GEICO is a ripoff!!!!

Kylere · Post by **Kylere** » June 2, 2004, 9:45 am

Okay I started using GEICO in 1991 as a soldier, I used them as my insurance company for 13 years. Last year I had a speeding ticket and an accident. That was okay with them, then I moved to Flint Michigan and now they will not renew my policy. Bad enough full coverage went from 1600 a year to FIVE THOUSAND A YEAR based entirely on an address change from a major urban location ( Cincinnati ) to a itty bitty town of barely 100k.

GEICO is a firm not deserving of trust or your business, they are a perfect insurance company until the second you submit a claim or move into one of the many areas they have redlined.

Canelek · Post by **Canelek** » June 2, 2004, 10:18 am

Yeah, Geico has never given me a reasonable quote. Try Progressive. They have been pretty cheap.

Krurk · Post by **Krurk** » June 2, 2004, 10:24 am

I pay about $950 a year with Progressive while living in Tampa. Granted I have been with them for the better part of eight years and have no claims, tickets, accidents etc.

Decided to price a quote with Geico and they wanted 3k a year for the same coverage. Liberty Mutual actually offerred me the same rate as I have now so it's not like I am a huge risk.

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » June 2, 2004, 10:33 am

I've been with Progressive for 6 years or so and have never had a problem. I've gotten quotes from Geico on occassion and they were never even close to what I was paying. I'm surprised people save as much as Geico claims they do.

Kilmoll the Sexy · Post by **Kilmoll the Sexy** » June 2, 2004, 10:34 am

It can't be cheap to own and pay upkeep on a talking lizard.

Fairweather Pure · Post by **Fairweather Pure** » June 2, 2004, 10:40 am

Progressive is good until you have an accident. Get 5 quotes for body work and I promise Progressive will be the lowest estimate. They have thier own prices for insurance claims, which, are lower than what the actual costs will be. It's also how they can drive to your house, take out a laptop and give you an estimate on the spot. This comes in handy when dealing with deductables and saving them money, not saving you money

PS. Insurance is the root of all evil.

murr · Post by **murr** » June 2, 2004, 10:51 am

That sucks but I have good news.

I just saved a lot of money on my car insurance by switching to Geico.

Post by **Xouqoa** » June 2, 2004, 11:54 am

http://www.esurance.com

Ashur · Post by **Ashur** » June 2, 2004, 11:57 am

Kylere - you couldn't get USAA?

I pay about $1100 a year for a car and minivan with 2 drivers.

Kylere · Post by **Kylere** » June 2, 2004, 12:14 pm

In Italy where I started with GEICO it was about 65% of the cost of doing it through USAA.

Chidoro · Post by **Chidoro** » June 2, 2004, 12:40 pm

5k is fucking obscene, even for the car insurance raper capital of the US, new jersey. What's your comp/coll deductibles at, $10?

Melrin_Specclaster · Post by **Melrin_Specclaster** » June 2, 2004, 1:11 pm

I use Farmers. Good rates and get discounts for multicar/homeowners/etc.

Kylere · Post by **Kylere** » June 2, 2004, 1:28 pm

Chidoro that was at $500.00 deductible, and going to 1k deductable made no difference. They told me pretty clearly that if I took full coverage they would renew the policy but since the costs are rapicious I wanted liability they will not do it. (BTW Liability in Flint Michigan costs the same as full coverage in Cincinnati)

The governor here came in on a campaign that included fixing the insurance raping of Michigan ( long story but michigan no fault, means the insurance companies are at no fault, and they only pay to people with full coverage, then they drop them at renewal and you end up paying tons more or going with forced minimum liability, the UAW told their people to vote for it 30 years ago, and they did) nothing has been done to fix the problem at all. Add in the fact that if I moved 9 miles my insurance rates would cut in HALF, and I know for a fact that the crime rate is higher and more cars are stolen 9 miles away and you can see that the insurance companies are practicing criminal level fraud in the state of Michigan. I was never raped by an insurance company in any other place at the level they do in Michigan.

Tenuvil · Post by **Tenuvil** » June 2, 2004, 2:33 pm

Most ex-military folks I know use USAA and swear by it.

Truant · Post by **Truant** » June 2, 2004, 2:57 pm

Fairweather Pure wrote:PS. Insurance is the root of all evil.

Indeed.

Funkmasterr · Post by **Funkmasterr** » June 2, 2004, 3:47 pm

I was with progressive and paying 420 dollars a month for car insurance at age 20 with a clean driving record. when I turned 21 it went down to 315 a month. I decided this was too much and started to shop around, geico was more expensive, and of all the others i checked, allstate, state farm, and AAA's insurances all tied for the best I could find. I am still paying about 175 a month but its a hell of an improvement.

Xyphir · Post by **Xyphir** » June 2, 2004, 3:54 pm

Tenuvil wrote:Most ex-military folks I know use USAA and swear by it.

Dependants swear by it as well! My father was in the Navy for years, and I'm eligable for coverage. They also provide a host of other services aside from insurance. I refinanced a loan I had originally got through a FCU and got a lower APR for a Used Car through USAA. Insurance (car and renters insurance coverage of $10k) is about $1,500/year. I once called GEICO just to check, and they didn't even run the numbers. Once I said USAA they knew they couldn't compete.

Kylere · Post by **Kylere** » June 2, 2004, 4:12 pm

Hrm very odd that in Italy the USAA pricing was so high, I will have to look into it, but considering I have not paid dues in almost 10 years

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » June 2, 2004, 4:30 pm

USAA is the poop if you're a good driver. They won't let you mess up too often before giving you the boot.

Akaran_D · Post by **Akaran_D** » June 2, 2004, 4:48 pm

Winnow, I want to mate with your avatar.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » June 2, 2004, 5:32 pm

Akaran_D wrote:Winnow, I want to mate with your avatar.

I stole it from Atwa over on Sovereign's board.

Denadeb · Post by **Denadeb** » June 2, 2004, 6:15 pm

I have had USAA for awhile now and I have no complaints. I had Progressive which wasn't bad but when I switched to USAA my payments went from $120 to $60 so it wasn't a hard choice.

Chidoro · Post by **Chidoro** » June 2, 2004, 6:37 pm

Sounds as if a certain state needs to join the modern world and employ a shitload of actuaries Ky.

Boogahz · Post by **Boogahz** » June 2, 2004, 9:51 pm

Kylere wrote:Okay I started using GEICO in 1991 as a soldier, I used them as my insurance company for 13 years. Last year I had a speeding ticket and an accident. That was okay with them, then I moved to Flint Michigan and now they will not renew my policy. Bad enough full coverage went from 1600 a year to FIVE THOUSAND A YEAR based entirely on an address change from a major urban location ( Cincinnati ) to a itty bitty town of barely 100k.

GEICO is a firm not deserving of trust or your business, they are a perfect insurance company until the second you submit a claim or move into one of the many areas they have redlined.

The nonrenewal of your Ohio policy due to you moving to Michigan is completely normal. Each state has their own requirements. One example is that in Ohio you are not required to even have Personal Injury Protection, but in Michigan your Personal Injury Protection is Mandatory and based on what kind of Medical Insurance you have. If your medical Insurance will specifically not pay in the event of an auto accident, you have to have Primary PIP. This will be a LOT more expensive than Excess PIP which you can get if you can prove your Medical Insurance will pay for an accident.

There are many areas that are "redlined" as you put it by all companies. This can be for many reasons. Natural disasters, thefts, accidents, etc.. Since I now handle auto insurance in 43 states, I can definitely say that the absurdities in Michigan insurance laws compared to the others ranks in the top 10.

Tenuvil · Post by **Tenuvil** » June 2, 2004, 10:08 pm

Boog is spot on. Insurance is regulated by states, not the Federal Government, and as such each state has very different laws and rules defining insurance that can be sold there.

In virtually all cases when you move to a different state you have to get a new auto insurance policy, even if the same carrier does business in both states.

Might not be anything you did Kylere, just a function of the auto insurance mess.

Kylere · Post by **Kylere** » June 2, 2004, 11:50 pm

It stinks of pricefixing, collusion, and violations of Federal Trade Laws to me,.

I will find an insurance firm if for no other reason than I have a 900 credit score, but the real annoyance is that there is a lack of adequate insurance regulation and control.

Siji · Post by **Siji** » June 3, 2004, 12:23 am

Kylere wrote:I have a 900 credit score

Impressive. Thought I was doing well with 708.

Insurance sucks. Geico sucks even more. Being forced to pay more for insurance after making a claim to use some of the money you've been 'donating' for years, is absolute bullshit.

The number of things being based on credit scores these days is also bullshit.

I've been using State Farm for all my insurance (house, vehicles, etc) for a long time now and their rates are pretty good compared to what I've been quoted from other companies. Especially for motorcycle insurance.

Tenuvil · Post by **Tenuvil** » June 3, 2004, 3:28 am

Kylere wrote:It stinks of pricefixing, collusion, and violations of Federal Trade Laws to me,.

I will find an insurance firm if for no other reason than I have a 900 credit score, but the real annoyance is that there is a lack of adequate insurance regulation and control.

Welp, the insurance industry cannot violate Federal Trade Law because it's regulated by the states. /bonk

And having worked with regulators and insurance commissioners from 14 or so states (I audited computer system controls on an outsourced basis for the states) I can confirm that indeed some states are very poor at managing their insurers. In almost all cases the insurers ran circles around the insurance commissioners.

Traz-KOE · Post by **Traz-KOE** » June 3, 2004, 7:12 am

I was paying about $1800/yr in the Seattle area with Progressive, and got it reduced to about $1k/yr with GEICO.

*shrug*

I suppose it really depends on where you are and what your record looks like.

Boogahz · Post by **Boogahz** » June 3, 2004, 8:45 am

Siji wrote: Insurance sucks. Geico sucks even more. Being forced to pay more for insurance after making a claim to use some of the money you've been 'donating' for years, is absolute bullshit.

After a claim, the change in rates that you will see is also different per state just as with violations. For instance, you could be charged 3 "points" towards the risk that you represent for a DUI in one state, but in another it could be as high as 12.

The risk is all that the insurance company can look at. It doesn't matter how much is paid on a claim, but it DOES matter what the claim was for. If you had hail damage, you will not see as much of an increase as if you T-boned someone. These "points" are approved or in some cases set by the states.

The fact that you can have an accident at any time is why you "donate" towards the insurance at all (not to mention that the states require that you have it to lower it's costs...court, medical, etc.). Personally, I have never had to make a claim except for my car getting broken into last November, and I have paid for my own insurance for almost 14 years.

Mplor · Post by **Mplor** » June 5, 2004, 11:53 pm

Siji wrote:
Kylere wrote:I have a 900 credit score
Impressive. Thought I was doing well with 708.

This made me curious about my own credit rating, so I go ahold of Experian and learned a lot of interesting things, one of which was this:

Experian Credit Bureau wrote:Your Score is: 771 on a scale of 330 - 830

Kylere, it appears your 900 score wasn't on the Plus scale used by Experian. Do you know which scoring method was used and what the min/max scores are? I'm trying to relate your score and insurance rates with mine and my rates.

Denadeb · Post by **Denadeb** » June 6, 2004, 1:19 am

Not all of them use the same scale. He may have used Eqifax or Transunion to get his score. I think Eqifax goes up to 850 though so I'm not sure.

Kylere · Post by **Kylere** » June 6, 2004, 11:52 am

I would have to look at the exacts but when I refi'd my house last month my lowest score from any of the big three was a 795 (min) and our refinance people said I averaged 900 ( shrug it may have been internal rating) but I cannot remember the exact numbers, if you are really interested PM me and I will dig up the paperwork.

Canoe · Post by **Canoe** » June 7, 2004, 8:43 am

Every year just for grins i go shopping for auto insurance, I rarely switch, but I go shopping in the "hopes" that I might find some huge cut in costs.

Geico, every single year, is miles higher than any other of the big ones i always check (State Farm, All State, Progressive, Liberty Mutual etc).

vn_Tanc · Post by **vn_Tanc** » June 7, 2004, 10:56 am

What do you expect from a company called Gay Co.?
Oh hohohoho. . .ahem

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » June 7, 2004, 1:27 pm

vn_Tanc wrote:What do you expect from a company called Gay Co.?
Oh hohohoho. . .ahem

Not to be confused with Gecko.

Siji · Post by **Siji** » June 7, 2004, 7:46 pm

Aslanna wrote:
vn_Tanc wrote:What do you expect from a company called Gay Co.?
Oh hohohoho. . .ahem
Not to be confused with Gecko.

Heeeeeere leezard leezard leezard..

(Now if I could only remember what tv commercial that's from)

Post by **Sylvus** » June 7, 2004, 11:39 pm

Siji wrote:
Aslanna wrote:
vn_Tanc wrote:What do you expect from a company called Gay Co.?
Oh hohohoho. . .ahem
Not to be confused with Gecko.
Heeeeeere leezard leezard leezard..

(Now if I could only remember what tv commercial that's from)

I think it was the Taco Bell Chihuahua calling Godzilla when they were doing the Godzilla promotion that one summer.

Shilbah · Post by **Shilbah** » June 8, 2004, 2:54 am

Howdy folks, I'm new to the board and this is my first post (yay!)

Y'know, I switched to Geico a few years ago and they were a little higher than Progressive ($100 per year) for me but Progressive was not willing to bill me month-by-month. They wanted a whole year, up front. It's not like my credit rating was bad or anything. Their attitude was "You can pay us with your credit card if you want to do that."

A couple of years ago, I was involved in an accident where a guy driving a company pickup truck sideswiped me. He didn't bother to check his blind spot, swerved into my lane and clipped my front fender. He swore that I "rear-ended" him. While we were getting off of the road a police officer (who didn't see the accident) came by and pulled over with us. He acted like he didn't really want to be there or was having a bad day or whatever, but he said to me, "This is obviously your fault. If you were actually going under the speed limit..." (I was) "you would have been able to slow down for him." So even the police report said it was my fault.

Well, Geico fought the other insurance company on my behalf, and managed to get the other company not only to pay for the damage to my car but also reimburse my deductible.

A year later I received a letter in the mail from the company that owned the truck. They wanted to sue me for damage to the vehicle. I called Geico and got the same insurance adjustor I'd dealt with a year ago, and he said that if I were to get sued, I'd just call Geico and they'd have a lawyer prepare an entire brief for me to take to small claims court. I never ended up getting sued (a couple of phone calls to the company cleared everything up) but the whole experience has really given me reason to stay with Geico.

Kylere · Post by **Kylere** » June 8, 2004, 9:30 am

So how much is GEICO paying web shrills Shilbah?

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » June 8, 2004, 10:25 am

I never had a problem with Progressive doing montly payments. I pay my entire premium now for the discount but as long as I've been with them they've had monthly payments as an option.

Boogahz · Post by **Boogahz** » June 8, 2004, 3:18 pm

In some states, your credit can/could determine your billplans. It doesn't mean it's that way now. With no credit or bad credit, sometimes only a paid in full plan would be feasible for what could be a policy that you could owe over $1000.00 on in a year.

These things are approved with each state's Department of Insurance before they are ever put into practice. Some states have even required insurance companies to order specific credit information that they would not have ordered before, and this has resulted in MANY increases in rates which the companies have been trying to adjust. That's what happens when someone who doesn't understand how figuring rates works decides to stick a wrench in the gears without making sure it will fit. (GoD beta testing, anyone?).

Shilbah · Post by **Shilbah** » June 8, 2004, 9:49 pm

Kylere wrote:So how much is GEICO paying web shrills Shilbah?

I wish.

VeeshanVault

GEICO is a ripoff!!!!

GEICO is a ripoff!!!!

Re: GEICO is a ripoff!!!!