Save hundreds on car insurance by switching to GEICO?

[MVal]

So, I am moving to the next town over which happens to be in another state and my current insurance agent at State Farm will no longer be able to insure me once I cross the state line, they said. I've been with the same insurance agent since I was a little girl (they've had all my family's policies all my life), so it's a little sad to say goodbye to them, but I'm wondering now if I should take this opportunity to change carriers. I've seen some people on here like GEICO. What are the best Mustachian options for car and renter insurance?

 I've always been happy with the service from State Farm, but I know they're not the cheapest. Are these cheaper insurance outfits more slack on service? I want to know I can get roadside help and have a smooth claim process if something happens and get decent customer service on the phone.

[rebecca527]

I've been with Progressive a long time and have been very happy with their customer service. I recently got a quote from Geico, but with the loyalty discounts I get from Progressive for being with them for x number of years, it turned out to be cheaper to stay where I am. (Now Geico agents won't stop calling and emailing me, which is annoying.)

[AMandM]

We've been with Geico for both home and auto insurance since we moved to this area almost 20 years ago.  I admit I have not shopped around for price very often.

I will say that the service has been very good.  We have roadside service on the old car for about $15/year.  We've had four auto claims and one $30,000 water damage claim. All have been handled smoothly, with the agents calling to keep us informed of the process, and the claims paid in full without any wrangling.

[ringer707]

I switched from Progressive to Geico last year. I was paying $106/mo for Progressive on two cars (2012 and 2013 Hyundais) with nothing on either of our driving records, and am paying $76/mo for Geico. Unfortunately, Geico won't insure my home (log cabin) so I stuck with Progressive for that. Even losing the discount on bundling, I'm still saving over $200/year.

FWIW, we did file a claim with Progressive after my husband's car was hit by a large plastic sign that fell off someone's truck going down the interstate. Claims process was very easy and quick.

[tarheeldan]

The main thing is to shop once a year or once every two years. Premiums are "sticky" - they don't drop down like they should.

Every year, your risk profile improves because you get older, you haven't had an accident for a longer period of time, and every year your vehicle depreciates and other vehicles on the road see safety improvements from new technology.

[Heroes821]

I've hopped back to state farm several times over the years, they are usually good with their prices, but recently they failed a due diligence check when I added my spouse's car to my insurance and they quoted me $50 bucks less a month then corporate state farm is actually charging me, so I have been searching quotes out and USAA is actually winning for once.

Now I have USAA banking so I'm a little biased, but people I know who use them for insurance say that at the end of the year they pay dividends to policy holders that depending on cost and number of policies can range from $20 bucks to several hundred.

[boarder42]

you should always shop insurnace Geico isnt always the lowest.  i shop 2-3 times a year.

[Frankies Girl]

I'd been with GEICO for close to 20 years, and do still check every year to see if I can get the rates down. 2 cars, one house. No one has been able to beat them for my situation.

In the last 2 years, they got me a killer deal - in certain areas, they now offer GEICO County Mutual (still GEICO, but a different group under that umbrella) where I saved over 50% of what I had been paying... the only drawback was I lost the accident forgiveness option. As I didn't care about that (no accidents in 20+ years and light driving anyway) saving 50% over the already decent GEICO rate was a no brainer.

My homeowners insurance has been creeping higher (in my region GEICO's homeowner insurance is through Travelers), but my neighborhood is super hot and the home prices keep going up (my house plan sells pretty much in less than a week for what they ask for). So I can't get them to lower the rates too much. :(

I've had to put in claims with both Travelers and GEICO, and had excellent service (like above and beyond type of service). English speaking reps available 24/7 even on holidays, very fast coverage, and in the case of Travelers - we were hit by a major hurricane and our entire area was claim city... we had an agent at our house in 2 days, cutting us a check on the spot. Some neighbors didn't see their agents for weeks. And our rate didn't go up.

[Paul der Krake]

The idea of getting a smooth claim process only matters if you carry collision/comprehensive on your policy.

If you do carry it, you are likely driving too much car...

[boarder42]

well i'm re running my numbers.  looks like Geico wins car..

house comes in at a ridiculous 2x what i pay now

[OthalaFehu]

My wife is an actual Government Employee (GEico) and with that discount they are still not cheaper than other competitors, I check every now and again, but they have never been at the top.

[MVal]

The idea of getting a smooth claim process only matters if you carry collision/comprehensive on your policy.

If you do carry it, you are likely driving too much car...

Interesting thought. I have a pretty old car with nearly 200K miles on it and I'm still carrying comp and collision on it--I know, hit me with a wet noodle. I've debated for a while now about taking it down to liability only, but I'm afraid of the jinx... The last time I took collision off a vehicle, it got hit in an ice storm like right after I did it. It's silly though, as my car is only worth about $3K max right now.

What I'd like to do is get another beater and just have two old cars so if one bites the dust, I won't be left without a vehicle, or can take turns nursing them in the mechanic's shop. I'd just keep liability only on both, probably.

[Paul der Krake]

The idea of getting a smooth claim process only matters if you carry collision/comprehensive on your policy.

If you do carry it, you are likely driving too much car...

Interesting thought. I have a pretty old car with nearly 200K miles on it and I'm still carrying comp and collision on it--I know, hit me with a wet noodle. I've debated for a while now about taking it down to liability only, but I'm afraid of the jinx... The last time I took collision off a vehicle, it got hit in an ice storm like right after I did it. It's silly though, as my car is only worth about $3K max right now.

What I'd like to do is get another beater and just have two old cars so if one bites the dust, I won't be left without a vehicle, or can take turns nursing them in the mechanic's shop. I'd just keep liability only on both, probably.

It helps if you think of it in terms of the amount of time it would take you to save for a similar vehicle, and how much pain it would be to replace it. Note that even if you get handed a check for the full value of the vehicle, it's still a major pain in the ass to find something similar that's trouble-free, especially with lower amounts.

For illustration purposes, we own a 2010 Toyota Corolla with low miles. If it were destroyed tomorrow, it would take about 3-4 weeks of normal savings to replace it. The odds of my vehicle being damaged by weather or vandalism are next to zero, and I'm okay not seeing compensation if I make a mistake of my own. I can also afford to take months to find a replacement because our life is not car-dependent.

[Ocinfo]

I have State Farm (~16 years) and they just raised my rate for some reason so was meaning to get some quotes. Checked GEICO and it's less than half the price for the same coverage so I'll be making some changes...


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[Shade00]

I actually did save hundreds, nay, thousands, when I switched to Geico. My premium went from ~$3000 a year for full coverage on two cars to just under $1000 for more coverage. I will admit that a big part of it was moving to a different state, though. No increase in premiums over the past year+ I've been with Geico. No claims yet, either.

[doneby35]

I'm saving close to $900/year for 2 cars switching from State Farm to Geico, so I'm all for it. Can't hurt to shop around and see who's giving you the best deal though.

[lost_in_the_endless_aisle]

I must fall into a black hole in Geico's actuarial calculations because they charged 2.5x my quote from State Farm. After I cancelled, they called me up and said they had a great deal for me: it was still 2x State Farm.

I did have a hail claim from Geico--it was settled quickly for $3,800 (needless to say I did not make the repairs!).

[Hotstreak]

Switching from Progressive to Geico saved me $40 per year on Auto insurance.  Renters insurance is the same price.


Definitely need to shop around and be diligent.  When I was with progressive I signed up for a "new" policy every 6 months, and got "new customer" pricing discount on my "first 6 months premium".  Not sure why they left that loophole but I'm glad to have used it.

[brian313313]

I've been with Geico for a while. Sometimes State Farm has beat their prices. My disappointment with them was going from two cars to one. Both were liability only. We thought we'd save some money but it was only a $10 savings every six months because we lost the multi-car discount. We checked around and it was still the cheapest.

[chasesfish]

I have switched between Liberty Mutual and State Farm over the past 15 years.

I am opposed to doing business with GEICO, one of their insured client's hit me 5-6 years ago, the claims experience was miserable.  I don't see how they can grow their business based on the claims treatment I experienced.

[boarder42]

I have switched between Liberty Mutual and State Farm over the past 15 years.

I am opposed to doing business with GEICO, one of their insured client's hit me 5-6 years ago, the claims experience was miserable.  I don't see how they can grow their business based on the claims treatment I experienced.

.

so you're ruling out saving money based on one isolated incident 5-6 years ago?  seems like a dumb grudge if it really is cheaper. 

As a counter point my wife was just rearended 4 months ago and Geico was pretty simple to work with.

[Hotstreak]

I also had a bad experience working with Geico claims.  But that was a weird situation because the other driver was uninsured.. otherwise I would have been working with THEIR insurance since they were 100% at fault. 

I don't care if Geico is horrible to work with, since I won't be the one working with them.

[MrsStubble]

progressive and geico have been pretty even keel for me and I jump back and forth between them every few years if one gets expensive.  That being said, if you do get geico, go buy yourself 1 share of BRK-B (Berkshire Hathaway B Shares) and enjoy and additional discount as a stockholder.  I feel like it's 5-10%, either way, every little bit helps and you get the invite to Berkshire's annual shareholder meeting which is pretty awesome in itself.

[GetItRight]

Shop every year and jump ship for a better rate and/or coverage. Being loyal to an insurance company will cost you a fortune over the long term. Most are difficult so far as claims (Progressive especially, not so much for property damage but very difficult and sleazy for medical). Basically my plan is shop every 6-12 mos and change for a lower rate (I've changed to save $1/yr for same coverage), and plan to hire a lawyer and sue your insurance company when they don't honor the coverage you've paid for.

[kimmarg]

I'd been with GEICO around 10 years.  Esurance under cut them by almost $200/6months. I double checked the coverage was the same, called GEICO to see if they would match (nope!) and then switched to esurance.  Haven't had to use them yet (fingers crossed) I will say GEICO had good customer service...

[Monkey Uncle]

Shop every year and jump ship for a better rate and/or coverage. Being loyal to an insurance company will cost you a fortune over the long term. Most are difficult so far as claims (Progressive especially, not so much for property damage but very difficult and sleazy for medical). Basically my plan is shop every 6-12 mos and change for a lower rate (I've changed to save $1/yr for same coverage), and plan to hire a lawyer and sue your insurance company when they don't honor the coverage you've paid for.

Once a year might be a bit much, but this is basically on target.  You just have to shop around to see what you can get.  There are far too many variables at play to make blanket statements about company A being a better choice than company B.

[better late]

I am currently paying waaaay too much with USAA.  Is there an easy way to shop insurance? I will do the work of calling each company if I have to, but curious if there is a more efficient way you all would endorse.

[MVal]

I got a quote online from GEICO last night and I didn't realize or I guess never thought about the fact I would need to get either comp or collision to get emergency roadside assistance on the policy. But setting the deductible to the highest level on the comp didn't raise the rate much above liability, so I think that would be fine. I couldn't see how bundling with a renter's policy would change things, but I know that's never much more. Overall, it would about half what I'm paying currently.

[Hotstreak]

I am currently paying waaaay too much with USAA.  Is there an easy way to shop insurance? I will do the work of calling each company if I have to, but curious if there is a more efficient way you all would endorse.

Online is fast and easy. 5-10 minutes to get a quote & you can easily save it for comparison.

[better late]

Online is fast and easy. 5-10 minutes to get a quote & you can easily save it for comparison.

ok. So the quote won't change from what I can generate myself online. That is good to know. thank you.