Whatever car insurance you have, don't get Geico

[EnergizedLib]

I get into an accident Sept. 6 while stopped at a stop sign and this one car didn’t make a wide enough of a turn left and got into my lane. I honk and she hits me. She says, ‘I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you.’

Her paint gets on my car and my front bumper gets messed up. Despite her husband/partner saying it’s my fault, both my company, Geico, and her company, State Farm determine I wasn’t liable.

So, State Farm emails me today saying they accept responsibility for what happens, but when I go to a body shop and drop it off for a repair, I get a call from the shop saying I’ll still owe a $1,000 deductible after my accident despite both companies determining I wasn’t at fault.

The person told me State Farm is not handling my claim, despite them saying I’m not liable, while the shop doesn’t work for Geico and they’re not part of the insurance company - so Geico and State Farm will have to go to court and State Farm might have to pay Geico and Geico will try to reimburse me the $1,000.

For someone who supposedly wasn’t liable, I sure feel treated like I am liable.

[DURHAM D]

1. Subrogation claim

[EnergizedLib]

2. What does that mean?

[IbogaProject]

5. Subrogation is insurace companies getting some one else to cover the l8ss

What Is Subrogation in Insurance
If you file a car insurance claim and your insurance company pays it even though the other driver is at fault, your insurer could file for reimbursement from the other driver’s insurer through the subrogation process. As a result, you could recoup part or all of your deductible.

[waterwatcher123]

3. Insurance Companies Are a Necessary Evil - They Make Money by Denying and Minimizing Claims

Assuming you live in a state that accepts diminished value claims, ask your claims agent at Geico who you should contact regarding a claim. It may make up the deductible they are charging you. The diminished value is related to the history that accompanies any car through its VIN number (accidents and repairs follow your car similar to your medical history). You might have to get an appraisal or provide some documentation on what you think is the diminished value. Once you have your case assembled, send a demand letter to Geico asking for reimbursement for the diminished value (let Geico worry about recovering it from the other insurance company). If you send them a letter or email, make sure that you have proof they received the materials (they have a tendency to "lose" documents.

Our son had his car stolen twice in a month from the parking lot of his apartment. We had to pay two deductibles to repair the damage to the car (damage not repaired before it was stolen again).

[MichMan]

4. You usually still owe a deductible regardless of fault unless you have "Broad Collision" instead of "Standard Collision"

The higher the deductible, the cheaper the premium, so it's a trade off

[Jirel]

6. This sounds perfectly normal.

Reading the policy and understanding how it works is important. This is not a Geico thing. If you went through a broker, asking them questions about how the policy works is a darned good idea, along with reading every sentence. Otherwise, you find out afterward how choices in getting a less expensive policy bite you in the tail.

[Bread and Circuses]

7. The deductible is paid, that's normal. GEICO is A+

Hi,
I had a similar situation. I paid my $500 deductible per my GEICO policy and once they got the money from the other company, I was refunded. It took about 2 months.

This is how I works with all insurance companies .

I strongly Recommend GEICO!

[hlthe2b]

11. Maybe it is the way, NOW--But about 15 years ago something similar happened to me. I paid NOTHING. USAA

paid the deductible and took the responsible party's insurer to court to recoup THEIR loss.

Not saying things haven't changed--there are some things with USAA that I definitely don't like including how hard it is now to get a human on the phone--but I would not be pleased at GEICO if they had demanded me pay upfront when I was not at fault.

Then again it is apparently standard for banks to refuse to reimburse your money when you are victim to bank-issued credit card cloning--until the fraud has been fully investigated and adjudicated, yet this has happened to me twice and my CREDIT UNION IMMEDIATELY refunded me BOTH times.

Maybe I am just lucky or maybe I avoid company excuses--and it is most definitely a greedy corporate policy that Geico (and the before-mentioned banks) are hiding behind. Sorry, but that is the truth.

[LilElf70]

8. A few words about a broker

They don't tell you how much they (the broker) get paid. It don't take a brain surgeon to figure out you pay. How much could cost you hundreds every 6 months.

I recently received my home owners insurance(annual) and my car insurance bill(every 6 months) thru a broker. I've been using him for years. I had a huge increase thru xxxx company. It was 700+ on my home owners and 300+ on my car insurance. I was shocked. He claimed it was the best they could do. I decided to do some research and found on my own that most insurance companies wanted more "on my own". It was frustrating. So I decided to go at it against my current insurance company, as an outsider. Surprisingly, I found that I saved 150 and 100 respectively on both policies. I took that info and called my current insurance company and they honored my findings. I just saved 250.00.

What use to be a small profit by them doing the checking, has increased ten fold or more. It makes you ask, is it really worth it? I'm sure they use software to do the comparisons, which means they don't make all the calls necessary to get quotes.

All I can say is buyer beware.

[LogDog75]

9. I have USAA Insurance

In 1999, I was in the Air Force and on the Friday before the start of the Martin Luther King weekend I headed out from Sacramento, Ca. to Montgomery, Al. for a 35-day academy. While driving through Los Angeles, I was hit by a car causing it to become interoperable and had to be towed to a repair shop. I called USAA and explained what happened and they said they'd have to have the car picked up and brought to Sacramento to determine the extent of the damage. Being it was a holiday weekend they couldn't pick up the car until Tuesday. I was able to arrange a flight to Montgomery and attended the academy. USAA handled everything over the phone. Here's what they did for me:
Picked up the storage fee for the four days it was there
Paid me for the value of the car which, by the way, was more than I paid for it
They reimbursed me for the remainder of the premium i had paid
They didn't increase my insurance rate.

I learned from an independent insurance agent that USAA is one of the best insurance companies because they don't quibble when it comes to paying claims. For them, it's cheaper to pay the claim rather than haggle or take it to court.

If you're active duty, retired military, a veteran, or one of your parents were and had USAA you can join USAA. I've been with USAA for nearly 30 years and they've never been any but helpful.

[hlthe2b]

12. See my post #11 on this (Likewise a USAA member). I cannot believe this is being done by other insurance companies...

(Likewise a many decades-long USAA member)

[ret5hd]

10. it costs you nothing to consult a lawyer.

free initial consult…they look at the facts, tell you they are/aren’t interested…if they are you can pretty well bet that you will win (plus their lawyer costs)

sign NOTHING, agree to NOTHING, till you get that free consult.