Compared what I pay now with my current insurance company to Geico and it appears that I could in fact be able to save a ton on car insurance by switching... My question is how would those who have geico rate their service. Is it a hassle to deal with them when you actually do have to use them for claims, ect compared to other providers? Thanks in advance..

[Edited on March 17, 2009 at 2:36 AM. Reason : ]

3/17/2009 2:25:03 AM

I've been with Geico now for a little over 3 years. I was always worried about ever making a claim, due to many anecdotal horror stories.

I made my first claim about a month and a half ago. I submitted it online, and got a call from a rep within 20 minutes. She asked me a handful of questions, and told me I would get a call the next morning from an adjuster to schedule an appointment (I submitted my claim at ~7pm PST).

Next morning I got a call, set an appointment. Showed up to have the car looked at, it took all of 20 minutes. They gave me a few choices of shops, I told them I already had a shop in mind, they called and worked out prices and wrote me a check. Out the door in less than 30 minutes.

The next call I get a few weeks later, from another rep who went to look at my car at the shop as it was being worked on. She told me they were doing an amazing job, and just wanted to let me know they authorized an increase in the bill (which didn't affect me at all). Totally unexpected, but it was a really nice customer service gesture.

I have honestly been amazed at the quality of service in handling the claim. And their regular service has never been anything less than exemplary. Granted, I do have fully comprehensive coverage on my vehicles, with an extremely low deductible. But I have no hesitation in recommending them anymore, and they are consistently 30-50% under the quotes of other companies.

3/17/2009 5:08:45 AM

^pretty similar for me

3/17/2009 8:44:22 AM

i've been extremely happy with them...not only are their rates significantly lower than everyone else's, but they've always been quick to respond, in my limited experience

when i was 16, i bought myself a car for $4k...drove it for 2 years, and then totaled it (the frame was bent...it really wasn't quite my fault, but i was the last in the line of 8 cars, so it might as well have been)...either way, my insurance is the one that picked up the tab for my friends car (who i hit) and mine (since i had full coverage)

the car was a decent (but not spectacular) deal at $4k two years before, and geico gave me $5200 for it...that more than covered the increase to my insurance (i went liability only after that) for the 3 years to get it off my record

3/17/2009 8:45:52 AM

My wife had Geico several years ago in college (~2003) when she had the not-so-bright idea of trying to drive her VW Beetle through a flooded parking lot. Predictably, it stalled in about 18" of water, and someone in a bigger car had to come pull her out of the window and get the car towed.

Geico marked the car as "totaled" immediately. Even though it was her fault, and they could have just paid for some basic repairs, the rep said that with flood damage they just total the car, because otherwise they will be paying for years to replace electronics, replace carpeting, cleaning mold, etc. So, after one bone-headed mistake, and no arguing from Geico, my wife got a brand new car.

3/17/2009 9:26:00 AM

I have been with them for almost 12 years now, and I have nothing but great things to say about them. In that time I have filed 4 claims:

1. A tree fell on my car during a storm in Raleigh. Guy came out and did an estimate, sent it to the shop, had it back in a few days. Very smooth.

2. I hit a deer in West Virginia. The next day they had a guy out there, even though it was pretty isolated. They recommended a shop and I took it there and got it fixed. Very smooth.

3. This one is a doozy. I was driving from Connecticut to Seattle in my Dodge Ram towing my wife's Saturn on a rented U-Haul trailer. About 1.5 hours from my final destination, I was driving through this mountain range called Snoqualmie Pass. A sign for a driving advisory was flashing, saying "Tune to XXX radio station" however the station was nothing but static. So about 15 minutes later, it starts to snow a whole lot. I put the truck in 4WD and went about 35 mph, but a car in front of me slammed on their brakes. I had a considerable distance between myself and the car in front of me, however although the truck would stop fine, the trailer behind me would not, and the trailer swung to the side and we ended up in a snow bank facing backwards. No real impact, but the U-Haul tongue was bent and there was some damage to the front end of the truck.

The crappy thing was, I had not elected to take the insurance with U-Haul, assuming (yes this was dumb) that nothing would ever happen, and if it did, my car insurance would cover it. Well, when I talked to the insurance rep, they said it wasn't covered in my policy. I was like.... oh no.... ... I was gonna have to pay for like $1300 in U-haul damage. A couple days later another rep called me back and told me that since I had been such a good customer, and since this was my first "at fault" claim, they were going to take care of the U-haul with no deductable (I still had to pay $500 for the the truck damage). I was pretty shocked. I had went back and read through my policy and it specifically said my situation was not covered, yet they called me back and offered to pay for a mistake I made.

4. Brake line ruptured in the driveway, got it towed. Several months later I was looking through my insurance papers and realized tows were covered. Faxed a receipt and got a refund check shortly thereafter.

3/17/2009 9:31:25 AM

Geico is expensive as FUCK!

call prep-e if you wanna save on car insurance (seriously)

3/17/2009 9:37:45 AM

^what he said

I've got a Geico dec page sitting on my desk right now from a new client, premium is $589 for 6 months, I'm getting him the same exact coverage for $399, granted he's getting a discount since he's moving his homeowner's insurance over as well, but you get the idea. Plus you'll have a really awesome agent you can call anytime rather than having to mess with the Geico call center.

[Edited on March 17, 2009 at 10:16 AM. Reason : /]

3/17/2009 10:14:24 AM

uhh, i think you're going to have to give a little more information about yourself and who you work for, rather than just assume people will buy insurance from "prep-e".

3/17/2009 10:34:18 AM

been with them for years now and my premium is at $400 for a 2002 pontiac grand am. they were a lot lower than anyone else I talked to when I insured it and I'm still happy with the price and coverage /shrug.

not trying to steer business from a fellow Tdubber tho as I have heard you give out some great pricing, just stating my experience

[Edited on March 17, 2009 at 10:38 AM. Reason : ]

3/17/2009 10:35:35 AM

Def gonna get a quote from them after reading this thread. I've always heard horror stories about actually filing a claim but it sounds like they just aren't true.

3/17/2009 10:37:29 AM

i pay $119/6mos on a 2002 saturn sl1...liability only, of course

the motorcycle is only $22/6mos (it's an old and small bike, though)

3/17/2009 10:38:02 AM

haha, yea I think my liability portion is like $95 or so, Id have to look.

^^ and to be fair, Im sure they are true, but I dont feel like they are the norm. Its like looking out at electronics reviews and no matter how good a track record is for a certain item, you will always be able to find outlier stories of horrible experiences.

[Edited on March 17, 2009 at 10:42 AM. Reason : ]

3/17/2009 10:40:18 AM

I have motorcycle insurance with them. I haven't had to file a claim with them, but talked on the phone to them a few times. They were really nice, friendly, and they actually answered my questions. There was not phone center run around. I was quite impressed.

3/17/2009 10:52:37 AM

yeah...also realize that when you have a horrific experience, you're going to make a big deal out of it...so people that are unhappy with geico, even if they did the same thing any insurance company would have done, are going to make sure they're heard as loudly as possible

same is true for those with amazingly positive experiences, but to a lesser extent (IMO)...i never would have gone around posting about how geico gave me a $1200 cookie for totaling my car after it was already 2 years older, but i'd certainly have bitched if they had decided it was worth 20% of what i paid...see what i mean?

3/17/2009 10:53:05 AM

yea exactly. even myself, im lazy about giving reviews for stuff I buy online...unless it was a negative experience

3/17/2009 11:00:09 AM

I've been using them for a little over a year and although I haven't had to make a claim they have always been super nice. When I turned 25 they lowered my prices without even calling me, I just happened to look at my bill and it was lower than normal. I called them to make sure that my policy hadn't been changed or something and they were like "No it's cool homeslice, you just turned 25 so you're good".

I also just got renter's insurance through them a few months ago (it's like $10/month) and it was just as hassle free.

3/17/2009 11:14:19 AM

I've had Geico for about a year now and I'm happy with them despite the fact that I haven't had to file a claim yet (and hopefully never will, haha). I'm 24 years old, no tickets, driving a 2004 Camry and my premium is just under $300/6mo for combined collision & liability...which is tons less than any other agency could quote me.

In the past when it's time to renew the policy, a local agent has called me just to run it by me and see if I want to make any changes, and to give me a heads up as to exactly when the charges will hit my checking account. Everyone I've spoke to on the phone has been very nice and helpful. Pretty good customer service so far, I'd say.

3/17/2009 11:50:08 AM

I would switch to geico if they referred to me as homeslice when I called.

3/17/2009 1:36:41 PM

According to their site I'd save almost 50% for the same coverage..

Might just look into this more.

3/17/2009 2:42:13 PM

^^^When it was time for me to renew my policy they didn't even call... they just sent me a packet saying "Yo, you still want this shit? If so here are your new insurance cards. If not just give us a call and we'll take care of business."

3/17/2009 2:48:46 PM

Geico might be ok if you are the insured, but they're sleezy and borderline idiotic when trying to deal with them after one of their customers who saved a lot of money on their car insurance by switching to Geico hits you..

Granted, this was in Florida, which is a "No Fault" state, and the minimum coverages are so low a caveman can afford it (see what i did there?). So I was T-boned by this woman when she ran a red light and wound up in the hospital with a good number of stitches in my head. It was about a week later that Geico called me up and started asking me questions about my car and began reading off all the aftermarket parts they were going to put on it, and list the names of the non-dealership junkies that would be handling the repairs. Once that nonsense was over, the agent said something to the effect of, "We've talked to Allstate, and we know that you had to pay a deductible. We're sending you a check to cover that. We also have learned that you were injured in the wreck, so we are going to send you a check for $2000 that you can use for whatever. Buy yourself a big-screen tv, go to the beach, just do whatever will make you feel better. Also, there will be a few forms that you'll need to sign and return to us."

Really? Did they think I'd be dumb enough to settle for $2000 and my deductible? I told them not to fucking touch my car. Allstate has handled all the repairs, and very soon my life will be filled with cheeeeerrrrr$$$$$$$ :p

3/17/2009 4:43:28 PM

so then what sould be takin from this is don't go to florida

3/17/2009 5:17:22 PM

^^Isn't that what every insurance company does?



Geico always quotes me way more than what I'm already paying. I can't wait until I start getting cheap insurance rates.

3/17/2009 5:29:51 PM

thanks for the feedback..this definetly makes the decision an easy one!

3/17/2009 6:25:47 PM

Quote :

"uhh, i think you're going to have to give a little more information about yourself and who you work for, rather than just assume people will buy insurance from "prep-e""

good point. I'm an agent with Farm Bureau Insurance. We're a good bit cheaper than Geico unless you have a terrible driving record, I get most of my business from them and State Farm. If anyone is interested in a quote just pm me and I'll see what I can do for you.

3/18/2009 3:11:29 AM

No offense but I am calling bullshit. State Farm is the absolute most expensive place that quoted me when I first tried to get insurance. Granted, that was 12 years ago, but my parents had me on their State farm policy previous to that when I was in high school, and I had a spotless driving record, A Honor-roll, drivers education class, etc. Didn't matter though, cause after I bought my new car I called 5 different places and State Farm was the highest by far. I do realize things have changed but I doubt it's all that much.

Hey, just to be fair, as a comparison point, how much would full coverage be, $500 deductable, $0 deductable for glass and shit, in New York for the following 2 vehicles. Assume normal features, including an alarm system and numbered glass pieces:

2008 Toyota Tundra, driven by myself about 7,500 miles per year. I have 1 ticket in the past 3 years for like 9 over.

2007 Rav 4, driven by my wife about 7,500 miles per year. She has no tickets in the past 3 years.

If there is any more info you need just ask. Then we can compare GEICO and State farm rates (and I promise it's different than all the comparison websites will show.) Oh yeah, I am in the military if any discounts apply.

3/18/2009 3:28:26 AM

Quote :

"good point. I'm an agent with Farm Bureau Insurance. We're a good bit cheaper than Geico unless you have a terrible driving record, I get most of my business from them and State Farm. If anyone is interested in a quote just pm me and I'll see what I can do for you."

I just got quoted by Farm bureau less than a month ago (I live in Washington State).

Their quote was close to double my 6 month premium with Geico, for the same coverage.
I'm 27, clean driving record, two cars, +renters insurance. After the agent asked what my Geico premium was, he said that was a heck of deal and I should stick with them (which, incidentally is almost word for word what the agents from All-State, State Farm and Progressive told me).

3/18/2009 3:55:56 AM

I had Geico for about 6 years, and never had any specific complaints (then again, I never had to make a claim). When we bought our new house last year, combining our car insurance with HOI saved us a ton. I gave geico the opportunity to beat or match it but they couldn't.

I went from paying ~$1400/year for comprehensive on two cars to $800 with Liberty mutual.

Had to make a claim when my wife wrecked my car in january. The process was extremely smooth, and their preferred body shop was Performance BMW, when i was expecting Jim Bob's Backwoods Body Shop or some shit.

3/18/2009 7:51:33 AM

Quote :

"No offense but I am calling bullshit. State Farm is the absolute most expensive place that quoted me when I first tried to get insurance."

maybe that's bullshit for you, but for whatever reason, insurance quotes seem to vary widely from person-to-person for different companies.

I'm with State Farm now for 2 cars and house, and last year I got quotes from Geico and Progressive, and neither of them could beat the rates I was getting at State Farm.
Go figure

3/18/2009 9:57:52 AM

Jon, I got my insurance from Farm Bureau through prep-e. I got good coverage for a low price. Definitely check it out.

3/18/2009 10:07:12 AM

^4x exotic vehicles and motorcycles usually run up the rates of local insurance places. I know Nationwide in Iredell Co. doesnt cover any sportbike (or didnt at the time i owned a cycle)

3/18/2009 10:09:12 AM

Allan, I have farm bureau right now and its pretty much double what I would be paying compared to the quote I received from Geico.. not sure how that is even possible... but apparently it is

3/18/2009 11:00:26 AM

prep-e , do you do out-of-state car insurance. I'm gonna be in Florida, and just wondering if you can help me in that state.

3/18/2009 11:24:26 AM

Wow.

I was quote at approx. $65/mo back when I first got insured last October.

3/18/2009 11:27:24 AM

Quote :

"Really? Did they think I'd be dumb enough to settle for $2000 and my deductible? I told them not to fucking touch my car. "

That's not bad at all. I had some douchebag cutrate auto insurance company try to claim that the car that hit my vehicle and 4 others in a parking lot might have been stolen and that they couldn't pay for my rental car, even though I was with the officer when the car owner / passenger and the guy he had driving him home admitted to letting the other person drive. After contacting an attorney I work with and getting him to send some letters to the insurance company, they finally decided to set me up with a rental car about 4 days later. In the meantime, my car set outside my parking lot for 5 days with all the windows busted out and proceeded to get about 3" of rain fall into it. They then proceeded to piece back together a car with more than 75% damage by lowballing the estimate and then adding change-orders every 2 weeks for two and a half months. By the time they were done with it, they spent $19,000 on repairs and $1,500 on a rental car for a vehicle that they could have totaled for $22,500. I'm sure that $2,000 they saved sure meant a lot to them.

My neighbors got screwed over as well. They totaled out an early 80's toyota station wagon that wasn't even involved in the accident for $100. Since the owner wasn't able to move the vehicle until all the others were towed out of the way, the insurance company just hooked a wrecker to it after everything else was moved and hauled it off. Even with a salvaged title, that car could sell for almost $1000.

Another neighbor had a Hyundia sedan that wasn't even a year old totaled, and they cut her a check for about half of what that car sold for. I think she contacted an attorney as well, so I don't know what came of that.

3/18/2009 12:34:32 PM

I'm with nationwide and i hate it.

I'm paying 130$ for 6months on a 1991 jeep wrangler.

3/18/2009 1:11:15 PM

Quote :

"I've had Geico for about a year now and I'm happy with them despite the fact that I haven't had to file a claim yet (and hopefully never will, haha). I'm 24 years old, no tickets, driving a 2004 Camry and my premium is just under $300/6mo for combined collision & liability...which is tons less than any other agency could quote me. In the past when it's time to renew the policy, a local agent has called me just to run it by me and see if I want to make any changes, and to give me a heads up as to exactly when the charges will hit my checking account. Everyone I've spoke to on the phone has been very nice and helpful. Pretty good customer service so far, I'd say"

Shit, I'm paying 460$ / 6 months for my POS 2001 Neon with 95k miles on it. I've only been in one minor wreck, no tickets, etc. Am I getting F'ed in the A here by Geico, or whats the deal?

[Edited on March 18, 2009 at 1:38 PM. Reason : SIX months. dag.]

3/18/2009 1:33:10 PM

a month????

2002 Pontiac Grand Am with 100,000 miles. 1 wreck 6 years ago and no tickets and mine is $400/6 mos for full coverage.

3/18/2009 1:36:40 PM

I'm with Nationwide and I've been very happy with it, actually. Just under $500/6 months for comprehensive on a 2003 Mercury Marauder, male/age 28/2 9-over speeding tickets. Should go down when my policy renews in May since one of the tickets went off my record in January and I'll go back under the magic 3 points. I've had to file a couple of claims with them and the service has been exemplary in all cases, and for both cars I've had totaled, they gave me more than fair prices ('91 Crown Vic totaled after fire damage in 2001, paid $1800 for the car and they gave me $2800 7 months later, '96 Lincoln Mark VIII totaled after a no-fault accident in 2006, they gave me $500 higher than any blue book value I saw). Plus I have a discount for carrying my renters' insurance with them as well, and my family has been working with this same agent for about 15 years. I might be able to get a little cheaper somewhere else, but unless it was a huge difference I wouldn't be willing to give up the great service I have.

BTW, State Farm is a bitch if you're making a claim against one of their drivers. They may be great to their policyholders, but when my dad was hit by one of their insured in my car in the late 90's, they tried as hard as they could to screw us over. He ended up having to speak to a regional director to get them to give us enough money to get the car fixed properly, they originally wanted to total the car, haul it away and give us a check for $200. Not quite...

3/18/2009 1:53:55 PM

Is it common for your rates to go UP when you renew when absolutely nothing changes on your policy? Recently my rates went up about 5$ a month. Not a big deal, but shouldn't they be going in the OPPOSITE direction?

3/18/2009 2:21:54 PM

I used to be with Geico. I used to pay ~$300/mo for insurance when I was 18. I had a clean record too. When I turned 19, I called to readjust. they lowered it to about $275 (about $40/mo less). I started calling around and I found a few other places that would give me MORE coverage for less. When I told Geico I was dropping them, they immediately said my new rate was going to be around $160. Just like that, they dropped $100/mo after they said they couldn't do anything else less than a week before? It sounded shady to me.

3/18/2009 4:27:27 PM

Quote :

"That's not bad at all. I had some douchebag cutrate auto insurance company try to claim that the car that hit my vehicle and 4 others in a parking lot might have been stolen and that they couldn't pay for my rental car, even though I was with the officer when the car owner / passenger and the guy he had driving him home admitted to letting the other person drive. After contacting an attorney I work with and getting him to send some letters to the insurance company, they finally decided to set me up with a rental car about 4 days later. In the meantime, my car set outside my parking lot for 5 days with all the windows busted out and proceeded to get about 3" of rain fall into it. They then proceeded to piece back together a car with more than 75% damage by lowballing the estimate and then adding change-orders every 2 weeks for two and a half months. By the time they were done with it, they spent $19,000 on repairs and $1,500 on a rental car for a vehicle that they could have totaled for $22,500. I'm sure that $2,000 they saved sure meant a lot to them. My neighbors got screwed over as well. They totaled out an early 80's toyota station wagon that wasn't even involved in the accident for $100. Since the owner wasn't able to move the vehicle until all the others were towed out of the way, the insurance company just hooked a wrecker to it after everything else was moved and hauled it off. Even with a salvaged title, that car could sell for almost $1000. Another neighbor had a Hyundia sedan that wasn't even a year old totaled, and they cut her a check for about half of what that car sold for. I think she contacted an attorney as well, so I don't know what came of that."

This was all with Geico? Not surprising. My story actually gets better, although it involves Allstate as well. I just posted my experience with the cavemen :p

I was driving a 97 Vette. Geico estimated the damage at $4500. $17,000 worth of repairs later, it still wasn't close to fixed (who did they have working on this?) so I demanded it be totaled. Took the $19,000 check, bought the car from them for $5500, and fixed the remaining repairs for ~$2000. So I basically got the Vette and $11,500, and now I'm in litigation.

3/18/2009 4:32:08 PM

i've had geico for a long time, and i have always been satisfied. good customer service, and they are consistently lower then almost any other major insurer.

3/18/2009 10:14:32 PM

USAA.

3/18/2009 10:56:55 PM

^ man, i wish i could get USAA. no relatives in the service (other than my bro-in-law who's a marine, but i don't think that counts)

3/19/2009 9:16:27 AM

does an uncle count for USAA?

3/19/2009 10:45:14 AM

Only immediate family... have to be a dependent basically.

I just don't know why there aren't more companies like USAA... amazing what happens when a company values its employees and customers and makes decisions that are efficient and benefit everyone instead of just the bottom line.

3/20/2009 12:37:35 AM

because most companies are in it to provide profit and value for their stockholders, not to be a "feel good" company

3/20/2009 12:41:29 AM

^^Ever hear of credit unions?

The problem is, because credit unions are funded by their member (internal shareholders effectively), they don't take on nearly as much risk. Generally that translates to slightly higher loan rates, and slightly lower returns.

But there's nothing special about it, it's just a case where the shareholders ARE the customers.

3/20/2009 4:42:19 AM