the very same device that’s pretending to be their driving buddy.
“So what this Snapshot device does is it pretty much watches how you’re driving, in the sense that it really looks for hard stops—that’s the biggest one,” Kailyn explains. “It does like one beep, two [beeps], three [beeps], and I think I’ve even gotten four beeps before, but pretty much that’s like your ‘Oh crap’ beep. Like there goes my insurance,” she says, hinting at the rising dread each beep brings.
Incentivizing Reckless Driving?
Imagine skidding to a halt to avoid an accident, only to hear that damned beep signaling higher insurance premiums. Yes, that’s the world Kailyn’s living in.
“My husband and I were heading to the grocery store the other day and a light turned yellow. He’s like, ‘Oh, gotta speed up,’ because he can’t slam on the brakes. Slam on the brakes and there goes our insurance rate, shooting up!”
And here’s the kicker—if a cop pulls you over for running that red light, what’s your excuse? “Sorry officer, couldn’t slam on my brakes or my insurance would punish me!” Hilarious, right?
It gets better. Kailyn recounts another heart-pounding moment. “We were on a country road, and this lunatic’s coming right at us, passing two cars in our lane. My husband had to slam on the brakes or we’d be toast at 65 miles an hour. Guess what? Three beeps. Wonderful! Saved our lives but here comes a rate hike.”
Hey, Progressive, Get Your Act Together!
In her video, Kailyn didn’t mince words when it came to calling out Progressive. “So get it together or you’re actually gonna lose a good customer,” she warned.
How Progressive Spins It
Progressive touts Snapshot as a “reward for good driving,” labeling it a “usage-based” plan. Personalized data points like speed, braking, and mileage—yeah, stuff that can be easily manipulated depending on how you’re pressed against the wall. Hard braking, in their books, amounts to any drop of seven mph per second or greater, and guess what? That misleading beep is meant to ‘guide’ you.
What Do Others Think?
Kailyn isn’t screaming into the void. The comments section is chock-full of folks echoing her sentiments.
“I’m an agent and will never put this in my car,” one insightful commenter noted. “The app dings you for streaming music as phone use,” another person vented.
“The hard braking makes no sense to me. Penalizing drivers for being alert and having quick response times,” echoed another user. Oh the irony!
Let’s not forget, “Incentive to run red lights,” someone quipped, joining the queue of disgruntled drivers agreeing with Kailyn.
But wait—there’s a plot twist. Despite all her beef with Snapshot, Kailyn is still enrolled in the program. “We’re going on 7 months of it now! renewed again it was the lowest rate out of 15 carriers,” she confessed when pressed by a commenter.
