Geico Insured

Bought my new prius a couple of weeks ago and I'm thinking about switching insurance companies.

My family has been with state farm for 11+ years with no accidents and paying $1,456.06 6 month premium. This is for 4 vehicles.

I did a rate quote with Geico and it shows $1,262.50 6 month premium.

A difference of $193.56

My question is will Geico somehow raise it on me after 1 year? Anybody insured by this company? As you can see we stick to one company for a while so i'm not sure what kind of schemes are out there....

Damn I'm glad I don't live in New York. I'm paying Erie Insurance $414 a year full coverage on mine. With my 97 Volvo 960 my total premium for the year is $735. Since I pay it up front they give me a $35 rebate. So my total premium will be $700 for both cars for the year.

Our daughter had Geico for awhile.
Geico does not have a great reputation for claims, at least amongst our acquaintances. Sure, the premiums are a little less, sometimes, but when you can't get decent customer service, or timely payments on claims, what have you really saved?
Oh, and if you should happen to have a claim, expect your premiums to increase dramatically.

I switched from State Farm to Geico about 5 years ago and it was a huge difference on cost. I have never filed a claim, so cannot tell how Geico reacts to that. I have never revisited the cost of insurance for my 2 cars ever since but I'm planning to do so next month when my current Geico policy expires because my Prius 6-month policy is almost $300 more expensive compared to my previous CR-V given up as a trade-in when I got the Prius.

Is the much higher cost because it is a new car or is the Prius insurance on average more expensive than a small to midsize SUV, like the CR-V? Can anybody help?

Remember a quote is just a quote and it assumes you qualify for discounts to give you that low price to get you in the door. It is possible for them to raise your rates immediately if you don't qualify.

I work for an insurance company (its one of the bigger ones, but its not one that you mentioned). Anyway what you should do is visit your agent and talk about your current discounts and coverages.

You may be able to save that money without changing companies. Your quote also may not and probably doesn't have the same coverages. For example does your State Farm policy have $100 comp. $100 coll. on all 4 cars? You may want to consider raising your deductibles to $250 comp, $500 collision on all or some of the cars. Make sure that your medical liability limits are at least $100,000 / $300,000
and at least $100,000 property damage.
Are all 4 cars rated for Work/School or are they rated pleasure, (work, school, and commercial rates are higher)
with 4 cars the annual miles may be under 8000 miles per year on a few of the vehicles(another discount).
Kids 3.0 grade point average is a huge discount for us.
Another big discount can be multi-line discounts, is your home, life, or renters policy with your auto carrier. More then likely you can save at least 10 % for having a multi-line policy.

I've had State Farm for a while and have had a claim with them. They handled it very well. It was a rainy slippery day and I got into an accident where my ten year old car was totaled. They have a ten year accident forgiveness policy, so my rates didn't go up at all (accident was my fault).

I think that State Farm really gets competitive in terms of price only when you have multiple policies. If you get a renter's or home owners with them too, the rate will usually be better than Geico or Progressive. Also, look out for the insurance levels that Geico is offering. Make sure that you're comparing apples to apples in terms of coverage. My partner used to have coverage with Progressive because they gave him a good price. He wasn't savvy enough to know at the time they basically gave him a policy that had an extremely low max amount on the liability coverage. If you cause a big crash, medical bills can pile up fast and you don't want to left holding the bag. Luckily he never had such an accident before he got a better plan, but the fact that Progressive was willing to sell it and recommend it was downright scary.

I think even the best companies often play the lower rate game to get you to switch initially, then crank it up dramatically in a year or two, or modestly each year for a few years to get it up to their standard rates.

They will also make subtle changes and remove coverages or increase deductibles slightly saying the differences aren't great, but of course you could save making those changes with your current company, too.

Price isn't the only factor. Most states have websites showing complaints and other issues with home and auto insurers. Most of the major ones seem to do fairly well in general, but it's worth checking. Paying a bit less won't save you if you have to jump through enormous hoops to have a claim paid or to get your vehicle repaired with quality parts and a reputable shop.

Travelers has a specific discount for Prius. Saved my $200 vs State Farm

I had Geico for more than 5 years before I bought the new Prius. Now I switch to Progessive because Geico quote was about $500 higher than Progessive anually. I did spent quite amount of time online with about 10 different insurance companys quotes, and Progessive is the cheapest. And they have decent rating from JD Power (similar with Geico). You should check it out.

BTW, I'm living in Queens, NYC.

I hate the Geico commercials. I had Mercury and had a claim with them that was handled fairly well. I am also currently with Travelers but have not had any claims with them. It is $415 for 6 month, no kids in the house though.

Since we're reporting anecdotes, we had a great experience with Geico. Had them for a few years, got in an accident (where we were at fault) and they "made us whole" and only increased our premium a little bit (<5%). We've since moved to MA which was *not* an open market for insurance when we moved here, but we're considering switching back to them now that MA has opened up.

Progressive is bleeding red right now and their customer loyalty has fallen fast in the past year or two.

Actually….I’ve had an awesome experience with Geico. They are probably the fairest insurance company on the market. In summer of 2008, I had a $4,100 accident in my 2001 Nissan Maxima. It happened in the 'burbs of Chicago. My deductible was $500. I was 21 at the time of the accident. My 6mo premium before the accident was $465 (100/300/100 coverage), and when I renewed my 6mo premium after the accident, my 6mo premium actually dropped to ~$450. I currently pay $770 6mo premium for my '10 Prius. They kept the good student discount/good driver discount on my policy.

I have no traffic violations or other prior accidents. Based off their own investigation, they clearly saw the incident wasn't my fault (and therefore didn't raise my premium). They are super fair and handled my claim beautifully.

Ok there Geico! I did my part, defending your name!!

I've had Geico since I bought my Prius 1.5 years ago. So far, my rates have never been raised.

Ditto..I had Geico for probably 4 or 5 years & the rates always got LOWER (unless I bought a new car of course). Usually the price they quote you should be fairly accurate. I've never had any problems.

Also - the "Claims" issue - got into 2 accidents while having Geico, neither of which were my fault. They were VERY quick to get my car fixed & never really had any problems. There was a slight issue getting my deductible back for an uninsured motorist accident, but I eventually got it back even though they first told me I wouldn't (probably just a communication error). That was my only issue with the 4+ years I had them. Anyway, hope that's helpful, I'd definitely recommend them as an insurance company.

I too have Geico for the last eight years and my rates have actually decreased (albeit very little). I've never made a claim but I have friends with Geico and their claim experience has been exemplary. They pay very quickly. As to commercials, most are annoying but I'd have to rate the Progressive commercials as the most obnoxious. DISCOUNT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Duh!!!!!!!!!!!

I've had nothing but good experiences with Geico.

For me, Geico has the lowest rates by far.

My rates have not gone up since I got my initial policy on my Prius 2.5 years ago.

20 years ago when I put in a major claim, Geico was attentive, prompt and helpful at all times.

My most recent State Farm 6 month bill was $282 for a 2004 Prius. When I have filed claims, they were effective. I do have multiple lines, longevity discounts.

It is home insurance that has continually increased in cost - but a hassle to research all those insurance policies

I have used Geico for a few years, and had to file a major (at fault) claim. their claim process was fantastic - no problems whatsoever. I was on the side of the freeway, and already had a claim in process and a tow truck on the way to send my car to a body shop (that I chose).
My rates rose, but I expected that after my accident. when I added the 2010 IV prius, the rates only went up $100/month.

Oh yea, and I had to file another (not at fault) claim with them, and my rates did not go up at all.

I would recommend you do three things:

1. See if your state's insurance regulatory agency has some information on their Web sit about customer satisfaction, rates and other information between companies. Here in Texas, their standard rates must be approved by the Texas Department of Insurance, and their rates are on their Web site at:
Rate Guides / Price Comparisons from the Texas Department of Insurance
Compare rates for your state, and if possible, your county. Rates can vary dramatically from one county to another.

2. Compare customer service results from organizations like J.D. Power and Consumer Reports. These reviews should go way beyond the cute commercials and tell you what real customers are experiencing.

3. Finally, go to a very large body shop in your town. If they have adjusters on staff, ask them who they have the most and least trouble dealing with. If they use independent adjusters, try to find one that does adjustments for multiple companies. They WILL share with you their frustrations with Company X not paying for legitimate damages, which is what you really want and need to know in the event of an accident. I've heard some real horror stories about certain companies not paying for damaged parts that the customer didn't know about.

Good luck!

Joe