Everyday on almost every channel they advertise this insurance company, usually with that Gekko mascot.
Has anyone here actually bought insurance from them? How is it?
I hate that fucking reptile.
It’s decent - you get good service and the prices are reasonable. I had GEICO for awhile when I was a federal government employee. I am assuming because they have these national ads now that anyone can sign up - it used to only be available to government workers.
They could lose the gecko - that concept is just plain dumb, though I know they use it to get you to remember the company name.
I’ve had Geico insurance for three years and I really like it. It’s a reasonable rate and they quickly processed the one accident claim I’ve had.
jarbaby
The Gecko might be dumb, but you remembered it. And it inspired you to post one of the few insurance threads in recent memory. It’s kind of like those gross Carl’s Jr. ad’s in that sense I guess.
Geico has gotten good reviews so far as service goes. IIRC, they are having trouble with their loss ratio so, they may be raising their rates if they haven’t already.
I’d check with an independent agent who represents many companies. Some of the companies may not be familiar to you, but most give good service (most). Most independant agents will not continue to deal with companies that piss them or their clients off.
I’d also check with the bigger companies. Their service will be pretty outstanding, the rate value may be as good if not better.
In short, do your homework. Call around and see who can give you the best rate and, if you’re talking to an independant agent and they suggest a company unfamiliar to you, ask how their service is. Most companies even are able to give you a quote on the web.
The California market for car insurance has hardened in the past year (read: rates have been on the increase), but it is still possible to get a good rate if you look for it.
I’m not fond of any of the commercials, but I researched insurance companies via the Net and decided to go with GEICO. When we sold the station wagon and bought the hatchback, our payments stayed the same. IIRC, anyone can have GEICO insurance now, but us Government employees seem to get slightly better rates.
They certainly did. I had GEICO for only one year before the notice came that my rates were going up by a fairly significant margin. The letter they sent rambled on and on about the increasing costs of dealing with insurance fraud, or some such (I admit that once I looked at the numbers at the bottom of the page, I scarcely paid attention to the rest).
I actually went to Progressive’s website, where they tell you the rates of three leading companies. Turns out that Allstate actually gave me a lower rate for slightly better coverage.
Had Geico, they were less than Progressive which we’d had before, but recently switched to GMAC for $200 less a year. I never had a claim with them so no idea on the promptness of that service, but they routinely sent my bill only a week before the due date, so I had to hustle to make sure they got paid in time.
–tygre
I refuse to buy any product who’s ads deliberately insult your intelligence. Never seen any TV ads, but they do a lot of radio spots, and they need to lose their ad agency.
UGGGGHHHHHHH
I had been with State Farm since I was licensed at 17, but the rate that I was getting was only reasonable because everyone in my household (parents and brother) was using State Farm. When I moved out, the rate went jumped way up, both because of the new area I lived in, and the fact that I was now the sole policyholder in the household.
So, I started shopping for a better rate. I called Geico. The guy asked me the 900 questions about what coverages I wanted, deductibles, etc. I told him to price a policy that was identical to the coverage I already had with State Farm. He puts me on hold and says that he can give me a rate about $40 lower per 6-month period than State Farm. I figure $40 is $40, and I say OK…sign me up.
All is well and good until I get my policy paperwork in the mail. I pull out the papers and notice that the marginally cheaper rate was accomplished by raising my deductible from $100 to $250. Pretty shady if you ask me. So I call them up to bitch and find out that the rate with the $100 deductible is more than State Farm was…so, it appears to me that they couldn’t be competetive without scamming me, so they went ahead and changed it, figuring that by the time I noticed (if I ever did), it would be too much trouble to change back. They were right. I decided to live with the $250 deductible.
Fast forward a year. I need a new car. When I take delivery on the new car, I forgot my insurance card, so I called Geico to have them fax one to the dealership. No problem. While I’m on the phone with them, they take all of my information (VIN, make/model, etc.) for the new car and tell me that they’ll transfer the policy to the new vehicle. All well and good. Until I get my paperwork. I now have coverage on both cars, the one I traded in, and the new one I bought. Rather than transferring the policy, they simply added the new car. Great. Another hassle.
So I call to bitch (again) and they’re suitably apologetic and promise to fix it and send me new policy paperwork. A week passes and it arrives…I tear it open to find out that, lo and behold, they have removed the wrong car from my policy. I’ve been driving around with no coverage on the car I actually own and full coverage on a car that I don’t. So I call to bitch (again) and the lady apologizes profusely and says not to worry, she’ll get it corrected immediately and send out new policy paperwork yet again. I wait…a week passes…my new paperwork comes…I check it and get this: they added the new car to the policy, then promptly deleted it again, leaving the old car on the policy. <sigh>
I bitch one more time, they finally get it right. Complete hassle. About 6 months after I get the new car, some moron cuts the wheel too hard while backing out next to me and drags their bumper across my rear door and quarter panel. Unfortunately, I didn’t witness this little event, so I couldn’t adequately strangle the person…so I’m left to pick up the tab myself. At the lovely $250 deductible rather than the $100 I would have paid if I’d just stayed with State Farm (who at least could figure out which car I owned).
<sigh>
I might mention that I’m now with Nationwide.
I kinda like their ads. Not so much the gecko ones, but the other ones are good. Like the one with the dog in the flame-retardent suit getting your insurance bill? Or the “Collect call from Bob We-had-a-baby-it’s-a-boy”? Or the guy at the diner who asked for no mayo, and the waitress grabs the bread and wipes it off on the edge of the table right in front of the guy? Or the one with the parachuting claims agents? There are other funny ones I can’t remember. Well, I think they’re funny, at least.
I’m not crazy about the ads, but what is more annoying is that they always run two together, what’s the deal with that?
When we put my oldest son on our policy, WOW! We had had Cotton State, and rather than refinance our home, we shopped via the internet for lower rates. Geico and Progressive were about the same, but Geico wanted to have the money directly from our bank account, NOPE, no can do.
So we went with Progessive because of that. But, boy, will I be glad when DJ is out of school and on his own, and our rates go back to four hundred dollars every six months again.
I’m not sure if I’m remembering this right, but wasn’t/isn’t Geico unavailable to residents of New Jersey, owing perhaps to the high accident rates in that state?
I liked the first one where the gecko licks his eyeball, beyond that, they are annoying. I also liked the mayo one as well. I got a quote from them last year and it was about 40% higher than my current carrier.
Geico isn’t available in NJ, but not because of high accident rates. It’s because NJ requires any company selling any kind of insurance in NJ to (a) sell auto insurance, and (b) accept a certain number of high-risk drivers. Geico probably tries to keep its prices “low” by having only low-risk drivers.
Jadis, I am SOOO with you. When I was twenty-five Mrs. Snac and I acquired a baby and a car, our first of each, roughly at the same moment. Both nearly broke us, and the insurance for the car was the capper. After six months of going with a nearby independent agency, I got a Geico flyer in the mail and sent it in for a price quote. What, I wondered, did I have to lose?
The quote came back soon–I would save 15%, it developed. Fifteen percent wasn’t peanuts. I signed up, price being the only object. I canceled the other insurance, which was about to expire anyhow. And then–
–got a letter from the Geics with my policy and the cost of the package, which was…not 15% lower than the previous, but 25% HIGHER.
I called, of course, thinking there must have been some mistake. Should’ve known better. Oh, yes, there was a mistake all right; the mistake had been in the price quote; they thought I lived in a different town/state/country/God alone knows what.
At any rate, there was +nothing+ they could do, and they told me so in a rehearsed and condescending voice which made me think this was SOP for the company. I hung up feeling embarrassed and stupid and furious, and I found somebody else to give me insurance, and years later I’m still with them.
To this day I have never truly forgiven Geico: it was a shoddy maneuver, and they should have called me when they found the discrepancy, and I didn’t need the aggravation at that stage of my life. But I got my revenge, bwa ha ha ha ha ha ha! I routinely seal their business reply envelopes shut, and ship them empty back to Geico, postage due–the only company I’ve ever done that for.
Repeat: Bwa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
I love Geico. My parents are on it, have been for years. I’ve been on it since I got a car. We’ve been in a few accidents, and Geico was always really great to deal with. Never got dropped, either. And hell, my rate just got REDUCED. $300 for 6 months. Woo!
State Farm is part of the reason that I only have a learner’s permit right now. When I turned 16, Dad taught me to drive his manual-shift VW. I barely passed my driving test because I misheard the instructor, a woman who must have been at least a foot shorter than me. I think I passed because she was afraid she’d have to ride with me again! Anyway, Dad had State Farm at the time. They told him that I would have to be included on his policy, so he decided the best thing to do was to return my license. State Farm then told him that I’d still have to be on his policy becuase I was of driving age! That’s when he switched insurance companies, which he should have done in the first place!
I live in NJ. The rates sound good, and I always hear the radio and tv commmercials, but…
I live in NJ.
Fuck 'em!