I Just Saved a Bunch of Money By Switching to Geico

[GG Allin]

Previous insurance bill for my 1998 M3 and the wife's 2008 Toyota Corrola was $177 per month. Now I pay $145 a month for the M3, Toyota and the Cayenne. Ridiculous, I wish I switched a long time ago.

[Schrup]

I don't understand how they can be cheaper than eveyone else when they have to spend a fortune on advertising. I am fortunate enough to be able to use USAA, I am sure they are the best.

[gtc]

I have used Geico for several years now. They've been good so far, but I don't like the fact that windshields are covered under the comprehensive policy. I wish I could keep a lower windshield deductible.

[GG Allin]

Part of the reason they are cheaper is that they don't have a network of agents collecting a sales commission.

[The Gaijin]

I don't know much about insurance - but you get the feeling the major companies were propping up the money losing stuff (like Florida coastal homes..) with Midwestern auto policies.

The brilliance of the little gecko is to break off the profitable part - and underwrite that only..

[porsche4life]

So if you hit me how big of a ***** is it going to be to get my money? I got hit by someone insured with some little no agent company. The adjuster dicked me around and would not pay for what it would take to fix the car. Sent some guy that I am pretty sure sold tvs 2 days ago to look at the car. He missed lots of small things. I'll pay more for my Farm bureau knowing that they take care of me and others when the SHTF

[KaptKaos]

Years ago Geico was caught funding research into radar and laser speed timing systems so that law enforcement could write more tickets and that Geico could charge more money.

[Jeff Higgins]

Just wait until you need to collect from Geico. I got hit by one of their insured one day; thank God I am under a larger, more reputable company. My agent went to bat for me against Geico, after covering the damage under my policy first. In other words, he went after Geico after he paid to have my car fixed under my collision policy, even though it was clearly the other guy's fault (he even got a ticket as a result of the collision). He wound up threatening to sue the insured after he could get nothing out of Geico.

I'll continue with a more traditional, local agent based company just to protect myself against those who have Geico and similar policies. Being insured doesn't mean squat if the insurance company won't pay.

[motion]

I just ran a quote using their online system. More than twice what I pay at State Farm. Guess it really must vary between states.

[GG Allin]

Originally Posted by porsche4life

So if you hit me how big of a ***** is it going to be to get my money? I got hit by someone insured with some little no agent company. The adjuster dicked me around and would not pay for what it would take to fix the car. Sent some guy that I am pretty sure sold tvs 2 days ago to look at the car. He missed lots of small things. I'll pay more for my Farm bureau knowing that they take care of me and others when the SHTF

Everyone that I spoke to before pulling trigger said they've had no problems getting a claim paid. Geico is hardly a little company. They're the third biggest auto insurance company in the country.

[TheMentat]

Originally Posted by KaptKaos

Years ago Geico was caught funding research into radar and laser speed timing systems so that law enforcement could write more tickets and that Geico could charge more money.

That would be reason enough for me to boycott, and pay a small premium elsewhere!

[911boost]

I would use USSA, but they are douches when it comes to my '66 Mustang.

I have American National, and they have a cash back policy. After going two years without any claims, and for every year after that, you get 25% of your premium back. Which for me, adds up to a lot of $$.

The turbo may be fun to drive, but damn, it isn't cheap to insure.

[porsche4life]

Everyone that is a geico customer. Talk to someone like Higgins...


Geico takes care of their own. Oh and most people don't drive cars that they wan't fixed absolutely right and 95% or more of the population can't spot a bad fix.

[onlycafe]

Originally Posted by KaptKaos

Years ago Geico was caught funding research into radar and laser speed timing systems so that law enforcement could write more tickets and that Geico could charge more money.

just one of the reasons i will never go with geico.

although i do like the gekko.

[gtc]

Someone hit my 911 while it was parked on the street last winter, and took off without leaving a note. The body shop bill was something north of $5k, IIRC. I took the car to the shop I wanted and Geico footed the bill, minus my deductible. No fuss at all.

Jeff, I am a little surprised by your conclusion. I don't expect any insurance company to freely hand out money, and I would be very dissapointed in any agent that had trouble getting the other party/agency to pay up. The last thing I want is to be represented by a local yokel insurance agent who is afraid of going after a big name insurance company.

[Jeff Higgins]

I wasn't clear enough on how the whole process went down. I initially did not involve my own agent, attempting to get my car fixed through Geico. I got nowhere. Weeks went by as I tried to get so much as an adjuster to go out to the body shop I was using. It was not on their "prefered" list - it was a far better shop than that (WA law allows the car owner to choose the shop, not the insurance company). Their adjuster simply could not find time to go. The body shop submitted their estimate to Geico, seeking the authorization to begin repairs. They wouldn't give it, saying their own adjuster had to look at the car first. But they would not send one... Impasse.

So I called my agent, who called the body shop and had them send him the estimate, and he authorized repairs that same day. He went out of his way to help me by getting repairs started before he even attempted to contact Geico. He had dealt with them on many, many occasions in the past. He did not want one of his clients waiting for Geico.

I get the impression that Geico does fairly well in handling claims on their customers' vehicles. They want to get those fixed quickly (if not all that well) to keep their customers happy. Where they make up for that is in how they treat the other guys, guys like me, who their customers hit. They want their customers happy so they stick around; the rest of us they can care less about. Their transactions with us are invisible to their customers. And they want to keep them that way.

That was my agent's "ace up his sleeve". By threatening to sue the Geico customer to cover the damage, he stood to fairly piss off that customer. Geico would have some 'splainin' to do. That was the only thing that got them to move on my claim. I couldn't have done it - or known to have tried it - without my agent.

[red-beard]

I just switched to 21 Century and I'm down to about $100 per month for both my Jeep Cherokee and BMW X5. I dropped the collision on the Jeep, but still have it on the BMW.

[Rick Lee]

USAA stopped writing new bike policies a while ago, but put me in some affiliate deal they have with Progressive. I thought it was expensive at $450 a year, so I called Geico. They said $1900 a year! Insane.

BTW, I had a friend who worked at Geico and was fired for being caught on their security camera, pulling into her office garage and not wearing a seatbelt.

[dd74]

I think USAA stopped giving back money for accident-free driving.

[gtc]

That's odd... when my car was at Eurotech, Mark spoke well of the Geico adjuster and said that he was easy to work with. I suppose Geico has a number of adjusters in the area, though.