Great news.. I saved a lot of money by cancelling my car insurance..... whodathunk.....

To be fair, their slogan is that "15 minutes could save you 15% or more..."

That weasel word leaves a lot of room for interpretation. For example, it could save you 15% or more, but it also could end up costing you 500 trillion dollars and your first born.

Sounds like they're being upfront about it and trying to do the right thing.

/not a Geico policyholder
//more like a "good neighbor"

hmmm... they self reported once they found the error. Sounds like a non-issue.

As a WA Geico customer, I would be getting a kick out of this except I haven't heard anything from them. I guess I'm not in the lucky 7%.

So, they found a computer error and reported it to the Insurance Commission, and paid back the customers?

Bastards!

I used to have my motorcycle and cage (the four wheeled kind) insured with Geico. $98 annually on the bike and $85 a month on the cage. Then I saw where a friend said he switched from State Farm to Geico because he was offered a lower rate and Geico later jacked up the rate on him so he went back to State Farm. So I looked into the same level of insurance with State Farm as what I had with Geico. Now I pay $75 annually on the bike and $62 monthly on the cage

I wonder how this will affect Hulu's programming?!?!?

/snickers

As for the comment about going to State Farm from Geico... I took the 15 minutes could save BS... showed it would be close to 200% of what I pay now (at State Farm). WOW, what a savings!

Takes a lot of premiums to pay for a custom bike like this.

They could not. My premium would have gone up about 20%, last time I checked their prices. *shrug*

nicoffeine: So, they found a computer error and reported it to the Insurance Commission, and paid back the customers?

Bastards!

In the company I work for our soon to be President gets in a lather over a $5 fine from the various WC bureaus. Given how thin most companies are running with low returns on investments and combines ratios running as high as 1.15 on some lines of coverage, paying back a total of $7.6MM is kind of a big deal.

video man: I don't know anyone who would've saved switching to Geico. They're usually the worst. Those farkers wanted $150/month for liability on a 95' Escort. The fark?

You sound young. And male.

I hate insurance commercials. "People who switched to [OUR BRAND] saved, on average, [LARGE FIGURE] dollars." Well, of course they did. Every insurer can truthfully say this because the people who switch are precisely those people whose premiums would drop. The number of people who switch to more expensive insurers is probably vanishingly small.

/Also not fond of the "part of this complete breakfast" blurb from cereal commercials. An advertiser could truthfully show a bowl of sawdust along with a spread of bacon, eggs, toast and juice and still be able to say that.

It seems it's not so easy after all.

/They owe a caveman an apology too

arcas: I hate insurance commercials. "People who switched to [OUR BRAND] saved, on average, [LARGE FIGURE] dollars." Well, of course they did. Every insurer can truthfully say this because the people who switch are precisely those people whose premiums would drop. The number of people who switch to more expensive insurers is probably vanishingly small.

Keep in mind the savings come from the introductory teaser rates designed to lure over new customers. Once you've been there a year or two the rates go up and equalize, which is why you should shop rates every 2 or 3 years.

If you go with Geico you can be sure 90% of your premium is going towards advertising. Geckos, cavemen, robots, guinea pigs, nfl players, weeee pigs, woodchucks... Its costly just running one ad campaign, and with Geico you are going with 12+ at once.

StrikitRich: Keep in mind the savings come from the introductory teaser rates designed to lure over new customers. Once you've been there a year or two the rates go up and equalize, which is why you should shop rates every 2 or 3 years.

That's not true at all, but good luck with that. Companies want renewals. They're much more profitable than new business

IE a company with 95% retention and 8% new business will be much more profitable than 75% retention and 28% new business

video man: I never got marketing for car insurance either. Everyone goes through and carefully vets what plan to buy before buying car insurance. I mean, I don't know anyone who is swayed by advertising that easily when it comes to something like car insurance. I get my insurance from a smaller-name insurance company, and I've never heard an ad on the radio or TV for them. They gave me the cheapest quote, and after judging from some online reviews, I went with them

Because everyone has to differentiate themselves when they all offer many of the same features. Many companies offer things like declining/disappearing deductibles but Nationwide makes a series of commercials dedicated to it it can bring more people in than just putting J.K. Simmons out there talking about what a great company Farmers is.

wombatsrus: [2.bp.blogspot.com image 450x300]

"Oops"

It's time for GEICO to kill off that farkin' lizard. His fake accent is most irritating.

MugzyBrown: StrikitRich: Keep in mind the savings come from the introductory teaser rates designed to lure over new customers. Once you've been there a year or two the rates go up and equalize, which is why you should shop rates every 2 or 3 years.

That's not true at all, but good luck with that. Companies want renewals. They're much more profitable than new business

IE a company with 95% retention and 8% new business will be much more profitable than 75% retention and 28% new business

I believe you just repeated what I said. New business is not as profitable because it has to be competitive. Renewals are obviously more profitable because they hike your rates every year, which is why I stated that consumers should shop their rates every few years to get back to the competitive new rate pricing.

I believe you just repeated what I said. New business is not as profitable because it has to be competitive. Renewals are obviously more profitable because they hike your rates every year, which is why I stated that consumers should shop their rates every few years to get back to the competitive new rate pricing.

Um no.

New business is more expensive because it cost more money to bind a new client than it takes to renew an existing client.

If the rates went up at renewal, then more people would shop and they would lose business constantly on the back end.

If your insurance renewal comes in at the same price as last year, most people will just pay it. If it's higher, that's when people get new quotes.

As a WA Geico customer, I would be getting a kick out of this except I haven't heard anything from them. I guess I'm not in the lucky 7%.

We recently got a rate reduction (about 15%) due to a credit rating analysis but haven't heard anything about this overbilling rebate either.

Any insurance company that can spend that much on advertising probably isn't giving you the lowest rate possible.

kab: Any insurance company that can spend that much on advertising probably isn't giving you the lowest rate possible.

If advertising was a net drag on income, nobody would advertise.

I shop around for insurance every 2-3 years. I was using Geico for several years for my old vehicle and their prices were competitive. I bought a new car (2012) and the price for my new coverage seemed a little bit high to me, so I got quotes from just about every major insurance company. Geico was going to be charging a substantial amount more for my new policy than some of their competitors, so I did some haggling and notified Geico that I was going to be switching to a different insurer. They dropped my price enough to beat the lowest quote by a few dollars, without altering my policy coverage in any way. It pays to shop around and do some haggling if need be.

devildog123: USAA FTW. Fark everyone else. I pay less than 300 a month to insure 2 cars, 2 snow machines, 1 SUV, 1 4-wheeler, and renters insurance.

CSB:

I bought a truck for $4000 back in 2004. Three months later, I spun out on some ice and wrecked it. They offered to either pay for the repairs ($3200), or they would total it... and give me $6500. Best insurance company ever.

We pay less than $150 per month for three vehicles and our house. I love USAA so much.

10 years ago, filled out one of those 'insurance quote' things on the net.

Today, Geico still sends me snail mail spam about saving me money, but their quotes are always higher than the company I'm with.

/geico envelopes are now shredder food, it acts as a good buffer if my real documents are shredded together with a bunch of junk mail.