Geico insurance

[Dark Jedi]

I insured the bike with Geico, for a good price. minimal coverage, as I always do. I paid the year in advance, as I also prefer to do.

However, I found out this week they practice a form of extortion. They added full coverage to my policy, and mailed me an opt out form in with all the other policy crap, then charged me for the difference when they did not get the form back opting out of the added coverages.

So they canceled the policy for non payment of coverages I never requested in the first place.

Go with someone else, a few dollars cheaper ain't worth it.

[MikeG]

I use Geico for my car, my scooter, and my 750. Never had anything except excellent service from them. I like their automatic bill payment too. I've never had any kind of upselling other than getting my limits up a bit from the bare minimum which I wanted anyways.

[DanTheMan]

I tried Geico years ago when they were Government Employees Insurance Company. They promised me a full 12 month premium, lower rates than my present company, etc.......They delivered as promised the first year, the second year, no violations or accidents my rate had nearly doubled. I dropped them like a hot potato, went back to my previous insurance company and haven't even bothered them for a rate quote since.......

[RJz1100E]

I've been a GEICO customer for 18 years. Never had any beef with them.

[seuadr]

i had car insurance with them and the rates doubled the second year for no apperant reason. i didn't change location, car, didn't have any traffic violations or anything. i guess it just depends ?

[Blueandorangefish]

I insured the bike with Geico, for a good price. minimal coverage, as I always do. I paid the year in advance, as I also prefer to do.

However, I found out this week they practice a form of extortion. They added full coverage to my policy, and mailed me an opt out form in with all the other policy crap, then charged me for the difference when they did not get the form back opting out of the added coverages.

So they canceled the policy for non payment of coverages I never requested in the first place.

Go with someone else, a few dollars cheaper ain't worth it.

I work in the insurance industry, and you should consider taking this to the state insurance board. What you're describing that they did is basically illegal.

The general rule of thumb with insurance is to be wary of any company that gives a big discount for simply signing the dotted line with them. Invariably it will eventually disappear. You won't be a new customer forever, and that's the hook to get new customers only. These companies count on people either having so much business with them that it's too much of a hassle to leave or that the customer gets a claim or two under their belt so that it would cost far too much to leave to a better company. In many cases, the premiums are extremely low because they're shafting their customers on service. One very common tactic is to have an automatic decline of a claim, regardless of the circumstances. So many people don't know their rights or are unaware of this predatory tactic that the companies are using to save tons of money since they're not having pay out on those claims.

[Griffin]

Twelve years ago, when I was just starting out in industrial sales, my first gig was with a commercial compressed air distributor. My first assignment to get my feet wet was to call on every body shop in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area. Did you know that there are over 1,100 body shops in Hennepin, Ramsey, Wright, Anoka, and Dakota counties? Anyway, I spent about six months talking to, helping, selling to, and getting to know lots of body shop owners.

One topic that inevitably came up during our discussions was insurance companies. They're the guys who see the dirty side of the claims adjustment business. They know who fights every dime of a claim, who tries to force them to install used parts, and who in general really tries to screw their customers.

GEICO was almost always mentioned as one of the worst. Allstate and American Family were also held in pretty low regard by many of the body shop owners as well.

They generally talked favorably of many of the "lower tier" companies like St. Paul, Cincinnati Group, Western Reserve, Auto-Owners, etc...

[TheCafeKid]

Twelve years ago, when I was just starting out in industrial sales, my first gig was with a commercial compressed air distributor. My first assignment to get my feet wet was to call on every body shop in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area. Did you know that there are over 1,100 body shops in Hennepin, Ramsey, Wright, Anoka, and Dakota counties? Anyway, I spent about six months talking to, helping, selling to, and getting to know lots of body shop owners.

One topic that inevitably came up during our discussions was insurance companies. They're the guys who see the dirty side of the claims adjustment business. They know who fights every dime of a claim, who tries to force them to install used parts, and who in general really tries to screw their customers.

GEICO was almost always mentioned as one of the worst. Allstate and American Family were also held in pretty low regard by many of the body shop owners as well.

They generally talked favorably of many of the "lower tier" companies like St. Paul, Cincinnati Group, Western Reserve, Auto-Owners, etc...

Wow....I have American Family. Full coverage on both the cafe and the 1100, and liability on my car. I pay 107 a month. Thought that was pretty cheap, but now i wonder if its worth it if they are gonna dick me on a claim. Generally, I expect them to total a bike if its involved in a wreck with another vehicle. But what would I get in return? A cheque? For KBB value or what? Hrmmm....think i'll call my insurance guy tomorrow...lol

[Blueandorangefish]

I know American Family in my area doesn't have a claims office. I'm not sure if that's the case nationally, though. They farm the claims adjustments out to a contractor. Who do you think that setup is going to favor?

[Dark Jedi]

When confronted, they removed the extra charges and reinstated the policy. I paid the year in full, and a refund involves advanced dentistry and making a rock bleed.... but I won't be renewing with them at all.

I think I will file a report with the insurance commission.

[chuckycheese]

Geico

I've never taken Geico very seriously because of all the money they spend on their stupid ads. Those ads are really expensive and I figure their prices surely must reflect that fact. If they want to sell me very high liability insurance on 2 big motorcycles for $79 a year.....I still wouldn't use them; and, I'm satisfied that they wouldn't.

[bwringer]

I've been quite happy for the last two years with Dairyland/Sentry -- about $70/year for liability only on my two old shafties.

The few times I've had a question, they were professional and prompt.

Since it's liability-only, my accident last year didn't affect them (no damage to anything besides me and my VX), but I still had to get them to sign that stupid form the state of Indiana. Again, no problem, and they sent it the next day. I've had to jump through hoops with other insurance companies in the past do get this done.

Also, despite the accident last year, my rate this year didn't go up, which was nice. They're also highly thought of by many other riders.

They have a web site, but I think you still have to call to get a quote on older bikes.

[propflux01]

i had car insurance with them and the rates doubled the second year for no apperant reason. i didn't change location, car, didn't have any traffic violations or anything. i guess it just depends ?

Alot of insurers base thier rates on your credit score/rating as well. If your FICO score goes down, your rates go up.

[seuadr]

Alot of insurers base thier rates on your credit score/rating as well. If your FICO score goes down, your rates go up.

my credit score has been steadly improving thought :/
it was actually around 400 when i joined, and almost 650 when i stopped using'em.

[rustybronco]

I've been quite happy for the last two years with Dairyland/Sentry -- about $70/year for liability only on my two old shafties.

Thanks for the Information, I will call them shortly.