Question: Swiching Insurance Co.

Been with GEICO for past 8 consecutive years.
I have excellent record.

Another company, AIG, offers me a rate that's about $150 less than the
"best" GEICO can do.
** SAME COVERAGE **

Question:
Is this too good to be true ?
I mean is this some kind of "switch-over special" ?
Is GEICO really that much better than AIG ?

inputs pls
thanks

 

IMHO GEICO is one of the very worse insurance companies --- they'd drop you
in a heart beat. Just make sure the coverage is the same or better. Many
companies (State Farm) give a good drivers/accident free discount after so
many years.

 

Thats a load of shit. I've had one minor accident, two at fault accidents
(One mine and one my wife's) a theft claim and have never been canceled by
Geico. Geico is reputable and has always paid me on time and gave me what I
asked for. I suspect the AIG would be similar but I am not sure. Geico has
been good to me.

 

We can't get Geico in Mass because of their 'policies', and not their
insurance policies!

When I was working in CT, I knew a LOT of people that were dropped or
assigned to High Risk after only one accident, even if not their fault.

That was 15 years ago, perhaps they have cleaned up since.

But Mass will not let them write policies here. Yet they advertise here
every 5 minutes!

AIG is actually a finance co that is just getting into the auto ins.
business.

 

Wonder if it has anything to do with the frequent readings of posts in the
motocycle newsgroups of them signing you on at a cheaper premium and then
boosting it - substanially - in subsequent years?

Dunno, but I lost interest in them once they started providing free radar
detectors to police departments. Nice way to increase their pocketbook by
raisng premiums later on to those who were caught speeding via their "free
toys" to the police.

Too good to be true? Maybe.

B~

 

no, not really. insurance prices are all over the map. anyone who DOESNT
shop around every year or so is foolish.

who knows. geico isnt exactly known for the best rates.

insurance is insurance. as long as its legit, and theyll pay out
legitimate claims in a timely manner, thats all that matters.

next time around, coming up soon, im going to price progressive,
nationwide (through costco), 21st century, mercury, and see if i can get
an even lower price.

i probably ought to drop my full coverage, since bluebook on a 98 civic
hatch isnt a whole lot.

 

"B. Peg"

well insurance co can just hike rate on you out of the blue, right ?
there has to be causes like accidents, state-wide change etc. no ?

 

They certainly can.

Back in '93 I bought a Ducati 900SS sportbike and, after shopping
around (foolish not to) I insured it with Universal Underwriters. The
next year, when it was time to renew, the rate suddenly MORE THAN
DOUBLED with no reason given. I guess they figured out the Duc was
high performance.

Don (switched to State Farm that year)

 

Geico is just overpriced/overmarketed crap. What else would you expect
from a Microsoft company?

 

Not Microsoft but Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffet's company. Traveler's
quotes lower rates in Florida and I went with them in lieu of GEICO. I
determined to insure with Progressive, applied on-line, got a reasonable
quote, paid with Visa and then they insisted I FAX them all manner of
documentation with regards to my insurability. I presume my data is
available from Equifax or eqivalent but they wanted FAX's. Naturally I have
no FAX machine. I asked if I could attach PDF's of the documents to an
e-mail note. They were aghast! "No attachments, there will be a virus!" I
tired of their charade and got a refund. Progressive talks a good game but
their Customer Focus is poor, IMHO..

 

Not in Mass. We have regulated insurance here. We also have, I thik, the
second or third worst drivers in the country, and a high theft/vandalism
rate.

So, the government set limits as to what companies can charge. Most
balked, and either walked or got thrown out. For example, Allstate said
they didn't want to write auto policies because they couldn't make money,
so the state said, OK, you can't write ANYTHING and threw them out.
GEICO was never here.

We currently have 19 insurance companies writing policies here, and more
leave every year.

And we pay higher rates than surrounding states.

 

The question comes in claims handling. We share office space with a
personal injury attorney. Many lawyers will not deal with cases coming
out of AIG, and assorted other companies, and such companies are always
trying to skimp on claims and underpay. Good on one end, I guess, not
so good on the other. If you expect to continue to have a hassle-free
driving experience, go for the savings. Just be careful.

 

I finally dropped comp/collision from my 1991 a couple of years ago.
Now I have to fully cover a new car. If I didn't have to have
comp/collision, my insurance would have actually gone down because
of all the safety features.

I changed from Geico to Allstate a little while back because I got a
renter's insurance policy when I went back to Los Angeles for four
months. I wanted coverage in case anything happened while I was
gone. It provided an extra discount on both policies because they
were with the same company. Turns out Allstate stand alone is more
than a couple of other quotes I got for the 2006, but the multi-
policy discount makes up for it.

 

"Brandy Alexandre"

yeah true that

 

My neighbor switched to GEICO and saved $215. Then he switched to Sate Farm
and saved another $267. When he switched to AIG he saved $199. The way he
has it figured if I switches three or four more times his insurance cost
will be ZERO LOL


mike

 

Geico. Ha.
Progressive. Ha.
State Farm. Ha.
Farmers. Ha. All in my humble opinion.

Companies have all sorts of hidden internal 'rules' on how they do
things. That's one reason why some are more satisfying that others,
even though they may all "pay" your claim.

I recall reading that State Farm (?not sure?) will pay a $500 claim
with no hit on your claim record, but Progressive moves into high gear
to raise your rates. How would you know what they're going to do?
Yet, that is part of the service you're buying.

State Farm and Farmers used to be two of the best companys, but they
haven't been so consumer friendly in recent years.

Why would you send your money to Geico, so they can buy laser guns for
cops to write you tickets, and increase your premiums? That's
counterproductive.

Check out Amica Mutual. They were the first auto insurer in the
country. Not Geico which cleverly seems to suggest in ads that they
were, without quite saying so. I've been with Amica 15 years. Even
they are now a little stickier to deal with, but it's a continuing
trend in the industry. Disclaimer -- I'm not affiliated with any of
these other than as a customer. Amica is not the cheapest however. My
point is that there are other concerns as well.

 

I am in Massachusetts and have been with Amica since 1958. In the early
days they would send you a check for 20 -35% of the premium paid. Now
the have the option on homeowners for either a dividend check at the
end of the year or a less expensive rate. They do give a 10% discount
if you combine your auto and house insurance. Ten years or so ago Amica
would not accept you as a customer unless you were recommended by a
policyholder.
They have no agents so you deal direct with the company. Consumer
reports did a survey awhile ago and rated Geico. number 1 in customer
satisfaction but didn't survey Amica. Enough Amica customers complained
so Consumer reports surveyed Amica and revised their findings to two
number 1's

Ron

 

Thats Bull.

My car was hit three times (all three while I was standing at a stoplight!)

Geico paid each claim and covered my rental from Enterprise (they really
did pick me up!)

Geico hates careless speeders and those with radar detectors.

Which one are you?

 

Three claims, three checks, rental car paid for each time, no increase.

I LOVE GEICO!

 

Wonder what the outcome would have been if YOU had been the one doing the
hitting?