A message to our customers about the Coronavirus
At Safeco, the well-being of our customers and employees is always our top priority. We recognize the uncertainty and financial challenges many of you are facing as the nation bands together to slow the spread of the coronavirus. To help our customers, we have taken the following actions:
Personal Auto Customer Relief Refund
Fewer drivers are on the road, which means fewer accidents. With this in mind, we are announcing our Personal Auto Customer Relief Refund, which will return an estimated $250 million to our personal auto insurance customers. Here’s how it works:
- Personal auto insurance customers will receive a 15% refund on two months of their auto premiums, as of April 7, 2020, pending regulatory approval.
- The refunds will begin in April and will be issued either by check or in the manner you made your most recent payment.
- The payments will happen automatically, and you do not need to call us to receive the refund.
Payment Flexibility Options
We have automatically stopped charging late fees and have temporarily paused personal auto & home coverage cancellations due to non-payment from March 23 through May 22, 2020, or later as directed by your state.We are also extending payment dates if needed. Please contact us if we can be of assistance.
Delivery Coverage Expansion for Auto Policies
We have proactively expanded all our personal auto policies to cover customers who use their personal vehicles to deliver food, medicine, medical supplies, or medical equipment for a commercial purpose. This accommodation does not apply to drivers completing deliveries for a transportation network company or online only delivery platform. This additional protection is already in effect for all personal auto policies in all states for losses occurring from March 16 to May 22, 2020, and reported by July 1, 2020. Additional limitations apply, please contact us for more details.
Changes to Auto & Property Claims Process to Protect Customers and Employees
- We’ve stopped all in-home damage inspections effective immediately except in emergency situations, such as water damage with an active leak or threat of mold, to avoid having employees entering homes. Whenever possible, we will do in-home inspections through RealTime Review video chat or other video collaboration tools. We will ask customers for their approval before using these tools.
- Our adjusters will continue to do outside property inspections outside the home with customer permission. Our property adjusters will be following CDC Guidelines, including social distancing and following sanitation guidelines.
- Auto appraisers will not be visiting customers’ homes or auto body shops except in emergency situations and will follow CDC guidelines. You can submit photographs of vehicle damage online and through our app, including using our new assisted-photo tool which will show you step-by-step how to take damage photos.
- All other claims employees are working from home to handle claims as quickly as possible. For faster claims processing, we strongly encourage you to file new claims online, to manage claims online, and to use our digital tools including RealTime Review video chat and guided photo capture.
- We are suspending our Claims Valet Service until further notice except for emergency situations.
- We’re instructing any vendors who provide services to Safeco to follow the same guidelines.
Online Options for Personal Insurance Customers
For fast service, you can always go online at any time or use our app to:
Measures to Keep Employees Safe and Prevent Spread of Coronavirus
We’ve taken measures to follow CDC guidelines and prevent the spread of coronavirus to our employees and customers:
- We’ve enabled all our employees to work from home and implemented mandatory work from home across all offices in the US and Canada.
- All air, rail, and bus travel by employees is restricted through April 30.
We will keep you informed as this situation continues to evolve. In the meantime, stay well and thank you for being a Safeco customer.