How to fix a problem with Geico?

[Rick Lee]

Does anyone here work for Geico? My wife had them for her car insurance until recently, when she went on my USAA policy. She simply did not renew with Geico when she got her renewal notice. If I did that with USAA, they'd just keep covering me and then keep nagging me for the money. If I did that with my bike policy with Progressive, they'd drop me like a bag of sand. Anyway, Geico just renewed my wife without her authorization, didn't send a bill and now she's getting collection notices. First time she called about it, Geico said she just needed to provide proof that she had other insurance. Why is this Geico's business? Anyway, she faxed a copy of her insur. id card. She's still getting collection notices. She just called and now they're saying they need a copy of the declaration page with USAA. WTF? How in the world is this their business? She didn't renew with them. She sent them the first thing they asked for. This is getting to be a real hassle. Aside from their outrageous rates, I would never do business with Geico if they were free. How do we fix this?

[legion]

Make a formal complaint with your state's department of insurance. Fax them a copy of the complaint.

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by legion

Make a formal complaint with your state's department of insurance. Fax them a copy of the complaint.

Thanks. But I'm not sure if this is for VA or AZ. It started as soon as we got to AZ, but I think the original renewal notice was sent to our VA address.

[widgeon13]

Ask USAA if they can give you any guidance or legal assistance. Perhaps they can get you in touch with their legal staff. The policy needs to be renewed on an annual basis and if the premium is not paid the coverage will lapse.

You should not have to prove anything to Geico, the coverage ended when the premium was not paid. Write the state attorney general and see if they can assist.

I've had USAA for too many years and they can be very helpful.

[UconnTim97]

Same thing happened to me a few years back. I was luckier though, they were happy with getting a copy of my new policy with state farm.

Best of luck

[legion]

Contact your current DOI. VA might not care if you're not paying them taxes anymore.

[Rick Lee]

Well, I'll have to call USAA tomorrow anyway, as I cannot find my wife's name on any of the documents they have on my online account, though they did email me insur. id cards with her name on them. USAA's website SUCKS. But they are excellent for everything else.

[Jagshund]

I've found USAA's website to be very helpful- when my wife's using it. Apparently you have to make a formal request for them to post past documents but they are available.

[widgeon13]

I just signed in to USAA and went to My account/account summary and my wife's name was listed as a driver of all vehicles. She would be a primary operator of one vehicles.

I have always found them to be very cooperative and knowledgeable, a pleasant change from what you are experiencing with Geico.

As for the website, it's not the easiest to navigate but I have gotten accustomed to it and can find everything I need, if I can't I call and ask for assistance. One of a few companies where you can actually talk to a human in short order.

Even if they can not give direct assistance, I would expect they can at least point you in the right direction.

[Rick Lee]

I have all or most of my documents for insurance and banking online with USAA. When I pay bills online with them, I always try to pay several at the same time, click on each account, the date to pay, the amount, submit and then confirm. But it only ever pays one account and then I have to go back and do the other individually. No biggie. My wife's name is on all our car ID cards. But her name is not on a the declarations page and that could be a problem with Geico, unless USAA can get me one with her name on it.

[Shawn 357]

Be persistent and not only should they stop trying to collect on the new policy period but they should also be refunding you your unused premium (if you paid for six months but only used three they owe you for those remaining three). As Legion said contact your DOI and put in a complaint (you can probably do this all online). I am speaking from my experience in Ca and insurance does differ state to state but I would assume that these things will be the same in all 50. With you and your Wife on the policy USAA should be able to supply you with at the very least a certificate of insurance showing that she had coverage on that vehicle from whatever date. Geico can be hard to work with because they have a high turnover rate and their business is set up so that you never end up speaking to the same person twice but you are in the right and I guarantee this isn't the first time someone didn't call to cancel a policy and just let it lapse.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by Shawn 357

With you and your Wife on the policy USAA should be able to supply you with at the very least a certificate of insurance showing that she had coverage on that vehicle from whatever date.

But why is it Geico's business to ask for proof of insurance after we did not renew with them? Are they somehow entitled to insure my wife unless she other insurance and do so without her consent? This sounds crazy.

[Danny_Ocean]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

But why is it Geico's business to ask for proof of insurance after we did not renew with them? Are they somehow entitled to insure my wife unless she other insurance and do so without her consent? This sounds crazy.

Because...even though you didn't pay a premium, you were still technically "covered" by Geico for some period of time. Geico wants to see a copy of a policy that was in force during this "transitional" period so they have somewhere to point the finger in case a claim is filed for that period. For example, you get in a car accident, but the person you hit doesn't file a claim until 11 months later...Geico could be on the hook. I/you/we know you didn't have any accidents during this period, but Geico doesn't.

[Rick Lee]

Ok, I told my wife it costs her nothing to send in the declarations page, as much as I hate that we're still dealing with them. Actually, now we're dealing with a collections agency, not Geico. I don't know if they'll accept anything but payment. Geico will hearing from me tomorrow and they most certainly will hear me.

[Danny_Ocean]

Originally Posted by widgeon13

You should not have to prove anything to Geico, the coverage ended when the premium was not paid.

Not (always) true.

[Shawn 357]

Originally Posted by Danny_Ocean

Because...even though you didn't pay a premium, you were still technically "covered" by Geico for some period of time. Geico wants to see a copy of a policy that was in force during this "transitional" period so they have somewhere to point the finger in case a claim is filed for that period. For example, you get in a car accident, but the person you hit doesn't file a claim until 11 months later...Geico could be on the hook. I/you/we know you didn't have any accidents during this period, but Geico doesn't.

Exactly.

You will have to supply Geico with the dec. page and from there have Geico contact the collections company.

[onewhippedpuppy]

You have to renew your Geico policy? I don't ever recall renewing my policy, I just pay my bills. In my case, not cancelling my policy would eventually send it to collections.

In defense of Geico, I've been a customer since 2002 and been very happy. They've been fair with claims, and have above-average customer service. Also the cheapest insurance I've found.

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

You have to renew your Geico policy? I don't ever recall renewing my policy, I just pay my bills. In my case, not cancelling my policy would eventually send it to collections.

In defense of Geico, I've been a customer since 2002 and been very happy. They've been fair with claims, and have above-average customer service. Also the cheapest insurance I've found.

When I was shopping for bike insurance, Progressive was $400 a year and Geico was $1900. After that I never took them seriously again.

[allaircooled]

I don't think you will ever have this problem with USAA. I use them for my insurance and banking and won't even consider looking anywhere else. Good luck with dealing with Geico. I know you got to be po'd about this cause I would be steaming.

[Shawn 357]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

When I was shopping for bike insurance, Progressive was $400 a year and Geico was $1900. After that I never took them seriously again.

In my area Geico is usually pretty cheap (on cars) but they also have over three times as many complaints as a lot of there competitors.