I just received a notice of nonrenewal from Progressive Insurance. They state on the letter that they will not renew me because "the 2008 Chevrolet HHR has an unacceptable body style". What???? My HHR has been insured with them for 2 years and now they are cancelling me. I called them and they stated that my HHR Panel is considered to be a commerical vehicle and I cannot insure it on my personal auto policy. They transferred me to the commerical department and they said they cannot insure it because it's weight is too low to qualify for a commerical vehicle and should not be insured as one. They told me the previous agent was wrong and transferred me back to another agent and after 15 minutes waiting for someone to answer the phone, I hung up.

Has anybody else experienced this problem? Anybody currently insured with Progressive with an HHR Panel?

I'm at a loss of what to do now. Back to the phone for more calls. Any ideas?

 

I swear these insurance companies just find a reason to drop people before they get the longterm bonus(vanishing deductable)...my grandparents insurance company raised the rate $9 per month...and being old they called and complained up a storm and found out that because they haven't had a claim in a while, they were over do for one. its a joke. In my opinion you could just shop around.. I got my best deal through geico

 

Call the Department of Motor Vehicles in your state(since you're in Lake Gaston, I'm assuming you're either in NC or VA)and get their official classification on an HHR panel being used as a private vehicle, get it in writing from them, and present it to your insurance agent.

Also call Progressive's HQ at 1-440-461-5000, and ask to speak to a supervisor.

 

Thanks 843de. I'll try to call DMV Monday morning - appreciate the ideas.

 

Not the EXACT SAME THING, but close. First let me say Insurance Companies probably make more mistakes than you would think. So ALWAYS question your coverage and policy's.

My story....

When I first purchased my new '06 HHR, it was just kind of a switch from the existing policy from Hartford/AARP. Easy, efficient, and reasonable. Carried me for 1 year, with a very slight additional cost and when it came to a renewal (full year policy) I found the rate had increased 58%. Now understand, I live in a semi rural area, no tickets, no accidents, multi vehicle, etc. etc. I called and discussed this with their Service Rep. insisting there had to be some kind of mistake. Nope, no mistake coverage had increased. I still insisted coverage cannot increase 58% (from $578/yr to $915). We argued and even had one of their Supervisors insist the rate was correct. I subsequently went back to a previous policy with State Farm @ $601/yr.

After about 4-5 months I get a call from a VP of marketing who asked why I had dropped my coverage. I explained the previous situation and while I was taking with him, he also walked me through Hartford's on line quote. After entering the make and year, a drop down window questioned the type of engine. Well guess what, the window listed 3 engines...are you ready......260 hp 4 cyl., 268 hp v6, and a 315 hp v8. I immediately issued a protest explaining the car is NOT available with the engines listed and was adamant explaining I worked for the engineering division of the company (note the SS was not out yet). My car was listed with the V8, by the way.

Well to shorten the story, he found out I was correct and apologized and made some lame attempts to bring me back into the fold. I just absolutely refused explaining I could not trust a company that made that type of mistake.

I had 2 other issues with their methods of doing business which also provided additional incentive to drop their insurance .......3 cars, and RV, house, additional liability and a small boat policy.....$3250/yr.

About a week later the on line website had the correct displacements listed.

Oh and by the way, for at least the first year of production many states called these vehicles many things, SUV, Pk-ups, Station Wagons, 4 door sedans, hatchback sedans, etc. The first members of this forum had a lot of fun with that.

 

Your insurance co, or the rep that you talked to is most likely incorrect. Commercial or private as I understand it, is determined by the vehicles use, not its style.

 

The best suggestion I would make is talk to an independent insurance agent. I used to try to go direct to insurance agencies, but ended up saving a ton and ending up with a much better (AND local) insurance agency that is also about 2/3 the cost of the big "SAVE 105% on average with <insert company>" companies.

Just my 0.02

 

DMV in VA classified mine as an SUV (???) when I registered it.

Cheers
Doc

 

Ok, my lil story on my '08 Panel Van..

Prior to purchase, I called my Ins Co. w/ the VIN number. (doing my homework)..They asked to confirm that the Panel was a 2 seater. I said yes of course (as it is)..

They said that was good, & since I wanted this 2LT Panel (because of ABS & etc) my insurance was gonna be lower than if I selected an LS Panel.

And the cost to insure was about equal to what I was paying for my 10 year old Chevy S-10.
When I asked how that could be, they said the HHR 2LT was a MUCH safer vehicle..

 

Just filed my 1st claim with Progressive since 2004 when I started with them.The adjuster,his boss and another adjuster all said that they would only patch the the damage done to my rear bumper cover by the bear.I thought it should be replaced,so I found the number to their corperate office and called them up.As soon as the operator asked how she should route my call I said I want to speak with the CEO. I wasn't able to talk to them,but I did talk to a person in the claims dept. who had the district mgr. call me right back and telling me that I was getting an OEM replacement.Sometimes it pays to be persistant and go as high up in the company as you can