Progressive Insurance will refund thousands of customers in Rhode Island nearly $2 million for improperly charging them for auto insurance.

A consent agreement with the state Department of Business Regulation (DBR) revealed that 4,933 Progressive policies were “surcharged out of compliance using a six-month renewal period instead of a 12-month renewal period.” These policies were charged extra over a five-year period.

Rhode Island law only allows insurers to levy a surcharge on auto insurance policies once a year.

Following the DBR’s rate filing review, Progressive announced that it would issue $1,900,000 in refunds and interest to 4,096 former policyholders. The insurer will also issue $80,000 in credits to 837 current policyholders, and has agreed to pay a $10,000 fine.

“In working with the Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation, we determined that some Progressive customers were inadvertently overcharged for their policies,” a spokesperson for the company told WPRI Call 12 for Action in an email statement. “We will be issuing reimbursements as soon as possible to these customers for the amount owed plus interest.”