Progressive Pays $125K Fine in Massachusetts

The Massachusetts Insurance Division reached $125,000 financial settlement with Progressive Direct Insurance Company last month. According to regulators, Progressive had informed some Massachusetts consumers, through its website, that credit information is used to determine their auto insurance rates. But Progressive says it was just a technical error involving websites and that it never used credit information for its Massachusetts policyholders. Massachusetts is a state with some of the strictest bans in the nation regarding the use of credit information and socioeconomic factors in underwriting.