On June 19, 2010, Katie Fisher was involved in a car accident in Baltimore. She was hit by a driver who ran a red light. The other driver survived. Katie died. Both drivers held valid insurance policies. Katie’s was with Progressive. The other driver was insured by Nationwide. Unfortunately, the other driver was underinsured. Fortunately, Katie’s policy provided coverage to protect her from uninsured and underinsured drivers. Or at least that’s what her family thought.
Nationwide covered the full cost of their insured’s policy, $25,000, and disbursed funds to Katie’s family without much delay. Progressive, Katie’s insurer, was to cover the balance of her policy. However, as of August 14, 2012, they have not paid her family. The only support Progressive has supplied in the matter? How about legal counsel that sat beside Katie’s “killer” during his civil trial? Hard to believe, but it’s true. Progressive sent an attorney to sit at the defendant’s table during trial. Why? Because if the defendant lost the civil trial, it would prove his culpability, and, in the State of Maryland, you apparently need that verdict to go after an insurance company refusing to pay to cover an underinsured driver. Hard to believe, but you can read more about it here http://mattfisher.tumblr.com/post/29338478278/my-sister-paid-progressive-insu… and here http://www.progressive.com/understanding-insurance/entries/2012/8/14/statemen….
The second link is Progressive’s latest statement on the matter. I would direct your attention to the comments posted by the public. Which brings me to my point: you can wage a war about the validity and truth of your position in the face of opposition, but it doesn’t guarantee that you will win anything in the process. It’s a pyrrhic victory: you burn everything to the ground in order to declare victory. Whether it’s Progressive defending their actions, Bayer defending the safety of the systemic pesticides they produce, or Monsanto buying the research firm that implicated it (and that safe Bayer systemic pesticide) in the phenomenon known as Bee Colony Collapse Disorder, manipulating, bullying, and obfuscating information and people takes a toll on any brand. Any brand.
The lesson for the Average Joe, for you and for me, is that the brand we build for ourselves can be endangered at a moment’s notice. Our subsequent actions will have implications for the work we do, the lives we live, and the healthy of our personal brands. Positive or negative, the impact is directly dependent on how we choose to address or not address the threat. Just proceed knowing that you have choices to make, and you will have to live with the consequences of those decisions. It’s such an elementary lesson, but we see it ignored or forgotten over and over again.
As my mom always said to me, “Think before you do things.” Simple, invaluable wisdom from my mom. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind my sharing it for free.
Illuminate Possibilities 