memo for GEICO haters

[Dave22q]

There seems to be a lot of folks who unfairly bad mouth GEICO; high prices, excessive depreciation, and so forth. My experiences have been uniformly favorable including a collision, IRMA damage and resolving disagreements with surveyor. Just thought I would share the latest; last weekend I received a GEICO e-mail noting that storm ETA might hit my area and reminding me that they share 50/50 on the expense of professional storm preparation. IMHO they are the place to start when seeking insurance.


My only relationship with GEICE is as a customer for about 10 years.

[zemurray]

I will say that I was pretty worried bout all the horror stories I read on the internet as I researched AFTER we got hit by hurricane sally. It took about 5 weeks to get through my claim an get it settled. I was very worried about excessive depreciation and very anxious they would weasel out of the claim and not agree with my estimates.

Fortunately last year I had raised my hull value by providing receipts of all the refit and upgrade work we had done and got an agreed value. At the time I didn’t read my policy carefully, however I lucked out and they added a “partial waiver of depreciation” to my policy that states no molded material, railing, mast, spars, etc.. would be depreciated.

Make a long story short, I had a lot of expensive estimates for mostly cosmetic repairs, and claimed personal items including a generator, dock box, etc.. that were lost. I claimed every scratch i found. The adjuster was very reasonable and easy to work with. They ended up settling my claim and paying all of my estimates as they were without depreciation, minus my deductible. I was surprised really. There was one item they tried to depreciate, but when i called it out as not matching my policy, they agreed and fixed it. They even paid all of my haul out and yard storage for getting the repairs done. fwiw my premium is not much at all, maybe it will be raised at some point, but thats fair I suppose.

I’ll be sticking with them. I think the moral of the story is to read your policy and understand it. If you dont like the coverage, call and inquire about changing it. They will abide by the terms in your policy without hassle.

[chrisr]

can i ask : who or what is GEICO ?

thanks

cheers,

[zemurray]

BoatUS/Geico - Marine Insurance in the USA.

[chrisr]

oh

thanks

cheers,

[EmeraldCoastSailor]

My Hurricane Michael experience with BoatUS/GEICO took a long time to sort out but it ended well.

[Oronsay]

I had some Sally damage.... Geico Marine was very responsive and fair with the claim. I am renewing again this month.

[anchorman]

Originally Posted by zemurray

BoatUS/Geico - Marine Insurance in the USA.

GEICO actually stands for GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES INSURANCE COMPANY

[Harv1941]

I have been a member of GEICO (used to stand for Government Employees Insurance Company), since it was only for military and government employees. I have had continued GEICO policies for my cars, my homes, and my motor yacht until we sold her in May. Every instance I have had to file a claim, adjust my policy coverage and especially my condo owner's policy, the GEICO folks have been nothing but professional.

At one point we had a storm come through our condo facility in Phoenix, AZ. The winds were derecho in force and blew off some sheeting that struck my sports car, bending the antenna, scratching the rear fender and the hatchback. GEICO had an adjuster out within 40 minutes of my call and the adjustment covered everything for the repairs and a rental car for the time the car was in the shop.

They also covered a storm damage on my town house in Leesburg Virginia a few years ago with no quibble, covered water leak damage in our kitchen with many things covered we would never have believed.

So, when I hear anyone besmirching the reputation of this company, I have to wonder what the back story is. My experience with them over several decades has been nothing but professional, fair and honorable.

When we do get around to purchasing another motor yacht, you can bet our first call will be to GEICO

[MIRELOS]

I have had Geico for over twenty years with my car and now that they bought BoatUS insurance I have had my boat since they switched, I can't say anything bad about them.
They were fantastic with my car and I just filed a claim on my boat and all seems to be running smoothly.

[Moby Burton]

This from Wikipedia: The Government Employees Insurance Company is an American auto insurance company with headquarters in Maryland. It is the second largest auto insurer in the United States, after State Farm. GEICO is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway that provides coverage for more than 24 million motor vehicles owned by more than 15 million policy holders as of 2017.

[chriswheat]

I have been a Geico customer for many years and never a problem or dispute. When one of my cars was damage heavily from a deer hit it was declared totaled by the adjuster. When I explained that the car I had been so happy with and had recently paid off was no longer imported, thus unavailable, Geico agreed to pay for it to be repaired. Even though the repair bill was $1000 over book value. I have no affiliation with Geico other than being a loyal customer, and I will continue to insure my boat and just about everything else through them.

[markpierce]

Geico increased their cost for me by 12 percent for the same coverage BoatUSA provided last year with a different insurance company. Have never made a claim.

Lesson: never obtain insurance when the potential liability can be readily afforded and eliminate compensation/profits for insurance agents and companies, as well as their vacation bonuses. Unless legally required.

[Tetepare]

Still hate geico. I can read the fine print on depreciation.

Stepson has geico for his car. Hit a deer. Geico estimate $1600. Real repair shop estimate $4500. They tried to steer him to one of their hack shops, he had to call because their online processing didn’t give him an option to pick his own shop. And the closest geico shop was 52 miles away.

I told him to keep on those geico criminals until they accept his shop and their price. I tell everyone else to avoid geico. Even Charlie Manson had supporters, so to find those defending geico isn’t a surprise.

[bioandy]

I had been with Seaworthy marine Ins for a few years when it became GEICO MARINE. I had a recent storm damage claim that was a very pleasant settlement experience. They paid my full estimate without question. And since this was my first claim, there was no deductable. For that experience, they deserve a few more renewals.