I know there have been a lot of positive experiences with Geico with people on this forum, but I wanted to relay the nightmare I'm experiencing through Geico's property insurer, Travelers, in the hopes that others can avoid it.
I changed my auto and home insurance a few months ago and moved to Geico. Geico placed the property insurance through Travelers. After I made the payment and committed to the insurance and did not renew my State Farm policy, Travelers informed me they would be sending an inspector to the property. The inspector came several weeks after my previous policy expired.
A few weeks later, I get a notice from Travelers that there is a broken bannister (really just a post) on my property that needs to be replaced and I need to contact them in 20 days. They also raised the value of my property by 10 percent based on the inspection. I asked the agent if I need to repair the bannister in 20 days, and she said I only need to notify her of our intent to do so in 20 days, which I did. She said we only needed to repair the property before the end of the policy period.
I also asked her about the increase in property value. She said it was because the inspector measured our property to be 200 square foot more than represented. Our property has never been measured at that value, but she wouldn't budge (even after reviewing the property records) unless I sent her a drawing showing it was less. I emailed her two different drawings showing the correct amount. She initially said the underwriters wouldn't change, but after the discussing the matter further, she agreed that it looked like our drawings were the same as the inspectors and she would resubmit it.
That was the last I heard until today when I got a notice of cancellation in the mail. The reason? Failure to fix the bannister in 20 days and that the value of the property was higher than the coverage amount. The value given was based on the 200 extra square feet given by the appraiser.
So I called Travelers and asked why they would cancel me based on my prior conversation with the agent. Unbelievably, he said that they had internal notes that they had agreed with our drawings and lowered the square footage of the house to match the lower square footable. But he refused to acknowledge it was a mistake in the notice of cancellation. He also said the agent was correct to tell me that I could fix the bannister at any time. However, since that time, underwriting decided to cancel us anyway, so it wasn't her fault. When I asked for assurance that Travelers would reinstate the policy if we fixed the bannister, he would not give that assurance. Nor would he give me anything in writing as to what I could do to reinstate the policy.
Oh yeah, and over the phone, after talking with underwriting, Travelers came up with a brand new reason to cancel: that we had a few missing shingles from the roof. We've replaced the roof since the inspector was here, but seems a little slimy to keep coming up with reasons.
Anyway, my quick research indicates that, at least in California, insurance companies can cancel your insurance within 60 days for any reason they wish. So, just be careful when you get a quote from Travelers because they may try to renege later.
