All week, The B.S. of A.'s Matt Fisher has been taking to social media to share the story of what he and his family have been going through in their battle with Progressive Insurance. Today, he joined Glenn on radio to discuss what he and his family have been going through.
Before Matt joined the program, Glenn reviewed the details of the case. Two years ago, Matt's sister Katie was killed when she was driving and struck by a driver who ran a red light. While the driver was underinsured, Katie's policy with Progressive Auto Insurance covered the difference between what her estate should have been paid and the amount that the underinsured driver's insurance paid out. However, due to state laws, they had to prove the driver's negligence, and they took him to civil court.
Progressive then did the unthinkable – rather than pay out the payment for the person they insured, they ended up defending her killer in court.
You can get more details on the Fisher family case here.
After the family ended up proving the driver's negligence in court, Matt took to his blog to write about the situation in a post titled "My Sister Paid Progressive Insurance to Defend Her Killer In Court". The post quickly went viral, and Progressive tried to minimize their involvement on public platforms including Twitter, Facebook, and the internet.
"Thank you so much for having me. And thank you so much for shedding so much light on this situation," Matt said as he joined the show.
After explaining the details of what happened to his sister, Matt explained what he saw when he went to court. Rather than support their policy holder, the company actively tried to show that Katie Fisher was at fault for the accident to avoid paying the policy.
"In the trial I sat and watched the trial and I wasn't a party to it. My parents were," he said. "But during the trial a lawyer from progressive argued against my sister. Argued that my sister was at fault in the accident that killed her."
"Her insurance company was arguing for the person who actually struck her with the car," Stu explained.
Matt described, "He gave an opening statement in the trial where he said the other driver wasn't negligent. He questioned and cross‑examined witnesses. He gave a closing statement where he asked the jury to find that my sister was negligent."
How much were they supposed to pay to Katie's estate? What was the price of putting the family through this painful process, a process that has ultimately resulted in their own brand being pummeled on social media? $75,000!
"All over $75,000. That is amazing. You would think they were talking about $5 million. They make this big a deal over $75,000," Pat said.
"It's outrageous. It's mystifying to me. I can't imagine what portion of the $75,000 they wasted dragging us into court," Matt said.
"Let me give you a piece of nonlegal issue," Glenn said. "Make them pay $75,000. And make them pay, and more and more important than money make them fire the people that were responsible so this doesn't happen to somebody else. Look at the pain you went through. It's not about money. It's making sure this doesn't happen to somebody else's family."
Glenn then asked Matt to talk about his sister Katie.
"She was 24 at the time, and I very much appreciate you asking. It's one of the perverse things about that here I am talking about insurance if I had the ear of the world I'd be talking about my sister. She was seven years my junior. She was an engineer. She had just got her master at Johns Hopkins. And I had no one closer in my life. I've never heard of any two people as close as my sister and I were. And I've never heard of anyone who has been as good to another as my sister was to me."
SInce the interview with Glenn, Matt has taken to Twitter using the hashtag #KatieFisher so people can read and hear stories about her life, rather than just her death.
Others have picked up on it as well:
