Geico Direct Insurance ripoff lies about how much to save and credit report without you knowing it Just beware of this as you apply for their free quote. Internet

Ok People...

Jeff is correct on the whole credit report issue. Here is what people DONT know about the quote situation. First off I DO know what I am talking about because I use to be the one that gave out the quotes. There are key questions that will make or break the premium that you are quoted. The credit report issue is ONLY to determine if you are in collections with GEICO or any other issurance company. Unlike Progressive, it has nothing to do with what you are quoted ;-). The secret to getting an awesome rate is to answer the questions right. Here are the key questions that they will ask. Pay attention to these and call me a chump if they don't ask you...ok?!

1. What is your occupation? They ask this to determine which "risk" category to place you into. They have 3 categories starting with low to high risk. GEICO, GEICO indemnity, and GEICO Casualty. You want to be in GEICO! Why do they use your occupation? Underwriting believes that your occupation says alot about your habits and lifestyle. Who do they feel has the lower risk? Teachers, proffessors, instructors, ministers, and others in the education proffession. They feel that they are more detail oriented. Students, unemployed, labor workers, and other "high stress" type of professions get dinged right off the bat! So... when they ask you should bend the profession a little (know what I mean). They will generally ask twice unless you fall in the "high risk" category. If you say "teacher" for example, they will ask for what grade and do you belong to an organization. The answer is grade__ and yes... the "Teacher's Association". They WILL NOT verify this stuff. It's ONLY to figure out which DISCOUNT to apply. This question is the most important question to answer to your advantage. It will make or break you!!!!!! It will MAKE OR BREAK YOU!!!!!

2. How many miles will you drive per year in the car? NEVER tell them more than 9,999! They are only asking for an estimate, and you really don't know. Tell them about 5,000 or something. It is for pleasure only. They will also ask about how many miles and days you drive to work. The system will calculate this on a yearly amount. So make your answer reasonable. Example: don't say you drive the car 2,000 per year and my daily commute to and from work is 45 miles 6 days a week. It doesn't add up goofy...lol

3. Have you had any moving violations in the past 5 years? The answer is always NOT WHAT I CAN RECALL. You would be surprised at what doesn't show up on your driving record. You would also like to know that the reports are ran randomly. If you tell them about a ticket and it doesn't show on your report, guess what?! They will take your word for it an ding you!!!! Let them tell you what/if they come up with something.

4. Are you a member of any organizations? GEICO Credit Union (you are a member ;-), Alumni, AAA, Frat/Soro groups, etc. Tell them any and all that you can think of. There is a database of thousands that they have listed to give discounts for. Especially for "GEICO" rated customers. You would be surprised on what organizations they discount for. Remember they DON'T ask for proof... hint hint wink wink. Example: they give a 5% discount for Boy/Girl Scout den leaders...lol

If you answer these questions right, you WILL get a knock out rate. 9 times out of 10 you will. Try it and see what they will say. Oh yeah, If you have a suspended license, do your quote online and then call in with the confirmation number to set up the policy. It is handled by a different department. When you call in you will be transfered to the internet department ( highest paid commission reps.) All that they do is activate the policy and push the paper. They typically will not run the license report. It WILL get checked if you lapse or renew the policy 6 mo down the road. That will give you time to get things straight.

So there it is people. I'm ready for the haters to respond now. There are those that will have all kind of garbage to say about this post but OOOOOOh well. I can give you a list of my friends and such that I converted to the GEICO family over the years. They were doubting me until I walked them through quotes. Now they are saving 15% or more and more and more! ha ha ha

*** Let some people know if you try this and it works out for you. I would love to hear the testimonials and such. Oh, your welcome! ***

Do you realize that Progressive runs your credit report every time you renew your policy? The credit report that they use actually lowers your beacon score. The credit report that Geico uses is a soft inquiry and does not effect you credit score. Every time you get a credit card offer in the mail, the same exact report is ran, and they certainly did not ask your permision.

"The meaningless questions about my current insurance status, vehicles, drivers, accidents, and tickets could not possible be needed to give me a car insurance quote.

The other questions are unreasonable also. Have I taken a defensive driver's class? What is that about? They probably make you pay more if you do?

Am I the military? As if they give a military discount. (GEICO - Government Employees Insurance Company)"

First of, I am not an underwriter for the company but i do know enough about what the company offers to say that the complaint about the meaningless questions are non-sense.

The questions asked online or by phone are not meaningless. As my other colleagues have stated, they are questions that assist in the underwriting process and differs in everyone's situation. The defensive driver's class does not hurt your rate, but benefits you.

Most of these questions, depending on each state's laws, DO give discounts so don't be too quick to dismiss. If you have a policy with GEICO, you'll know what discounts you qualified for and for how much. Everyone I've met have saved money and continue to do so.

Over 9 million policyholders can't be wrong!

Okay, if you won't take time to read the rebuttal, maybe others will. It is funny that you spew your nonsense, then attempt to forbid any rebuttals....what are you afraid of?

First, 8 pages of "meaningless" information is only "meaningless" to those who do not know their meaning-like you! Every question asked either on line or by phone is designed to assist in underwriting the policy, and to get you the best rate possible. As a GEICO employee, if you would like to list any questions which you think were meaningless, I would be glad to explain the meaning of each individual question, and it's relevance to your rate, so that you will be enlightened.

Secondly, regarding the credit report...all major insurance companies review credit as a part of rate development. Call your own insurance company and you will see. Statistics show that there is a direct correlation between credit score and risk behind the wheel. This is not the only thing taken into consideration, but it is given a small weight to overall rate development. Your state department of insurance has considered this evidence and determined it to be true before allowing insurance companies to take it into consideration. Whether you think it relates or not is not relevant. Truth is, if you pay your bills on time, it can only help your rate. Also, the inquiry into your credit is a "soft" inquiry, which has no effect on your credit score.

Thirdly, 15 minutes could save you 15% on car insurance. Geico does not advertise that they save everybody money. If they did save everybody money, who would buy insurance from anybody else? I mean, why would the company even have an application? They'd just say, send us your current bill, and we'll cut it by 15%. Problem is, we'd probably only last a few years with that market strategy because we'd get alot of high risk drivers who file claims, and since we would not be charging them an appropriate rate for the risk, they would drive the company into bankruptcy.

Truth is, your rate could be higher for many reasons. You could have tickets that your current insurance company does not know about because they have not run your motor vehicle report with the state of Ohio lately. Since GECO runs this report before binding the policy, this activity must be factored into the overall risk.

Further, your credit score may have declined since you first came on board with your current insurer, and GEICO is factoring your current score, not the one you had in the past when you got your current policy.

Additionally, different companies simply underwrite differently. Your current company may consider your risk less significant based on their data. Geico has been collecting data since 1936, and believes it's risk analysis is the best, explaining why GEICO is the 3rd largest insurance company in the US and the fastest growing.

I hope you understand better now. Next time you want to complain, take the time you educate yourself a little first. And by the way, if you did a quote today for Ohio, you would probably find that we blow the socks off your current insurance company, as we have become more competitive in Ohio than ever.............

Yes there are those of us who had to file bk because of illness. I have had 45 major surgeries since i was 19, i am now 49. Most of my surgeries cost over 100k and now I do have good insurance thru my husbands work. However, I did have a hospital say they would pay for the surgery and then 6 weeks later backed out. The hospital and doctor bills cost me over 100k. Add other medical costs, medicine costs that was not covered at that time(try covering a arthritis med that is 3k a month)and see where YOU would stand.

I do not own credit cards and my cars are paid in full. So yes, I have been financial responsible, but since this hospital refused to work with me except for payment in full I had to file bk several years ago.

This happens more than what people know, but people are ashamed to talk about these types of thing. When you live in chronic pain, when you know your life will always require more surgeries, more pain, it is hard enough to deal with and then tack on being punished for having a bk on your credit report because of something you have no POWER over is just wrong. There are many who file bk because they just over spend and have not paid on their credit cards , but there are also those of us who have been responsible, yet we are still punished as if we were not responsible. There should be some way to distinguish between the two, but at this time there does not seem to be a way to do that.

I had Gieco for a while and at first they were cheaper, yet when our time came for renewal they wanted to bump up our rates and they did not think we would notice. Ha! Wrong! We found a much cheaper rate with another company and have been with them ever since. Gieco lost a good customer because they thought we would not notice that our automatic renewal had gone up. Some of us customers do pay attention! Gieco has lost us for good and I laugh at the commercials know because I know their scam!

Was offered rate $200+ less than what I was already paying to GEICO. How's that for fair. They won't respond to my request for a study of my pricing and keep putting me off w/ "it's all your fault stuff" or other excuses, each time.

It seems the 8 meaningless pages of GEICO's website took me less than 5 minutes to complete.

The meaningless questions about my current insurance status, vehicles, drivers, accidents, and tickets could not possible be needed to give me a car insurance quote.

The other questions are unreasonable also. Have I taken a defensive driver's class? What is that about? They probably make you pay more if you do?

Am I the military? As if they give a military discount. (GEICO - Government Employees Insurance Company)

It was so meaningless.

Now let's get to the credit issue. It was so hidden that I had to answer yes or no to the question that advises they use credit. When I fill out insurance, I do not have time to review the questions. I just look at the answers and make up my own questions.

You called us all losers for giving a rebuttal to something you will never look at again, just as you did when you filled out the questions.

I hope this gets posted because I am not trying to totally attack you, but many people need to know, not all insurance companies want your money. Many insurance companies want smart drivers and smart people. The stupid ones can go with this guy.

Ok guys here is the deal.

This is what some call a soft hit. However Chris if you work in VA BEACH speak with management before you tell that to someone on the phone. If someone is going to a home loan, or closing a mortgage it can effect them that same month only.

Even with a soft hit it looks like they are possibly applying for a credit card or something like that to a loan processor. So that might in very rare cases hurt them in getting a loan if they are on the fence like being on the fence between GI/GC for example guys. I would tell you people in house to talk to but that is not appropriate for this site, nor do I care to give away who I am like that.

However consumers do not go nuts. This will not effect your beacon score beyond 30 days unless you are getting quotes from a ton of companies. Much more often the problem is not auto insurance but tons of hits from someone looking to purchase a home getting Home Owners insurance quotes since 99.8% of all insurance companies use credit as a factor and GEICO was one of the last to do so. For those with GEICO you know why that is the case per their former underwriting models.

So moral of this story is do not shop for auto insurance at all within 2 months prior to your move. If money is too tight to move if your insurance might go up $200 every 6 months or something don't buy the home and move. Sounds nuts but that is the way of the World now. Also price shopping based on location scares the heck out of most Insurance companies for the fraud that is often related to it.

Also do not get a ton of home owners quotes instead talk to your future neighbors and see whom they are insured with and only get quotes from the top mentioned 2-3 companies max. Often certain companies h*o rates or Auto rates are the lowest in the area because they have more policyholders there and lower losses over the past 2-4 years than other major companies. That way if you do not have great credit you will not hurt your loan.

Also footnote: If you have a lender that has good processing they understand this all now and will not nail you for it as they did 2-4 years ago. Sometimes all you have to do is say thats insurance quotes and they can note the file. Since it is normal for people to get Home Owners Insurance quotes at this time. The auto INQ is the same as the h*o INQ in appearance, and these are not the same as opening a line of credit, or any real major effect to your credit.

Feel free to not like it but every company does it now or at least 99.7% of them do many much more heavily than GEICO. If you do not want credit run you need to contact your State Insurance Commission, Senator, and Congress person. Only a law will change it no consumer concern will ever turn the tide, they trust credit that much.

Insurers do not actually check your credit. All they do is get your credit score, They don't actually look at your cedit report or the accounts listed on it.

Research has shown that people with better credit, tend to file fewer claims and thus have a lower loss ratio. This is because people who are careful in their finances are also more careful in other aspects of life, including their driving habits.

Check your states specific laws. In some states we do not have to ask or even advise if we pull credit.

While many people claim that their rates are affected by their credit scare, this will remain true. Credit score can actually affect one's insurance.

However, with GEICO, we do not just run credit. We actually have to announce that we "use credit in order to attain the most appropriate rate." If someone does not wish to have their credit run, then we can keep from running their credit.

All anyone has to do is ask, Can you not run my credit? After all, all you have to do is ask, and ye shall receive.

This is aimed at Sean-I am getting sick of people whining about their poor credit. Yes, there are some legitimate cases out there where there was a major unforseen incident that took place, but I believe these instances are in the minority.

My spouse and I were 18 and 19 when we married. We were fiercly independant and determined to do it on our own. We started our credit from the very bottom and have built it up. We have been married 10 years and have PERFECT credit because we have guarded it very carefully.

We started out as a server and a cook at a restaurant making very little. While we were setting goals, working hard, and saving to attain those goals I watched a lot of college aged young adults going out partying and throwing their money away. Most of them skipped payments (Electric/Phone/Car) because they had no money left. That is where most credit problems begin. For someone like me, having a credit check done as a pre-requisite for something is a positive thing. I am being rewarded for being responsible. For people who have not taken their credit seriously, there is something called CONSEQUENCES.

In answer to your question about how many people could continue to pay their bills if they were sick, disabled, unemployed- I could. It's called financial planning and being prepared for the unexpected. As to your suggestion about having the people who can afford it paying the higher premium? Why should we pay for your mistakes?

(p.s. Progressive's lack of underwriters causes them to increase rates for any and all losses including comprehensive (like glass claims)...
State Farm has great rates but if you have a claim where you are injured they pull a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. They don't like to pay out on claims of any kind!)

Thanks Tina for the clear concise description of the way insurance companies use your credit report as a rating factor. I too am frustrated that I have an excellent driving record but bad credit so I'm forced into a higher rate.

Personally, I don't see what bearing mistakes made with a phone bill or credit card over 5 years ago has on how I'm going to drive a car. The current trend of basing everything off of credit reports and scores only helps the rich get richer, and the poor go bankrupt. If anyone should be having to pay more for products or services, it should be the people who can actually afford to do so.

While it may be true that some people have bad credit because they simply do not want to pay their bills, others have it due to major life-disrupting problems occuring unexpectedly. How many people out there could keep up with all of their bills if they suddenly became sick, disabled, or unemployed? In a country where the trend is to pay your employees as little as possible, cut as many corners as possible, and charge your customers as much as you can, almost nobody. What's really needed is a step away from credit alltogether, before we start saying "Well, Ma'am, because you missed a phone bill last month, I'mnot going to sell you this baby formula unless you have a cosigner, and I'm afraid I'm going to have to charge you triple the regular price."

Your credit rating will also determine whether or not you would be required to pay the premium in full up front, or would qualify to make payments in installments. I know that Progressive requires a minimum FICO of approximately 560 before they will allow you to go on installments. I know that AAA and State Farm also have the same policy, only AAA requires a higher FICO of approximately 620.

Chris is correct. When an insurance company accesses your credit report it shows as a "soft touch" hit and does not affect your score, unlike a "hard touch" hit, which would be like when you apply for a credit card. Only the hard touch hits affect your credit score.

Geico is not the only company who uses credit checks when rating policies. My premium recently came up for renewal with my current company and decided to shop around to see if I could get a better premium. Of the ten companies I got quotes with, seven of them did a soft touch hit on my credit history. Two of them did not do a credit report, but during the quote process said that a credit report would be ran before I could purchase the policy. Only one of them did not mention a credit report.

Wether or not it is fair for your credit to affect your insurance rates is debatable. Since insurance rates are based on risk, statistics play heavily into ratemaking. Statistics have shown that people who aren't responsible enough to pay their bills are also less responsible drivers. Also things like billing expenses, recoupement of bad debt, and salaries of payment counselors figure into the mix. These added expenses make insurance companies hesitant to offer preferred rates to these types of risks.

Since I have bad credit, but a perfect driving record this does seem a little unfair to me. However, most insurance companies now use credit ratings when determining the premium for new business policies. It is not just Geico that does this. These ratings seem to not be as much of a problem after the first renewal, and if you have a good payment history and driving record, most companies will offer you a better rate.

On the average GEICO can save you 15%. In some cases we can save 50% or only 5% or we could be higher. It is the same with all insurance companies. Most insurance companies do the credit check as well. I know when I first moved here back in 1999, I called "Progressive" for a quote and they tell you that they are going to do a credit check. This credit check is not a "hit" on your credit report. You can read more about this at the individual credit companies (i.e. equifax). That so called meaningless information is required by all insurance companies. Maybe GEICO does ask for a little more (not sure), but this is to tailor a qoute that best fits you. I have been told that "Progressive" does not have any underwriters. They rely completely on the "computer" to underwrite your polciy (not how I would want my insurance handled). Please give GEICO another chance in the future, rates always change.

On the average GEICO can save you 15%. In some cases we can save 50% or only 5% or we could be higher. It is the same with all insurance companies. Most insurance companies do the credit check as well. I know when I first moved here back in 1999, I called "Progressive" for a quote and they tell you that they are going to do a credit check. This credit check is not a "hit" on your credit report. You can read more about this at the individual credit companies (i.e. equifax). That so called meaningless information is required by all insurance companies. Maybe GEICO does ask for a little more (not sure), but this is to tailor a qoute that best fits you. I have been told that "Progressive" does not have any underwriters. They rely completely on the "computer" to underwrite your polciy (not how I would want my insurance handled). Please give GEICO another chance in the future, rates always change.

On the average GEICO can save you 15%. In some cases we can save 50% or only 5% or we could be higher. It is the same with all insurance companies. Most insurance companies do the credit check as well. I know when I first moved here back in 1999, I called "Progressive" for a quote and they tell you that they are going to do a credit check. This credit check is not a "hit" on your credit report. You can read more about this at the individual credit companies (i.e. equifax). That so called meaningless information is required by all insurance companies. Maybe GEICO does ask for a little more (not sure), but this is to tailor a qoute that best fits you. I have been told that "Progressive" does not have any underwriters. They rely completely on the "computer" to underwrite your polciy (not how I would want my insurance handled). Please give GEICO another chance in the future, rates always change.

In regard to you being upset that your credit was checked when you applied for a quote at Geico. The check that is done is not a full credit check. If you pull your own credit report it would be listed as a soft pull. It would be under the heading of requests for information not request for credit. I am sorry that you are so upset about your quote. Please feel free to check with us again as insurance rates do change all the time. Thank you.