BOSTON (CBS) – A well known insurance company has agreed to a cash settlement after allegedly breaking state law in using customers’ private credit information.

Progressive Direct Insurance has been fined $125,000 for allowing prospective customers to unknowingly link to a private credit inquiry to calculate insurance rates.

Massachusetts Insurance Commissioner Joseph Murphy says a consumer complaint led to the investigation and the link was removed from Progressive’s web site last month.

WBZ NewsRadio 1030′s Anthony Silva reports