old thread... bringing it back...

Need some advice, peoples.

I pay 540/6mo with State Farm... Nationwide/Allied/Wells Fargo brokers quote me 490.

Geico is 334.... same coverage, deductibles (all), renters is the same, too.

I am very informed when it comes to knowing every bit of my coverage, and my 100/300/50 is the same with Geico, but tell me HOW it can be so much less? Everyone here seems to have had great results with them, but i still get that "too good to be true" feeling with them. Is it because they just streamline their business so there is no infrastructure expense? I've had no tickets, no incidents, never made any claims, own my own vehicle with only 90k miles, travel less than 4 miles to work, etc etc... I also have very good coverage for someone my age. I do not skimp and get the cheapest possible because I want good coverage.

Just wondering if anyone has had any other experiences with them... good/bad.. anything to recommend?

It saves me about 40 bucks a month, and right now I could really use the extra income. Any good input would be appreciated.

[Edited on May 17, 2010 at 9:43 PM. Reason : ]

5/17/2010 9:43:07 PM

check with progressive!
or AAA

I am not sure if rawlee has costco...costco has insurance through amerprise...very cheap but you have become a costco member...totally worth it if you will use the store as well as save on insurance!

[Edited on May 17, 2010 at 11:54 PM. Reason : ...]

5/17/2010 11:53:08 PM

i've had geico for years.

havent had any issues with them.

5/18/2010 3:39:05 AM

had geico for about 3 years. Never had a problem with them but then again I never had to use them so that might not be worth much to you haha.

I just switched to allstate because my combined house+car was cheaper with them vs geico.

5/18/2010 6:59:55 AM

been with Geico for 7 years now, called them on a handful of occasions and never had an issue.

5/18/2010 9:28:09 AM

assuming you have a standalone auto policy (no combined discount for other insurance products), every time your insurance is up you should ascertain your new rate with your current company and call a couple other companies and let them try to beat it. in most cases they can, or will attempt to, even if its by a few bucks. ive regularly bounced between geico and progressive especially for the past couple years, letting them undercut eachother.

5/18/2010 9:39:31 AM

I've had Geico for about 3 years now. I haven't had any problems with them and customer service is good. Wife was on USAA and their rates were outrageous so I added her to my policy.

5/18/2010 9:49:25 AM

you won't have problems, until you try and make a claim.

5/18/2010 9:50:19 AM

Quote :

"Wife was on USAA and their rates were outrageous"

DOES NOT COMPUTE

i pay like $26 a month for complete coverage

5/18/2010 10:06:27 AM

maybe his wife is a shitty driver who gets a lot of tickets

5/18/2010 10:08:56 AM

i had a DUI 6 years ago

something must not be right

5/18/2010 10:19:27 AM

are you also a woman?


just sayin....

5/18/2010 10:24:39 AM

i'm not

there's the answer

5/18/2010 10:35:29 AM

Quote :

"Rate Calculation Service The North Carolina Department of Insurance is pleased to be able to offer you the ability to calculate the automobile premium for your particular circumstances. For example, you can list the number of drivers in your household, the specific vehicle(s) that you own, the use of the vehicle(s), and the driving record of the driver(s). This calculation or quote should serve as a guide when shopping for automobile insurance. Please note, in most cases, the premium quoted by your agent will be lower or higher, for the following reasons: These rates are "base rates" which means they have been filed with this department by the North Carolina Rate Bureau on behalf of all licensed automobile insurance companies in North Carolina. However, many insurance companies offer downward deviations or discounts, which reduce the premium amount from the base rates. Please Note: The Discount and Surcharges Tab does not alter the "base rates." However, an insurance company may include some or all of these in its calculation of Homeowners premium. Likewise, depending on one's driving record or other underwriting factors, an insurance company may elect to reinsure the policy with the North Carolina Reinsurance Facility (Liability coverage only) and/or provide the Other than Collision (Comprehensive) and Collision coverage under the "Consent to Rate" program. In most cases, this will cause the premium to be higher than those calculated with base rates. In addition to using the premium calculated as a guide, you may want to view the complaint ratios on this website. Attention: The minimum liability limits required by the Financial Responsibility Laws have been used in the initial assumptions. You may change the limits to fit your needs."

http://www.ncdoi.com/Consumer/consumer_rate_calc_auto.asp

Complaint ratios:

http://www.ncdoi.com/Consumer/consumer_ratios.asp

5/18/2010 11:06:32 AM

H&R, you said "you won't have problems, until you try and make a claim."

Thats not the first time I've heard that.

Also, its not the first time I've heard "been with them for years, no problems, but i've never had to make a claim"

5/18/2010 1:09:22 PM

My husband had to make a claim, at-fault, and had no trouble.

He'd still be with geico if marrying me hadn't given him access to USAA

5/18/2010 4:21:28 PM

So far, GEICO has been better than Allstate or Nationwide... Of course, I haven't had any claims. I've been with GEICO for 3 years now. And I like their online features.

Nationwide wouldn't budge on lowering my premium after three years. Allstate increased my premium after a vandalism that was reported to the police, but never claimed upon.

5/18/2010 10:18:00 PM

had geico for years, then switched to liberty mutual, which gave me a big discount with the combined home + auto.

never made a claim with geico, but did have to make a claim with liberty mutual, and they were fantastic.

5/18/2010 10:35:54 PM

I actually just switched to Geico and saved about 25 bucks per month with a tad more coverage even. Go Geico. I was with progressive before, called them back to negotiate since they had always been good (two windshields) but they wouldnt drop any. So, Geico it is.

5/18/2010 10:36:01 PM

thanks for all the advice.

i think im going geico.

5/18/2010 11:57:46 PM

GEICO is consistently 500-800 a year less than everyone else.

I filed my first claim with them about a year ago. It was honestly one of the best consumer experiences I've ever had. They were super responsive, and had no problem with me choosing my own shop to do the work. They also were up front and no hassle about their screw up in quoting the repair (they quoted it at 1,500 originally. I told the agent there's no way it would be anywhere near that cheap. It ended up being almost 9,800 but they paid it without any hassle on me)

And probably the best part, after a nearly 10k claim, my insurance increased a total of 96 bucks a year. They gave me a couple of small percentage decreases to offset the claim increase, which I was really surprised and happy about. They'll have my business for a long time to come.

5/19/2010 3:22:20 AM

If you live in NC you def want to check Farm Bureau as well, they are gazillions cheaper than Geico.

5/19/2010 8:14:56 AM

Quote :

"He'd still be with geico if marrying me hadn't given him access to USAA "

USAA FTW. Wish every company was like USAA.

5/19/2010 10:02:05 AM

Quote :

"If you live in NC you def want to check Farm Bureau as well, they are gazillions cheaper than Geico. "

you can't just make blanket statements like this when it comes to insurance. Too many factors involved, and they all seem to 'rate' customers differently. Farm Bureau wasn't even in the same league price-wise for me.

5/19/2010 12:44:05 PM

If you are looking to shop for the lowest rates for insurance, I can tell you after a few years of experience in the business, these are some of the lowest companies out there:

(keep in mind there is never one company that is always the lowest for everyone, it can/will depend on your credit and driving record)

Erie
Farm Bureau
USAA
Auto Owners
Geico
Penn National

I currently work for an independent agency in Raleigh, I would be glad to help anyone out that is looking to shop their insurance, just pm me.

5/21/2010 1:58:24 AM

State Farm is the cheapest for motorcycles

5/21/2010 11:32:12 AM

I have been with them for 13 years now, filed several claims. I find them to be quite awesome. Two of my claims were a pain-in-the-butt, odd circumstances, but they were really easy to work with. I definitely recommend them very highly.

5/21/2010 3:39:41 PM

How well claims go really comes down to luck of the draw on your adjuster, I've experienced good and bad ones with progressive. Progressive consistently beats any quote I get though, probably b/c I've been with them for all 10 years I've been driving. I mean I guess if a company offers lower rates you could argue that they probably hire, lesser experienced/qualified adjusters, but I don't know. As far as complaints with (some of the companies ITT) the NC DOI in 2008:

Company - Number of Complaints - Ratio (complaint per $1 mil premium)

GEICO - 72 - 1.53
Allstate - 149 - 1.49
Erie - 15 - 1.10
Auto-Owners - 12 - 0.92
State Farm - 173 - 0.50
Farm Bureau - 120 - 0.50
Progressive (SE) - 23 - 0.42
Penn National - 2 - 0.13

Nationwide is all over the board from 0.92 to 0 depending on which one it is (Affinity, Mutual Fire, Mutual, Property and Casualty, Insurance company). The general "Nationwide Insurance Company" has the 0 but it only has a fraction of the premium $$ of the others.

But even with GEICO having a higher ratio, you'd think that if they consistently have cheaper insurance, it'd drive the ratio up (given a similar number of complaints). It'd be more interesting to see those number of complaints vs. the total number of policies, but I can't find that anywhere.

I look at it like, you may as well go with the cheapest option because there is no guarantee that just because you pay $X more with company B that claims adjuster you get is going to be worth a damn.

[Edited on May 21, 2010 at 4:33 PM. Reason : ]

5/21/2010 4:32:24 PM

Quote :

"How well claims go really comes down to luck of the draw on your adjuster"

Eh I don't know about that. This might be the case with Progressive, but that's a pretty big generalization if you're talking about everyone. They can't just do what they want, they are told how to handle the claims by the higher ups in their company. It's a pretty lengthy training process to become an adjuster.

5/21/2010 7:02:52 PM

^Yeah I don't really know, I just go on my experience with Progressive and others' experiences they have shared with me. These are 2 experiences a coworker had:

#1: His daughter is the last car in a multi-car pile up involving injuries/extensive damage towards the front and lighter fender benders towards the back. His daughter's car had a couple hundred in damage (less than deductible) and the initial determination of fault, there own adjuster (GEICO) found her to be 100% at fault due to the fact that every person's story was they stopped and was rear-ended by the car behind them and pushed into the car in front of them. Long story short, the adjuster was ready to pay out thousands of dollars and agree to 100% fault to his daughter despite it's physically impossible for fender benders in the back to amplify to totaled cars in the front (they had to hire a lawyer to straighten it out).

#2: Again with GEICO, he turned right onto a busy, 5 lane (center turn lane), road with the rightmost lane clear. He was rear-ended by a speeding truck that changed lanes, locked brakes, and slid into him (impacting at roughly the speed limit). Both he and the other driver were issued traffic citations but even though he felt partially responsible, the other driver was found 100% at-fault by his adjuster.

I've had similar good experiences with Progressive and working on cleaning up a bad one (working on an SDIP points appeal with the NCRB and exploring legal options for recovering my deductible). I mean if it's not the adjuster calling the shots, they present the material/evidence to their superiors and then it depends on which boss is in today or what his mood is or how the evidence is presented to them. Ultimately the adjuster makes the decision (or at least can greatly effect their superiors decision) to assign fault to you, negotiate with the other adjuster(s), or to pursue arbitration or subrogation when dealing with a claim. That's my understanding, I could be wrong as the subtleties of insurance are confusing as shit.

[Edited on May 26, 2010 at 10:36 AM. Reason : ]

5/26/2010 10:31:09 AM

I've been with Geico for 5 years. I pay $56/mo for full coverage. The only ding on my driving record is a 30-Day Civil Revocation, which I was told by the Geico rep that they don't hold against you. I have never had any problems with Geico, but like many others who have posted in this thread, I have never had to use them. (knock on wood).

I am considering shopping around though. My driving record is squeeky clean, so I am quite certain I can do better. My only issue with Geico is that they require automatic draft for their payments, and I am not a fan of paying bills that way.

5/26/2010 12:02:05 PM

I have my auto (and renter's) insurance with Traveler's and am pretty pleased. I shopped around a about a year ago (and talked to prep-e, he's very helpful) when I thought Traveler's was ripping me off b/c of a speeding ticket. I was paying around $2200/year then and couldn't find anyone that could undercut it.

My driving record is now clean again (no points) and my insurance is down to about $1500/year now so I'm pretty happy. (this is for full coverage with low deductible on an S2000, liability only on an Integra, and renters insurance where I live).

5/26/2010 2:56:33 PM

Quote :

"I am considering shopping around though. My driving record is squeeky clean, so I am quite certain I can do better. My only issue with Geico is that they require automatic draft for their payments, and I am not a fan of paying bills that way."

You can pay with a credit card.

5/26/2010 4:40:28 PM

Or pay in full. I've been with Allstate for 5 years, they've got really good rates if you have multiple policies (home, auto, boat).

5/26/2010 6:53:53 PM

I am an Insurance Agent in Raleigh. With Geico its about location, some areas they have great rates and others anyone can beat them. Right now in Raleigh I can beat Geico everything on price, but in Durham they beat me everytime. I have meet a few people that have had claim issues with Geico. Anyways anyone want me information or a quote PM me.

6/2/2010 12:15:40 AM

I've had Progressive since '03, and now I insure my truck (liability, comprehensive less collision), car (liability only), bike (liability only), and soon to be apartment with them. I've always been impressed with my overall premium as compared to online quotes from other companies, and their customer service has never let me down.

This answers none of the questions in the OP, but I just felt like talking.

6/2/2010 1:52:34 AM

^^

Wait, huh? I thought you weren't an insurance agent. You were just a "student" who was passing on a good deal about "Horace Mann Insurance"?

"NC State Students Get Discount on Auto Insurance"
message_topic.aspx?topic=585615&page=1#13636268

lol

6/7/2010 6:31:55 PM

Try Kemper.

6/7/2010 11:27:01 PM

everybody else quoted me like literally $400 more than geico for a 6 month policy.

they've been awesome.

6/8/2010 9:13:27 AM

i, too, have been very happy with geico

6/8/2010 9:19:38 AM

^Me too, although I don't like that they use aftermarket parts for repairs. I've heard Nationwide or AllState use OEM parts. Not knowing if they're any better, I'd prefer OEM.

6/8/2010 12:13:47 PM