Just when you thought insurance companies couldn’t get any sleazier, Progressive Insurance got caught sending private eyes to infiltrate and secretly record an Atlanta area church support group in hopes of digging up dirt to discredit a church couple involved in a car accident lawsuit, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
After headquarters found out, a letter signed by the President of Progressive apologized for the actions and took full responsibility for them. They also pledged to enact new rules and procedures to prevent future occurrences. That may not be enough for the Insurance Commission and authorities, who say they are investigating the matter.
Members of the sessions, each which began with group pledges to keep the discussion private, disclosed abortions, sexual orientation issues, and drug abuse, all of which were tape-recorded by the Progressive gumshoes. After an emergency convening, and learning their trust and privacy was breached and violated, the group broke down and cried and several members left.
There’s no mention of how the private investigators’ identity was discovered. Maybe the group got suspicious after the couple would say, “pass” whenever it came their time to confess. Also gotta wonder how “isolated” this incident was. Maybe Progressive was just unlucky enough to get caught in something that goes on all the time. Guess if you’re involved in a lawsuit with a company you need to watch out for any “new friends” you suddenly find yourself having.
Private eyes sneak into church group [Atlanta Journal-Constitution]
Company says it’s sorry for spying [Atlanta Journal-Constitution] (Thanks to ptkdude!)
(Photo: The Master Shake Signal)
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@joeblevins: Uh… huh. Because someone mentioned drug issues, it’s OBVIOUSLY the couple in question. Gotcha. How much does Progressive pay you again?
A support group held in a church? Or a support group for people who go to church?
Is there not SOME kind of reverend/pastor/priest privelege? It’s always been my understanding something such as a Catholic confession cannot be used in court. If these parishoners were indeed speaking to or with the pastor in the room would that not make the recordings null and void anyway?
@joeblevins: Who said anything about rehab?
@Cowboys_fan:
Tell me if you have ever heard of this survey: People are asked about four ‘hypothetical’ laws and whether or not they would vote for them if they were on a ballot. Of the laws in question, only about 30% of the people think they are worthy ideas.
Here’s the catch: the ‘hypothetical’ laws in the survey are just rephrasings of the First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, & Eighth Amendments of the Bill of Rights: the laws that basically define what Americans understand as “freedom.”
I suspect you would have been in that 30%.
I bet this has more to do with Progressive being able to tell their shareholders that they have “done everything possible to root out fraud” than it does anything else. For-profit corporations who are involved in the world of insurance will do anything to get out of paying a settlement. I’ll bet every other company has done something similar, but they spent enough to find a PI who wasn’t caught.
IANAL, but clergy-penitent confidentiality probably doesn’t help protect participants in a group where non-clergy are part of the conversation. The same goes for therapy groups: participants have to rely on the non-professional members to act ethically and respect each other’s confidences.
Still, it would be good if there’s some recourse against the people who made the recording.
good i hope they keep doing stuff like this to keep my auto insurance rates low. there are too many scammer. I have progressive for years and they are an excellent bunch. i total my car the rep was there within 2 hours to assess my cars and i got my check 2 days later. PROGRESSIVE FOR LIFE
@weez: A few questions:
1. You say there are too many scammers. How many scammers are there, and can you kindly cite the source for that figure?
2. What is an acceptable number of scammers for you, where such zealous and unethical tactics would not be necessary?
3. Are you not bothered by the chilling effect entering a “safe” group under false pretenses have on support groups?
@spinachdip:
1. I believe that this does not need to be referenced, as we can all agree that there is at least 1 scammer out there. I believe this to be common knowledge, just like no one would cite where they heard the sky is blue.
2. 0
3. No. The people who think there is such a thing as a “safe” group deserve whatever happens due to their stupidity. Family is as close as it gets, and when someone in your family betrays that confidentiality, you erase them from your family. Or life in general.
This is sad what the USA has come down to.
The only reason that Progressive said sorry is to cover up their PR.
Time Warner did this — and worse — to a friend of mine when my friend’s child was struck and killed by one of their service trucks. Hell has undertaken excavation of a new level for corporate scum like this.
OK, even if you think this was even marginally acceptable because the couple might have been guilty, what about the privacy rights of all the innocent people in the group?
If this had happened in a group that I was part of, and I was NOT the person involved in the accident, I’d sue Progressive on my own behalf, and I think these people should.
@Hexum2600: This is a scary response on so many levels. The absence of logic is staggering.
The actions of the insurance company’s PIs in this case were unconscionable. I’m not bothered that they suspected and investigated a policy holder for fraud: Fraud is rampant and costs insurance companies billions a year and they have every right and obligation to exercise due diligence when there’s a suspicious claim.
But by infiltrating a support group there were, in effect, spying on everybody there, recording the confessions of people where were no part to the alleged fraud but simply trying to come to terms with their painful past. So when those people discovered that an insurance company had agents in the room, spying on them, where previously there had been safety, hope, and trust, well, they’ve been violated in a way that goes beyond mere privacy. It’s just one more nail in the alienation coffin, where we have to bury our humanity for fear of retribution, where there’s no redemption and no healing and every punishment is forever.
Would we be complaining if private detectives did this to find dirt on insurance execs?
All insurance is a scam as it its.
A whole lot of reaction here, very little facts. Progessive hired lawyers, the lawyers hired the pi’s, the pi’s acted on thier own. At least lay blame where it is due. These are the results of scummy pi’s. But hey, why let little things like facts get in the way of hating corporate America…
Progressive Insurance is a company based in Ohio. The AJ article is about a Wisconson-based company called Progressive Northern Insurance Co.
Not the same company.