15 minutes could save you.

Geico commercials and advertisements litter television, the radio, and my mailbox.  Sometimes I want to call them up and mention that my husband is a Nationwide agent.  Even so, they do have some pretty awesome commercials.  Their website is pretty stellar too.

I went to Geico's website today to get a quote.  I wanted to see what it was like.  After all, being the daughter and wife of Nationwide agents, I've never had the experience of shopping around for insurance.  I typed in the information and answered lots of questions, and it really did only take about 15 minutes.

When I finally got the quote, I was thinking, "Holy cow!  They're SO cheap.  How did they do that?"  They really were super cheap, so I had to investigate.

Here are some problems I discovered with Geico based on my experience today.

1.  Evidently, they give you a 15% discount for your first 6 months--to lure you in.  This discount goes away after your first renewal, so it may not really be as cheap as you think.

2.  Geico's quote recommends VERY low coverages.  If you were ever in an accident, you may find yourself not having the money you need to set things right.

3.  Geico sets pretty high deductibles automatically.  If your current policy has lower deductibles, you may want to check to see if raising the deductibles with your current insurance company will make the price of your current policy more comparable.  When I changed the deductibles to what I have now, Geico's price increased.

4.  Even though I've practically been raised in the insurance business, I still don't really know what all the insurance terminology means.  There were quite a few coverages where I didn't know what to do, because I didn't know what they were for, so I couldn't really make a very informed decision about them.  To their credit, they do have information boxes you can click on to get more information, but it was difficult for me to understand and apply to real life situations.

5.  If I'm in an accident, I'd like to talk to a real person--a person I've actually met and trust.  If things are really bad, I'd like to be able to consult with that person face-to-face.  Geico didn't give me that.

6.  My husband got a quote a few months ago (keep your enemies close, right?) and put in the exact same coverages we have now, and it was more expensive than our current Nationwide policy.  So even though my quote today was cheaper, I'm curious as to how it flip-flopped in just a few months.  

Overall, I can see why Geico is appealing to many.  It's quick and easy.  I'm just not so sure about the quality of their services.  Also, I'm not so sure that insurance should be "quick and easy."  It's rather complicated with things like bodily injury, liability, comprehensive, collision, medical payments, uninsured motorist, towing & labor, and transportation coverages.

My husband and sister have said that several of the people who have switched to Geico to save money have eventually come back to Nationwide after a bad experience.  Overall, I think I'll stick with Nationwide.  Here's a picture of me and my little Future Insurance Agent ;)