Geico is one of the largest car insurance companies in the US. Well-known for its creative and often hilarious ads, the famous Geico gecko is synonymous with the industry as a whole. And the company isn't all talk either: You really could save hundreds of dollars on car insurance when you switch to Geico.
Geico
Like
- Competitive rates
- Lower premiums for those with speeding tickets and at-fault accidents
- Bundling with home insurance available
- Accident forgiveness
- Discounts available for safe drivers
- High customer satisfaction and few complaints
Don't Like
- No bundling with life insurance
- Home and life policies can't be obtained through Geico's mobile app
- No gap insurance
Owned by Berkshire Hathaway, Geico is offered in all 50 states, plus Washington, DC, Geico stands apart from competitors for many reasons, but its low rates are chief among them. Combine great rates with award-winning digital features, stellar customer satisfaction scores and a low number of complaints nationally, and you've got a real winner. That's why Geico makes it into many of our best car insurance lists here at CNET.
In this article
- Pros and cons
- Coverage options
- Cost
- Discounts
- Customer satisfaction and complaints
- Safe driving telematics feature
- Other features and awards
Understanding what this carrier offers, and comparing it with the competition, is essential when shopping for car insurance. While Geico has numerous perks on its side, there are significant drawbacks that might not make it the right choice for you.
Here's our review of Geico for 2022:
Pros of using Geico
Affordable rates combine with great customer service and award-winning digital features to make Geico a top notch insurer. Geico's robust list of discounts can make your policy even more affordable. And though its list isn't necessarily longer than other major insurers, Geico is more transparent how much you could save with each discount. Geico also offers just about all the major types of coverage you'll want to consider when choosing a policy. Add life and home insurance to that, and you could have a one-stop shop for all of your insurance needs.
Cons of using Geico
Geico doesn't actually underwrite its own home and life insurance policies, and instead works with non-affiliated partners to offer home and life policies. As a result, its home and life insurance policies aren't available through Geico's mobile app, diminishing the app's one-stop shop appeal. And while you can get a bundling discount for getting your home and car insurance through Geico, its life insurance policy isn't eligible for a bundling discount.
Additionally, though Geico offers just about every major car coverage type, it doesn't offer gap insurance, which you may want if you're financing your vehicle. Gap insurance helps you pay in the event an accident leaves your car badly damaged or totaled, covering the difference between what your vehicle's market value is and the amount you owe on it.
Geico car insurance coverage
Here are the major coverage types Geico offers:
- Bodily injury liability protection: This coverage pays for injuries to others caused by the policyholder and other drivers listed on the policy. Bodily injury liability protection is required in most states.
- Property damage liability protection: This coverage pays for damage that policyholders cause to another's property. Most prominently, this is aimed at other cars, but it can also include other personal property such as fences or mailboxes. Property damage liability is required in all US states.
- Personal injury protection: This coverage pays for the medical costs and lost wages of the driver and passengers of the policyholder's car if injury occurs, up to the policy's limits, regardless of fault. PIP may also include coverage for funeral expenses and essential services, like childcare or dog-walking, that you may be unable to perform due to physical injuries. PIP is mandatory in 14 states: Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Utah.
- Uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage: This coverage pays for your and your passengers' medical expenses up to the policy's limits when an underinsured or uninsured motorist causes an accident. Uninsured motorist property damage is available in some states to help cover repairs to your vehicle if damaged by an uninsured driver.
- Medical payments: Similar to PIP coverage, medical payments helps pay for medical costs of the policyholder and their passengers up to the policy limit, regardless of fault. However, unlike PIP, medical payments does not cover lost wages or essential services. Med Pay is an optional coverage in most states, but it is required in a few states.
- Collision coverage: This coverage pays for damage to your vehicle in an accident resulting from a collision between your car and another car or an object.
- Comprehensive coverage: This coverage pays for damage to your car caused by an event other than collision. This includes theft, fire, flood, hail, vandalism and more.
Other add-ons offered at Geico:
- Roadside assistance
- Accident forgiveness
- Rental reimbursement
- Mechanical breakdown insurance
Geico insurance cost
A key benefit of signing a policy with Geico is the carrier's lower-than-average rates. Clocking in at hundreds of dollars less than the national average, Geico's average annual full coverage premium for drivers with a clean record is $1,405, which comes out to $117 monthly, according to Bankrate. In contrast, the national average is $1,674, annually. What we like most about Geico's low rates is that you can still save money, even if you have an at-fault accident on your record or recently received a speeding ticket. Even without a clean driving record, average rates are still over $400 cheaper at Geico compared to the national average.
Geico Premium Prices
|
|
Geico average annual full coverage premium | National average annual full coverage premium |
|---|---|---|
| Clean driving history | $1,405 | $1,771 |
| One speeding ticket | $1,734 | $2,138 |
| At-fault accident | $1,971 | $2,531 |
Discounts
Have you gone five years accident free? That's a discount. Does your car have an anti-theft system? That's another discount. Are you in the military or are you a veteran? You can scoop a discount for that, as well.
Geico has a robust list of discounts that may help bring your premiums down. Combine these discounts with already low rates, and you're likely to save money with the coverage you want when you're on the road.
Notable car insurance discounts and savings through Geico include:
- Good student discount: 15%
- Anti-lock brakes: 5%
- New vehicle discount: 15%
- Good driver: 22%
- Military discount: 15%
- Emergency deployment discount: 25%
- Multi-vehicle discount: 25%
Customer satisfaction and complaints
These low premiums come with great customer satisfaction, too. J.D. Power Surveys show that overall customer satisfaction levels are high for Geico in all regions of the country, averaging out to 832 out of 1,000; the industry average for all regions is 834. Auto claims satisfaction is particularly high for this carrier, at 881 out of 1,000, compared to an industry average of 880.
Geico touts a low number of complaints nationally. The carrier is indexed at 1.28 complaints from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. (1.00 is the industry average; 2.00 index would mean a company gets twice the complaints). While its score is above the industry average, Geico's number is lower than most other major national car insurance providers. Progressive, for example has a 2.24 rating, which means it receives twice the complaints as the industry average.
Geico Customer Satisfaction and Complaints Scoring for 2022
| A.M. Best | A++ |
|---|---|
| J.D. Power Overall Customer Satisfaction | 832 out of 1,000 |
| J.D. Power Auto Claims Satisfaction | 881 out of 1,000 |
| NAIC Complaint Index | 1.28 |
Telematics program
DriveEasy, Geico's telematics program, monitors your mileage and driving habits via the Geico mobile app. This telematics program assesses your driving by analyzing factors such as your speed, hard breaking and phone use while driving. If you establish a history of good driving, you may be eligible for safe driving discounts. On the DriveEasy dashboard, you can quickly see your good driving streak, score and your last trip details.
Other features and awards
The Geico mobile app offers access to nearly everything you'll need from your insurance provider. This app lets you quickly call roadside assistance, pull up a copy of your insurance card, get a new quote, report a claim and more.
Geico's digital touchpoints have even earned awards for their ease of use and technical advancements -- Geico Mobile was the 2021 People's Voice Winner for Apps and Software Best Practices and Geico DriveEasy was the 2021 People's Voice Winner for Technical Achievement for Apps & Software. Moreover, customers are extremely satisfied with their digital experience at Geico, ranking first among all major car insurers for four consecutive years, according to a J.D. Power Survey.
Methodology
CNET reviews insurance carriers and products by exhaustively comparing them across set criteria. For auto insurance, we examine average annual premium rates for full coverage, consumer complaints, collision repair scores, the carrier's financial strength, auto claims satisfaction and overall customer satisfaction. Our data comes from a multitude of sources.
Auto insurance rates come from Bankrate, which gathers data using Quadrant Information Services. We also use both J.D. Power annual surveys that collect data on customer auto claims satisfaction and overall customer satisfaction.
Consumer complaints are taken from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), which collects consumer complaints across states, indexing complaints on a scale that takes into account the industry average. We collect the financial strength rating of each carrier from the A.M. Best Rating. Lastly, we collected collision repair scores from the Crash Network Insurer Report Card, which collects data from collision repair professionals, including mechanics, to gauge the quality of collision claims service from insurance carriers.
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