Car Insurance Comparing Progressive and Geico

Geico is a household name with tremendous appeal and great name recognition through their effective advertising campaigns and their animated “gecko spokesperson.” Progressive Insurance is not as well recognized as Geico, but with a customer base of 12 million, their annual growth since the late 1990s has been at a solid seventeen percent.

Both insurance providers make it easy to obtain quotes and services over the Internet and promise quick response on claims, but do they deliver what they promise? Customers of both providers present reviews on auto websites that are included in this article.

GEICO INSURANCE

The gecko appeal is undeniable in advertising campaigns and comes to TV screens frequently reminding us that Geico can lower your automobile insurance. Although Geico has more insurance packages to offer, it’s auto insurance advertising that has captured our interest.

Is Geico as good as it’s advertising? We’d like to think that charming little gecko is all truth and above board, but we must remember he’s only an animation and won’t be answering any claims or quote questions about the Insurance company.

Geico is available 24/7 and routes calls through a nationwide service to trained customer service representatives. However, although Geico representatives are trained to handle calls and claims, customers report some difficulty in obtaining correct answers to detailed questions on specific coverage. Beyond that, other customers said representatives were not friendly and were not consistently available in emergency situations.

Rates initially quoted to consumers changed to higher rates when the policy was finalized and customers complain about large rate hikes, some as high as 60% for various reasons. One customer reported that the reason given for the rate hike was he didn’t have enough driving experience, though at the renewal date, he had another year of driving experience to his credit.

PROGRESSIVE INSURANCE

Progressive Insurance is partnered with independent brokers and agencies and offers comparison quotes. Their website state that services are available online and offer 24/7 immediate response to claims. Agents are available online, by phone or in person.

Progressive Insurance is the third largest insurance in the nation with 12 million customers and 450 claim branches around the nation. With a solid growth pattern, Progressive doesn’t have the same name recognition as Geico, but they have the same types of complaints from the customer base only on a larger scale.

One pattern of complaint in customer reviews is that Progressive is a great insurance as long as you do not have an accident. Several customer reviews cited problems in getting claims paid and no action of Progressive pursuing the insurance of the person who caused the accident. Customers reported paying out of pocket and waiting for Progressive to pay.

One horror story captured my attention involving a customer whose truck was hit by a motorcycle doing 85mph in a 35mph zone. The customer stated in his review, that instead of paying for the damages of the truck that was hit, the insurance company paid the damages to the motorcycle driver’s family informing the customer (by phone) that he had killed the driver/rider.

Although the horror story was probably one in 12 million, its difficult to understand why a claim would be handled in an insensitive manner such as the customer described.

In the reviews cited, Geico had a 2.3 rating out of a possible 5, with 123 reviews documented on the website Carreviews.com. On the same website, Progressive received a 1.75 rating with 117 reviews online.

Both auto insurance companies received many negative reviews. Before purchasing insurance from either of these insurance companies, you would be well advised to do your own research of their services and obtain competitive quotes from other insurance providers. You can then reach your own conclusion about purchasing auto insurance from these providers.