Personal Finance

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I am going to preface this by saying I am in that under 25 age bracket where car insurance costs can be astronomical.

Why I chose Geico

To be frank, they were the cheapest. A couple family members have been with a local company for decades so I went to them first, and the agent was very honest. He said it would run $3-4K annually IF they would even consider taking me on. Apparently they don’t want to bother with high risk drivers like those in my age bracket. Right.

I looked at other companies and Geico’s quote was the cheapest by far. One of my aunts has Geico so I asked her what she thought of them, and she was happy with how they handled a major accident she was in (not her fault). Seeing as how much cheaper Geico was, as long as I didn’t hear horror story after horror story, I would be going with them.

Purchasing the policy

Purchasing the policy was fast online. I needed to have insurance on my car before I could drive it off the lot. I appreciated that Geico faxed over a temporary card that I could show the dealership so I could be in my car within 24-48 hours.

You can do everything from their website

Their website has everything you could ever need. I like that. I don’t want to have to talk to someone, or worry that their call center may be closed when I’m messing around with my coverages to see how it affects my premium.

I’ve renewed many times online and paid via credit card. I’ve also adjusted my policy there. No problems at all!

Um, my insurance keeps getting cheaper?

I didn’t expect my rates to go down every other renewal! I’m down about 20% from when I first got my policy with them a few years ago. Granted I have no points on my record either, but considering my age (and being a guy at that) I thought they would just keep my rates the same. As a college student, I definitely appreciate the continual rate reduction while maintaining my same coverage.

Sigh… My first claim

I knew the time would come when I would have to make a claim. My car was parked on my street and sometime during the night, someone must have clipped my car because when I walked to my car the next day, the bumper had a crease in it and paint was flaking off. I religiously maintain my car and wash it twice a week so I couldn’t just “live with it” so I filed a police report (hit and run) and filed a claim online.

The next day I received a call from Geico. They wanted to verify a few things, make sure no one was hurt, and to setup an appointment to see a claims adjuster. Luckily there is a Geico office five minutes from my house, AND they were able to see my car a day or two later. I waited maybe 15 minutes and I was out the door with my check for the damages, minus my deductible. I asked if my rates would be going up and I was assured it would not because this is not an at-fault accident. I just received my renewal notice and my rates in fact, did not go up.

Was it really that easy? This is the first time I’ve been through the process of making a claim and I expected to be given a hard time, have my rates go up, or having to chase after Geico to get them to look at my car. None of that happened. I should add that from start to finish, everything took 1.5 weeks. From filing my claim to taking my car back home after it was fixed. Never would I have imagined that Geico would be so quick in cutting me my check. The body shop I went to (of my own choosing) was fast and did great work, so besides being ticked off at the jerk who hit my car, I am pretty happy.

I decided to write my review on Geico only after my first claim, so here I am. I am very impressed with how Geico handled my claim. I understand a big part of that is your local Geico office, and it just so happens that mine is very friendly.

We’ll see what happens if and when I have my first at-fault accident, but for now, I couldn’t be happier with their service and price.

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