Geico Auto Insurance anyone?

[KMaC]

Just got my renewal notice from Indiana Farm Bureau and they are raising my rate 16%. I'm 65 yrs old, haven't had a ticket in over 20 yrs, cheap 2014 car and been with them for 30+ yrs without any claim. I'll be shopping around this time.

 

[ArcadiaGP]

Piggy-backing on this thread. We got a quote from Allstate that's 50% of our current State Farm policy. Our State Farm agent says he's seen that before... where they give you a low rate then raise it drastically year-after-year.

Anyone here have good experiences with Allstate? Even Farm Bureau's quote was around the same as Allstate...

 

[mom45]

We use an independent agent as well. She does a great job of shopping around for us. House and main vehicles are through Auto Owners. We have just PL/PD on my '88 truck that I drive most of the time and my son's Jimmy/Blazer. We pay less than $250 a year for each of those. The same agent gets us the best rates she can find every year for our vintage vehicles that are only driven when there is no salt on the road, taken to shows, etc. and on the motorcycles. She does the work and our rates are very reasonable. When we did have one claim thru Auto Owners, the rates didn't change.

 

[WebSnyper]

We use an independent agent as well. She does a great job of shopping around for us. House and main vehicles are through Auto Owners. We have just PL/PD on my '88 truck that I drive most of the time and my son's Jimmy/Blazer. We pay less than $250 a year for each of those. The same agent gets us the best rates she can find every year for our vintage vehicles that are only driven when there is no salt on the road, taken to shows, etc. and on the motorcycles. She does the work and our rates are very reasonable. When we did have one claim thru Auto Owners, the rates didn't change.

I've got an independent as well. Had the same agency for 20+ years, and have changed companies as needed throughout the years for the best coverage at the best prices. Amazing how much companies can vary year to year.

 

[CHCRandy]

I finally made the switch today. Allstate just got me my new policy last week and the premium was around $3400 a year with PL/PD on my work truck and full coverage everything else. I switched to Geico and got full coverage on everything...and added roadside and insurance on my dump trailers and it was $1600 a year. The new car I bought that started all this only has $150 a month payment for 48 months....that's what I just saved in insurance so it almost feels to me like Allstate screwing me over resulted in Geico saving me enough to pay the car off in 4 years with no out of pocket costs (other than the 70% down payment I made). Basically, I feel like I got a new car for half price.....once you take the 30%+ I saved off of MSRP.

If anyone is interested in Geico but likes dealing with a person instead of a computer, I recommend going to see Jay Pletch at 38th & High School. He is the local Geico agent and was very helpful to me. They beat every quote I had.

Kind of disappointed in Allstate. You would think 30+ years, never late, never 1 claim.....they would try to take care of a customer like that. They have no loyalty, so neither will I.

 

[bwframe]

You guys have me interested. I have a similar situation with State Farm, years and years with no claims. Prices seem OK, but maybe I'm overpaying for something that could be a real nightmare, if there ever is a claim?

I've been meaning to review medical helicopter coverage on my plans also, especially on the motorcycle.

 

[CHCRandy]

I am kind of concerned about something I learned yesterday. There is a place to choose medical coverage and mine was only $1000. I asked the agent what that was for and he told me for medical costs for anyone in my vehicle in case I have an at fault accident. Am I to believe if I was driving with a customer in my car and crashed, my fault...and he had $100,000 in medical costs, my insurance will only pay $1000? Is that right? That kind of scared me because that is nothing, that won't even cover a visit to ER.

Am I missing something or does that sound correct? I guess the 100,000/300,000 only covers the other vehicle........didn't sound right but it has me thinking.

BW.....if you crashed your motorcycle and are at fault, would your vehicle insurance cover your medical bills or would you have to use your own health insurance? Stuff gets confusing to me.

 

[JettaKnight]

CHCRandy, we have lower medical insurance on vehicles because we have an large umbrella policy to cover home & auto.

YMMV, but yes, $1000 is a pittance when it comes to medical costs, after that, they'd be coming after you.

 

[JettaKnight]

Kind of disappointed in Allstate. You would think 30+ years, never late, never 1 claim.....they would try to take care of a customer like that. They have no loyalty, so neither will I.

They're all the same - loyal customer == person I can squeeze for higher premiums.

 

[CHCRandy]

CHCRandy, we have lower medical insurance on vehicles because we have an large umbrella policy to cover home & auto.

YMMV, but yes, $1000 is a pittance when it comes to medical costs, after that, they'd be coming after you.

How do I get an umbrella policy? Is there more than 1 type of umbrella and if so, what kind would I ask for? I have heard some nightmare stories about under insured people. Heard of a guy who got hit on his motorcycle, lost his legs and his wife died. His first day in the hospital maxed out the insurance of the drivers policy who hit him....his kicked in for under insured but it maxed out very quickly. He ended up with a ton of debt, sued and won but collected nothing. A person never expects the unexpected.

 

[JettaKnight]

How do I get an umbrella policy? Is there more than 1 type of umbrella and if so, what kind would I ask for? I have heard some nightmare stories about under insured people. Heard of a guy who got hit on his motorcycle, lost his legs and his wife died. His first day in the hospital maxed out the insurance of the drivers policy who hit him....his kicked in for under insured but it maxed out very quickly. He ended up with a ton of debt, sued and won but collected nothing. A person never expects the unexpected.

It wasn't something I thought of - my agent looked at my assets and ran the numbers. It turned out to be cheaper because of the home, two auto & one motorcycle.

 

[BiscuitsandGravy]

You guys have me interested in reviewing my insurance now... Been with IN FB for years with no claims and always on time. I think I fall into the lazy box by just paying it when it comes in the mail. Its renewal time so I may stop by an independent rep. and take a look.

 

[CHCRandy]

B&G...that's how I was. I had been going to change for a couple of years, since State Farm gave me a quote that was significantly less than the Allstate I had....but I just got lazy and wasn't very motivated to switch. At that time there was only about $400-500 a year difference and Allstate wanted to raise my homeowners if I cancelled cars and State Farm homeowners was more, so it was a wash. This time I had Geico quote me homeowners as well and it is just about $30 a year more than Allstate....so if Allstate jacks me around, I will switch homeowners as well.

Jetta....I found out I can get umbrella for about 300 a year, per million coverage. Thanks for informing me of that, I had heard people talk about umbrella policy but had no clue what it was.

 

[mom45]

This is another reason an independent agent can be a good thing. Ours has all of our policies and can advise us on what umbrella type policies we need based on the coverages we have. Was Geico aware that you transport customers/clients in your vehicle? That could change your premiums/coverage but better to know that now rather than after an accident occurs where someone could be injured or killed.

It could be an accident that is not your fault, but if it involves an uninsured motorist or a hit and run, it may fall back on your policy to handle their claim. If you are in an accident and the other party leaves the scene and cannot be identified, your uninsured coverage will not apply since you have to prove who it was that caused it and that they are in fact uninsured. We learned that the hard way after my husband had someone pull out in front of him while he was on his motorcycle. While he was sliding down the road on his rear and his bike was flying into oncoming traffic, the idiot that pulled out in front of him took off and ran. Luckily, he was not seriously injured and he had me find replacement parts on Ebay to rebuild his bike so were out less than $1,000.

 

[bwframe]

The other end of it is; do you pay a much higher premium to be absolutely sure you are covered for every remote possibility? Or keep the money in pocket knowing life is one big risk, that is why we are aware and cautious?

Just sayin' that owning/shooting guns, paying Obamacare era health payments and riding motorcycles along with driving vehicles could quickly turn your overall insurance bill into the largest slice of budget pie?