{"id":1468,"slug":"progressive-snapshot-history-1996-2010-2014","title":"Progressive Snapshot — first UBI (\"Autograph\") 1996; modern Snapshot 2010; surcharge capability 2014","kind":"reference","scope":"business","status":"current","audiences":["kevin","smb-owner","candid-team"],"topics":["pricing-intelligence","information-asymmetry","alternative-data-scoring"],"reference_body":"**Claim.** Progressive Insurance pioneered usage-based insurance (UBI) with \"Autograph\" in 1996, launched the modern Snapshot programme in 2010, and added the ability to *surcharge* based on telematics-observed risk (not just discount) in 2014.\n\n**Source.** Carrier Management, \"Telematics Master Class\" (2023-03-07, accessed 2026-06-21).\n\n**Confidence.** Verified. Trade publication, dates align with publicly disclosed product launches and SEC filings.\n\n**Caveats.** Pre-2014 Snapshot was discount-only and therefore self-selecting (safer drivers opted in); the 2014 surcharge capability is what closes the asymmetry — Progressive can now price risk that other insurers cannot observe at all.\n\n**Implication / use.** Three-stage history grounds the information-asymmetry thesis in a single firm: each stage extended observation of risk that competitors did not have, which produced pricing power competitors could not match.","rationale_body":null,"metadata":null,"links":{"outgoing":[{"slug":"research-brief-information-asymmetry-decision-edge-june-2026","title":"Research notes (capture-layer): the affirmative, inward decision-edge case for data intelligence — information asymmetry applied to pricing, demand, risk, retention, targeting (June 2026)","kind":"research-notes","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"}],"incoming":[{"slug":"progressive-voelker-access-to-segments-quote","title":"Progressive CIO Ray Voelker — Snapshot \"given us access to segments of the auto insurance markets that we normally did not attract\"","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"progressive-individual-not-actuarial-class","title":"Progressive — pricing accuracy framed as individuals vs actuarial class (\"customers want to be treated as individuals — not as members of an actuarial class\")","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"progressive-consumer-savings-marketing-excluded","title":"Progressive consumer-savings marketing ($169/$322/$328 avg, \"up to 30pct,\" $1.2B discounts) — EXCLUDED from any article as edge evidence","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"motley-fool-progressive-moat-86-4-q1-2026-investment-commentary","title":"Motley Fool (2026-05-29) on Progressive — \"nearly two decades of data, an economic moat\"; Q1 2026 combined ratio 86.4 vs 96 goal (DS, investment commentary)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"}]},"created_at":"2026-06-21T01:14:48.739Z","updated_at":"2026-06-21T01:14:48.739Z"}