Geico Insurance Company – Everything You Need To Know About GEICO

Geico hasn’t always been synonymous with the gecko. In fact, when the company was founded in 1936, Geico was known by its long name – Government Employees Insurance Company. Founders Leo and Lillian Goodwin established Geico as an opportunity to serve men and women employed by the government and enlisted in the military during the Great Depression. Within a year, Geico wrote over 3,700 insurance policies and hired 12 additional people to help carry the workload.

After years of success and investments from Columbia University professor Benjamin Graham and Warren Buffett (who was Graham’s student during his time at Columbia), and a few instances of growing pains throughout the 1970s, Geico has grown into a $32 billion company serving Americans with incredible financial strength and an A++ rating from A.M. Best.

Geico now offers a truly extensive range of insurance services. Here’s a brief list of their major service offerings.

• Vehicle insurance – including motorcycles, ATVs, and boats
• RV insurance
• Collector auto insurance
• Property insurance – including homeowners, renters, condos, and mobile homes
• Business insurance – including commercial auto, professional liability, and owners
• Property insurance – including homeowners, renters, condos, and mobile homes
• Ridesharing insurance
• Umbrella insurance
• Life insurance
• Travel insurance
• Pet insurance
• Jewelry insurance
• Identity protection
• Overseas insurance

Because auto insurance is Geico’s best known and most popular offering, we wanted to take a deep dive into the types of car insurance they offer.

What Does Geico Car Insurance Cover?

Additional Optional Services Offered by Geico

• Emergency Roadside Service
  • Jumping a battery
  • Replacing a flat tire
  • Locksmith
  • Towing
  • Gas delivery
• Rental Reimbursement
  • Helps cover the cost of a rental if your car is being repaired as a part of a covered claim.
• Mechanical Breakdown Insurance
  • Available for new or leased cars purchased within the last 15 months with less than 15,000 miles and renewable for up to seven years or 100,000 miles.
• Coverage for your belongings
  • If your car is broken into, your coverage may include reimbursement depending on the value of the items.
• Full Glass Coverage
  • If something damages your windshield, you may be able to have it repaired or replaced at no cost.

How Geico Calculates Rates

Like most major car insurance providers, Geico uses a number of factors to help determine your rate. Some major factors include:

• Driving Experience
• Driving Record
• Location
• Safety Elements of Your Car

Geico’s Rates vs. the Competition

Insurance rates vary significantly from one individual to the next, depending on the variables listed above, as well as many others. That being said, Geico appears to have a middle-of-the-pack standing when it comes to their pricing relative to that of competitors.

In their 2016 Insurance Shopping Study, J.D. Power deemed Geico’s rates “about average.” Here’s how that rating for Geico stacks up to major competitors:

• Geico: About Average

• State Farm: About Average

• Farmers: About Average

• Nationwide: About Average

• Progressive: Below Average

• Allstate: Below Average

Because your rate with Geico or any other carrier hinges on your personal information, it’s important to compare quotes and coverage from many insurers before making a final call.

Ways to Pay

Geico offers several ways to pay your premium, so you can decide what works best for you.

Pay your bill in full and you can receive a discount by not being charged installment fees. Or, if you want, Geico offers the opportunity to make payments over time ranging from two, three, or four installments, though some states require that you pay your premium in full. New policyholders can also elect five payment installments and customers renewing their policies can elect six.

Payment methods also include:

• One-Time Online Payments
• Automatic Online Payments
• Geico Mobile App Payments
• Pay by Phone
• Pay by Mail (Check or Money Order)

Here are a few of the discounts Geico offers its customers to help them save on their auto insurance premiums.

Discounts Based on Your Vehicle

• Air Bag: Geico says you can save up to 25 percent on your medical payments or personal injury coverage for driver-side air bags, and 40 percent for full-front seat air bags.
• Anti-Lock Brake System: You can save 5 percent on your collision coverage if your car has factory-installed anti-lock brakes.
• Anti-Theft System: Save up to 25 percent on comprehensive coverage if your car has a built-in anti-theft system.
• Daytime Running Lights: Save 1 percent on certain coverages if your car has daytime running lights built in as standard equipment.

Discounts Based on You

• Five-Year, Accident-Free, Good Driver: If you’re free from accidents for five years or more, you may be able to save up to 26 percent with Geico on most of their coverage.
• Driver’s Education: Help save on the cost of young drivers in your family by having them complete a driver’s education course. It could save you on their coverage.

Discounts Based on Loyalty

• Multi-Car: Like most providers, Geico offers up to a 25 percent discount on insurance coverages if you have more than one car covered.
• Multi-Policy, Multi-Line: Geico offers additional discounts to customers who also sign up for a homeowners, renters, condo, or mobile home policy.
• Good Student: Full-time students with good grades can save up to 15 percent on their coverage.
• Emergency Deployment: If you’re deployed with the military, you could be eligible for a discount up to 25 percent.
• Member of the Military: Geico offers up to a 15 percent discount for customers who serve or have served in the military, National Guard, or Reserve.
• Membership and Employee Discounts: Geico has partnered with over 500 corporate entities to provide an additional discount on your premium. See the full list here.
• Federal Employee Discounts: If you’re a current or retired federal employee, you could save up to 8 percent with Geico.

The Geico Mobile App

We all like to have easy access to our car insurance information when we need it, and Geico seems to have taken that challenge to heart. Their mobile app, called Geico Mobile, was the highest rated mobile insurance app in 2016 and is available on both Apple iOS devices and via the Google Play store. Seemingly simply designed, it provides quick access to some of the most important features, including:

• Digital ID Cards
  • Save a tiny tree and keep your ID card in digital form. You can view, print, and email the card right from your phone.
• Roadside Assistance
  • The Geico Mobile App lets you put in a request for roadside assistance right from the app and will estimate when help will arrive.
• Virtual Assistant
  • If you’re looking for a quick answer to your Geico questions but don’t want to talk to a real person, Geico Mobile has a virtual assistant that can answer questions related to coverages, billing, and more.
• Virtual Assistant
  • If you’re looking for a quick answer to your Geico questions but don’t want to talk to a real person, Geico Mobile has a virtual assistant that can answer questions related to coverages, billing, and more.

Other Ways Geico Supports Policyholders

Geico’s Policyholder Service Center is available 24/7 and lets you manage basic elements of your coverage no matter the time of day. File and track a claim, pay your premium, add a new driver or car, or even modify your coverage.

Financial strength with an insurance company helps give you peace of mind when it comes to paying claims and selecting coverage. Today, Geico has a top-rated financial strength with many independent analysts, including:

• A++ (or Superior) from A.M. Best
• AA from Standard and Poor’s
• Aa1 from Moody’s

Here’s a definitive list of what Geico does (and doesn’t do) best.