Posted On: August 1, 2005, 3:28 pm CDT

Posted By: Russ Vollmer

Regardless of what one thinks of Progressive, this survey provided useful information about how people perceive our product. In short, they just don't understand it and by providing information like this, Progressive has helped educate the public about a large expenditure that most people have to make. Misunderstanding has led to a lot of animosity between the public and the industry over the years and the industry as a whole has provided little to help people understand its product. Despite the fact that most, if not all, insurers have abandoned the term "comprehensive" in favor of the more specific "other than collision" terminology, the general public still refers to that coverage as "comprehensive" since it was in general use for so long. Other than changing terminology in the policy, insurers have done little or nothing to further explain the coverage. Debunking myths is a good form of education. After all, isn't that what John Stossel of ABC News has so often done on TV?