Auto Insurance Renewal Time....
 

I'm posting this in the S-Type section because I've spent far more time here than in any other section over the past three-plus years and I know a good number of you....

Come March 10th it will be auto insurance renewal time for us again. We've been with State Farm for nearly 21 years, they've taken good care of us, and none of the other major companies could come close to the deal we had with them. Until last year. State Farm jacked up their homeowners policy rates so much during the past two years that they forced me to look for other alternatives in 2011 for our home. I switched to SafeCo through my AAA membership, saved hundreds of dollars in premium costs, but have not had a claim so have no idea how pleased or displeased we'll be if we ever have to file a claim on our homeowners policy....

I kept our auto insurance with State Farm because no one else was competitive, even after I yanked our house away from them. But now I'm witnessing some premium creep on the vehicles from them. So I've called around to other companies over the past couple of days and learned that because of our credit score, insurance score, zero debt situation, and squeaky-clean driving record, insurance companies are lining up to offer me great auto insurance deals....

The absolute best offer thus far is from the company I took to small claims court in early 2010 on a Diminished Value lawsuit when our S-Type was plowed into by one of their insured in August 2009 - Geico. They tried to pay me off with a pittance offer ($400) for the diminished value of our car after it was repaired, so I battled them up their chain-of-command, took them to court, and won the $5,000 I sued for. I was happy (and justified) to make them pay me full cost for the damage their driver inflicted, but I was left with a sour taste in my mouth for the company and its business practices....

So I'm asking for your experiences and opinions regarding Geico as a customer-oriented company. For those of you who are or were Geico customers, have they taken care of your needs and concerns without you having to battle them every step of the way? Were they easy to reach and responsive to work with when you needed them? Have you been with Geico for a long period of time, or did you decide to find another insurance company because you were not satisfied with their policies, decisions, or business practices?

Thanks in advance for taking the time to let me know of your Geico experiences. I have some important decisions to make over the next ten days, and I value your input....

I have Geico and they are great. I switched to them a few years ago and within the first 3 months i had my first accident in years and totaled my Lincoln LS.
They gave me way more than the blue book value and didn't drop me. 3 months later my fiance totaled her mustang.

I thought for sure they would drop me after 2 totaled vehicles in 6 months but i was wrong. Gave us a more than fair deal on the mustang as well. Then about 3 months ago I was hit by a stray tire in the road. I called them at 6am when it happened. Talked to a live person who took all my info. They set it as a non fault accident and took care of the Jaguar.

My only complaint was that for this accident, since the car was drivable, i had to go to their adjuster's location. If i was going to use their approved body shop, my appointment would be in a couple of days. However if i wanted to use my body shop, my appointment was 10 days further out. I was kind of upset about this but since i have another vehicle, i wasn't in a great hurry to get it done.

I took it to my body shop who got all the work done so i wouldn't have to pay a deductible. So all in all it was worth waiting for. Other than that, they have been great. They also have homeowners insurance as well. Their rates were by far the best i could find.

Wow, How ironic. Allstate did me as well. Had Auto with them for two spans one 5 years, then for 10 years after my displeasure with Progessive's business practices.

Well, Allstate hosed me on my auto with an arbitrary 10% jump. Not the homeowners policy mind you. Where we have had a claim due to severe storm damage (our area was classified as a "disaster area" according to the adjuster). No, on my claim free auto policy.

So, I too shopped most of them... Dumped Allstate. I ended up with Farmers. I shopped our plans as a package. I'm responding because I didn't shop Geico based on your dealings. Also, Progressive was off my list as well. I have heard of other policy holders in other forums having issue with claims with Geico as well, but can't attest to them first hand.

We are insured with Geico, I had one claim a couple of years ago, and no complaints, good communication and the car got fixed well and quickly.
Funnily enough since I addeed the XK on I thought they were pricey and was going to shop around.

Are you sure your not a Geico agent that owns a Jag? :) I would think after all that has happened your rates must be somewhat high. Can you ball park on what you pay a year for insurance? I know how many people and cars will play into it so if you don't mind maybe you can list in a quick way. I am also shopping around and curious to know. I am considering Geico but have not gotten a quote as of yet. Thanks.

If you have a good drivimg record, try Mercury Ins.
Before I married my wife, I had State Farm for my house and car and my wife (to be) had Mercury Ins.
After I married I compared both companies coverages and premiums. Mercury beat SF by a huge margin and we saved a lot.
Even the local AAA can't come close to Mercury. Haven't tried anyone else.

My experience...
 

Greetings Jon,

I switched from Liberty Mutual in 06 when I bought a new
4.2 NA S. Switched to Geico at the time, since they had the
most attractive rate. Stayed with them for about 2 years until
they sent me the standard info questionnaire which required that
I list the current mileage on the vehicle. Now, I do a lot of
driving...my car will be 6 y/o in June and it just turned 120,000
miles. Geico wanted to double (approximately) my rate because
of the miles driven; I argued that I drive a hell of a lot of miles,
mostly for pleasure, and I had been ticket and claim free.

They wouldn't buy it. So, I obtained a quote from Hartford
thru AARP. Couldn't beat it. I carry 25/50/50, comp. with
$100 deductible, and $1,000 deductible on collision plus towing
for a grand total of $382/yr. Yes, that's per year! The car is
located in a small town in Northwestern Washington.

I like being able to pay an annual premium and then forget
about it for a year. I've only had to use them once, and that
was for a broken windshield about 3 years ago; no problem.
I took it to a place of my choice that had experience changing
S Type windshields and insisted on the original brand..Pilkington

Everything can be done via the web. In essence, the above
rate is for a 63 y/o driver with excellent credit, no claims for
15 years, and no tickets for at least 30 years. And no, I don't
drive like an old fart; I'm an ex-airline pilot and we don't believe
in accidents; so, I refuse to have any.

You might want to give them a try. Wish I could tell you how
they perform if you do have an accident, but fortunately I
haven't had, and hope to avoid one.


Cliff

Hi
We also the the Hartford Insurance Company and we had another car run into our Jaguar while my wife was stopped and waiting for the car in front of her to make a left hand turn.

The driver of the other car had no car insurance, driver license and the car was not even registered. Also he was living in a boarding house (owns nothing to attach for the damage).

The Hartford waived our $1000 deductible and pay 100% of the repairs at the auto body shop of our choice.

No problems and the annual insurance premium was the lowest we could find and also gives 12 months coveage before we need to renew.

Jim Lombardi

Don't get me wrong, my rates did go up after the accidents, but i wasn't dropped which i thought would happen after 2 totaled cars in 3 months. As far as rates go, that's gonna fluctuate with your situation. When i was first qwoted, they were better than the Progressive insurance i had. I thought you were asking about the customer service, which i believe is excellent other than their policy of the adjuster appoints if you don't use their body shop on a vehicle that is drivable after an accident.

How timely. We've had Geico for about 10 years and initially it was because Statefarm had gotten fat, lazy and expensive. Then I got into a dispute with them about an overcharge for one of my collector vehicles and got screwed for $500 worth of my premium. My agent wouldn't go to bat for me so that was it. We have had a few claims and all on a 2001 sable wagon. None were out fault but that kind of doesn't matter after a while. Over the years the rates kept climbing and frankly the actual service on the car when it got fixed was always a bit of an issue with them and the shop. I never did get a suspension issue completely fixed after a really, really big UPS truck decided to take a right turn over my left front fender coming out of a toll booth. We live in a tough area. They always want to steer you to "their" certified inspection places that always lo-ball, use non-OEM parts etc. My usual body shop doesn't like them too much. People drive like nuts here so I expect some premium bump from that alone.

So last month I'd had enough and let my insurance broker, who had just saved us a grand on homeowners insurance, take a crack at the insurance.

I'm with the Travelers company now and it's almost half the price for identical coverage.

But before I left Geico I had some unfinished business. I unfortunately got the front lip of the STR damaged on one of those parking lot stops early on when I bought the car and it cracked the lip so the suggestion was an entire new piece. I decided to use a different body whop that does a lot of Jags. My thinking was that they would know well how to take that front end apart without losing all kinds of" useless bits" :rolleyes: during the reassembly. I got a rocker panel scrape repaired at the same time (not under the insurance) and now the car looks almost brand new again. On this claim Geico was completely different, I seemed to get Jaguar level service? Weird. But then their premium on the Jag was really high compared to Travelers.

That frickin' gecko must live awfully high on the hog. They are correct though, you CAN save a lot of money in just a few minutes with Geico. Go somewhere else.

I should have done this a couple of years ago. Auto insurance has changed in NJ it used to be a lot worse. The drivers aren't any better ... :(

Thanks to all who have contributed to this thread. Your information is appreciated....

Geico's business practices indeed concern me. That is what drove me to create this thread. Perhaps their fantastic offer to me is designed to get me aboard, then begin attempting to hose us after a year or two. They still have their file on me from my 2009/2010 Diminished Value lawsuit against them. I asked the Geico agent how that affects Geico's current quote. He claimed that it has no effect on new business - they show us as no-risk/low-risk customers and want us to sign up now....

The Hartford is in second place. My Hartford offer is through my AAA membership which I've had for coming up on 33 years. I moved our homeowners insurance to AAA last May as a result of State Farm jacking all homeowners rates in North Carolina by preposterous levels. Having the house and the vehicles together again through AAA may make financial sense....

I would like to get Farmers in the mix but when I called them last May shopping our homeowners insurance, they told me that they did not yet do business in North Carolina for either the house or the vehicles. I will call them again and see if they do now....

Travelers wants us, but they are not quite competitive enough....

I have never heard of Mercury Insurance but I will Google them and call them. Keep in mind that some of the insurance companies do not play in all regions of the country....


Thanks again to everyone. Keep the suggestions coming in this thread. Perhaps we can all help each other find better deals. It makes me both sad and furious that State Farm does not value our 21-year business relationship enough to stay competitive. They chased our house away last year, and they are about to chase our vehicles away come March 10th....

I'm another one with Geico. I have had 2 claims with them since 06. The first was a front windshield replacement which didn't cost me a thing, and the windshield was replaced by Safelite ($300+ as it was a BMW, and it was heated). The 2nd claim I was the passenger in another car when we were in an accident (less than 10mph parking lot impact). Geico took care of all my medical bills (there were less than 2k in bills) and they went after the driver of the car I was in policy (Travelers). So to me I didn't have to do a thing which was nice. Never had a car claim with them, so I can't speak about that, but I like them and don't plan on changing anytime soon.

Hi Jon,

I've been with GEICO for a number of years and I'm happy with them. Their rates are pretty hard to beat and overall, their service has been pretty good. Even after my wife had her accident last year there was no change in rates. I used to be with Allstate but then Allstate started jacking their rates way up so I switched to GEICO.

Mike

Thanks for the additional Geico input, guys. Knowledge is power....

Farmers still does not play here in North Carolina. They connected me with their sister company, 21st Century, but the 21st Century quote was not competitive....

Mercury does not play in North Carolina, either....

From an out-of-pocket cost perspective, Geico sits in first place and The Hartford is running a not-too-distant second. We'll see how it plays out during the next ten days....

I e-mailed my State Farm agent to offer him one final chance to get competitive again. In a rather terse response ("I refuse to apologize for our company's rates"), he essentially told me to go pound sand....

That's pretty much the attitude I got from SF just as I switched to Mercury..

Just remember that they're all the devil and you'll be fine.

I got lazy for a few years and paid the price.

Get a new quote every year. Even brokers get lazy or are corrupt.

This stuff does vary from state to state.

Good luck.

Man, that is pathetic.

Here is how Allstate played me after 15 collective years...

Agent: "Mr. Osworth, we do offer a program that can reduce your new rate by 5%"

Remember... They were jacking my rate by over 10% for no reason. No driver record issue and no claims.

Me: "Yea, what is that?"

Agent: "We issue you a "safe driver" device that you simply plug into your car to share your safe driving habits with us."

Me: "Your telling me that my rate is still going up, just less if I let you track me and my wife?"

Agent: "We don't track you, it just tells us how you drive and how far."

Me: "Last time I checked, that is called tracking. How about my lack of claims being the indicator of how safe we are?"

Agent: "Sorry, there is nothing I can do about the corporate rate policy."

Watch out folks.. These OBD port tracking devices are coming....

Jon, have you checked with Liberty?

This is how they steer customers to their preferred shops. Many companies do it. They can't MAKE you go to their shop but they can make it inconvienient if you don't. I know for a fact State Farm pulls this crap also.

I just switched to 21st Century which is owned now by Farmers. Just about half of what I was paying Progressive for the exact same coverage. I believe you have to constantly shop for insurance. They tend to creep up on the premiums hoping you won't notice.

As far as Gieco, I don't have them but have done a couple jobs with them. They seemed to pay OK although the woman adjuster was a bit slow paying a supplement. Again, you run into that sort of thing with other companies as well. Many of these companies have gone to appraisers that work out of their homes and cars.

From my dealings, I would say anyone out there is better than Progressive. They have some different ideas and strange practices to say the least. Now they want to put a transponder in your car and spy on your driving. Screw em I say!

I think Progressive (should be called aggressive) is already advertising this.

I worry about them really jacking up the rates unless you do get one or have a car without an OBDII port. I'm certain it will have a WIFI capability and will tap into the local WIFI network in your community to automatically provide reports.

This is really sick stuff.