Progressive’s Patented Concierge Service

Ever since I was first intimately exposed to business-method patents for a project in a prior life, I’ve been amazed that what should be a no-brainer idea can actually be patented and a limited monopoly granted. For example, consider this article at Insurance Journal about a new feature of Progressive’s (PGR) product:

Progressive’s concierge level of claims service is now available through 54 centers in metropolitan markets in the U.S. In most states, the driver needs only to report the claim, drop off the car and drive away in a rental car. Progressive then writes an estimate for the damage and contacts a repair facility to pick up the car and fix the damages. Once the car is repaired, it is returned to the center, the repairs are inspected and the customer is notified. When the customer returns, he or she picks up the car and drives away knowing that the repairs are guaranteed by Progressive and the shop.

It’s also worth noting that even though it’s a heckuva customer service benefit to throw into the mix of the commodity-like world of personal auto insurance, there seems to be a fringe benefit to the service: According to the IJ article, average repair times are just shy of 5 days shorter than in the traditional arrange-it-yourself scenario…and, one of the odd realities of auto insurance claims is that faster settlements mean smaller settlements, all other things being equal.