Progressive Insurance saw year-over-year drops in monthly and quarterly profits at the start of 2012, according to financial data released by the company on Wednesday.

First-quarter profits for 2012 were 29 percent below last year’s—dropping from $362.9 million down to $257.6 million—despite the fact that the company managed to increase first-quarter premium revenue by 7 percent.

And March profits were down 44 percent this year compared with last year, going from $136.2 million down to to $76.3 million.

Last month’s results also represent a 28 percent drop in profits from February.

Progressive wrote about $1.33 billion worth of premiums in March.

The following factors contributed to Progressive’s lackluster year-over-year results for March:

– A 16 percent spike in loss and loss adjustment expenses, which cost Progressive an extra $123 million this March

– A $20 million increase in underwriting expenses

– A $3.9 million decline in investment income

– A $7.6 million drop in gains on securities

– An extra $4.3 million in policy acquisition costs

Company representatives stated that Progressive experienced “unfavorable developments” in commercial auto, bodily injury and property damage policies. The March report cited Florida’s personal injury protection coverage and “higher than expected” losses in commercial auto as significant sources of financial loss.

Also, costs to the company related to catastrophes around the U.S. were up this quarter at $16 million, compared with $10 million in the first quarter of 2011. Texas and Tennessee registered the largest percentage of losses at 40 percent and 20 percent, respectively, of states in the U.S., according to the report.

Progressive Still One of Largest U.S. Auto Insurers

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) ranks Progressive as the fourth-biggest underwriter of personal auto policies, based on total premium dollars written. The insurer has found success with its focus on direct-to-customer sales, in which customers purchase policies after getting cheap car insurance quotes online or over the phone instead of buying coverage through an agent.

Progressive has also enjoyed success with expansion of its Snapshot discount program, one of the industry’s first usage-based coverage programs.

Earlier this month, Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire signed HB 2361 into law, permitting insurers to protect their usage-based rating systems as trade secrets and keep them free from public inspection. After this development, Progressive is expected to introduce Snapshot in Washington, one of the few states that don’t yet have access to the program.

To research how Progressive performs when handling claims and in other areas, consumers can read user-submitted Progressive auto insurance reviews online.

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Massachusetts regulators have fined Progressive Direct Insurance $125,000 for wrongly telling thousands of consumers that the company had used their credit histories as a factor in setting their premiums, despite the fact that the practice is prohibited in the state.

The state Division of Insurance announced this week that a settlement had been reached with the company, which reportedly informed consumers on its website starting in September 2010 that their credit histories had been used to calculate their vehicle coverage rates.

An estimated 3,200 Massachusetts residents clicked on a link that generated their credit information and detailed which factors in their credit histories favorably or unfavorably affected their scores, state officials said.

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Progressive announced Wednesday that its profits for the third quarter of 2011 were down 42 percent compared to the same period last year.

The auto and home insurer, which suffered major losses from Hurricane Irene and other natural disasters, said in a release that net income for the quarter fell from $261.6 million in 2010 to $150.7 million this year.

Net income for September decreased 6 percent, from $81.9 million last year to $77.1 million in 2011, despite a 5 percent increase in total personal auto policies for the month and a 4 percent increase for the year to date.

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Checking how much it will cost to insure a new vehicle before you buy it? Yes, there’s an app for that.

A new service from Progressive Insurance allows consumers to record a car’s Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) with their mobile device and compare the potential cost of covering the vehicle with up to two other vehicles.

The feature doesn’t deliver exact policy rates, which are determined using other factors, including driving record, age and gender of the driver, and the type of coverage purchased, as well as state laws.

But VIN Capture does allow consumers to use one variable—a vehicle’s make and model—to get an idea of relative coverage costs for two or three vehicles.

Users just scan the bar codes from at least two cars with their camera and send that information to Progressive.

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Progressive Car Insurance’s SnapShot Program is now available in Florida. Floridians can now participate in Progressive’s SnapShot discount program, which promises maximum savings to new or existing policyholders who demonstrate that they are low-mileage motorists who drive safely and at safer times of the day.

Drivers demonstrate this by using a small electronic monitoring device that they can quickly install into a port located in their cars. The device transmits data for six months, although the initial discount of up to 30 percent is assessed after the first 30 days that the device is in place. Types of data collected are when and how far the car is driven and whether there’s any evidence of risky driving habits, like those that would be indicated by routine slamming of the brakes.

Throughout the monitoring period, policyholders have online access to the data that will be used to set the discount. continue

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Ever since the GEICO gecko came onto the scene in 2000 to tell people about how much they could save on car insurance, auto insurance companies have given rise to a whole lineup of quirky advertising icons developed to let consumers know that their companies have the best deals.

But in a recent Entertainment Weekly bracket game that pitted Clydesdales against an animated tiger and the most interesting man in the world against the Snapple lady, it was Progessive insurance’s Flo who came out on top.

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<h2>Progressive Car Insurance Discounts</h2>

Progressive Car insurance company’s Snapshot discount program has reached the shores of Vermont & Montana. Drivers in the 2 states are the latest to become eligible to participate in Progressive car insurance’s SnapShot discount program, which allows motorists to save if they have demonstrably safer driving habits.

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