Progressive received a U.S. patent in January for its concierge level of claims service. Progressive says its service, in which it takes responsibility for the entire vehicle claims/repair process following a crash, helps to save drivers time and effort.

Conceived in 2000 and rolled out beginning in 2003, Progressive’s concierge level of claims service is available through 54 centers in metropolitan markets across the country. In most states, the driver needs only to report the claim, drop off the car and drive away in a rental car, the insurer says. Progressive then writes an estimate for the damage and contacts a repair facility to pick up the car and fix the damages. Once the car is repaired, it is returned to the center, the repairs are inspected and the customer picks up the car.

According to the J.D. Power and Associates 2007 Insurance Claims Study, the concierge service delivers repaired vehicles back to customers faster. That study reports that Progressive’s concierge service cuts the average time from first notice of the claim to completion of vehicle repairs by an average of 4.8 days relative to the industry average. The study, however, also found that only 84 percent of concierge customers thought their vehicles were initially repaired correctly, the second-highest failure rate in the industry.