Liberty Mutual has recognized the financial burden caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and has responded by announcing a “Personal Auto Customer Relief Refund” program that will give auto insurance customers a 15% refund on two months of their annual premium.
A release said that this refund program returns about $250 million to both Liberty Mutual and Safeco personal auto insurance customers. Pending regulatory approval, personal auto insurance customers will receive the 15% refund on two months of their annual auto premium as of April 07, 2020.
The refunds will be paid out starting April, and will be issued either in the form of a check or in the manner the customer made their most recent payment. Liberty Mutual also indicated that the refund payments will happen automatically – customers do not need to call the insurer to receive the refund.
In addition to the refund, Liberty Mutual is also offering flexible payment options for those customers still finding it difficult to pay for coverage. Late fee charges have been automatically stopped and policy cancellations for non-payments halted from March 23 through at least May 22, 2020. The insurer is willing to provide personalized support for individual customers if they need to extend payment dates.
The company is also introducing delivery coverage expansion for auto policies; all personal auto policies have been expanded to cover customers who use their personal vehicles to deliver food and medicine. Safeco’s standard personal auto insurance policies typically exclude such coverage. This additional protection takes effect for all personal auto policies in all states for losses occurring from March 16 to May 22, 2020, and reported by July 01, 2020.
“For more than a century, we’ve made it our goal to be there for people when they need us most,” commented Liberty Mutual chairman and CEO David Long. “Today, more than ever, we recognize the uncertainty and financial challenges our customers are facing. We remain dedicated to serving our customers during this unprecedented pandemic, and we hope our premium relief and other actions we have taken offer support and help to alleviate some of their worries.”
