Matt Fisher vs Progressive: Insurance Nightmare is Real

Progressive Goes the Extra Mile to Avoid Paying Out for Dead Woman

How far will an insurance company go to avoid paying out? Really, really far. Just ask Matt Fisher, a comedian whose sister was killed in a car accident. Trying to get Progressive to pay up has gone beyond the stereotypical "insurance companies are tightwads" into some sort of nightmare scenario.

It reached the point where the Fisher family had to file a civil suit against the driver responsible for Matt Fisher's sister's death... and Progressive's lawyers defended him. In other words,

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Unchecked Flo: Progressive's Auto-Reply to Matt Fisher Supporters

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uploaded by NowPublic Staff

Progressive lost the civil suit, and so will have to eventually cough up. We can be forgiven for presuming that that payout will come only after some serious heel-dragging.

How far will Progressive go to make things right? Not very far at all. Behold, the most half-assed Twitter apology ever tweeted by a bot (or lazy human):

"This is a tragic case, and our sympathies go out to Mr. Fisher and his family for the pain they've had to endure. We fully investigated this claim and relevant background, and feel we properly handled the claim within our contractual obligations. Again, this is a tragic situation, and we're sorry for everything Mr. Fisher and his family have gone through."

That tweet was sent, unchanged, 16 times to different users as Matt Fisher's story spreads (as of this post: we're trying to get another). Progressive is behaving as if Matt Fisher and his family have been harmed by circumstances beyond Progressive's control, rather than by Progressive's direct and intentional actions.

Furthermore, if Progressive is actually as proud of their actions as they seem, you should consider maybe jettisoning them as an insurance company.

We'll say one thing, though: if this isn't going the extra mile, we don't know what is.

• Matt Fisher on Twitter

Progressive is pointing the finger at Nationwide, finally realizing that its initial response to the social media shitstorm was inadequate. Even if that's true (which would be a marginal truth at best), Progressive must still face up to the fact that its refusal to pay up is what forced the civil trial in the first place.

You'll also notice that they pulled Flo from their Twitter account, replacing her a more neutral avatar.