Key Takeaways
- Geico offers affordable insurance premiums in all 50 states.
- Geico is a broker, not a direct provider, of home and life insurance policies.
- Federal employees can get a significant discount on coverage through Geico.
Geico, available in all 50 states, is one of the country’s largest insurance providers. Because the company’s rates are consistently below national averages for auto, home and life insurance, the company is an attractive option for a lot of people. However, based on customer reviews, many policyholders are less than happy with what they get for the price.
Our team dove deep into the company’s reputation, coverage options and pricing to see what kind of value Geico offers in exchange for its affordable rates. We found Geico to be an affordable and reputable provider, but one that comes with a few downsides worth considering.
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Why You Can Trust the MarketWatch Guides Team
Here's a breakdown of how we reviewed and rated the top insurance providers
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Providers ReviewedOur team looked at over 250 of the top insurance providers in the U.S., from national providers like USAA, Travelers and State Farm to regional providers like Erie Insurance.
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Data Points AnalyzedTo properly score each insurance provider, we looked at cost data, claims processes, customer review scores, industry standing, available discounts, coverages and add-ons.
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Geico Insurance: Summary Review
Flip Card Geico Insurance Rating
MarketWatch Rating 4.6 / out of 5 stars
Rating is based off of MarketWatch Methodology Guidelines
Rating breakdown
Industry Standing 4.8 / 5
Availability 5 / 5
Coverage 4.4 / 5
Cost and Discounts 4.7 / 5
Customer Experience 4.6 / 5
Our Take
Geico’s affordable rates and availability are its main draw. The company offers relatively cheap insurance to a broad demographic. However, customer sentiment for Geico is underwhelming, to say the least. In addition to this, before buying a policy with Geico based on its inexpensive premiums, remember the company only serves as a direct provider for auto insurance and not for home or life insurance.
How We Rate Geico Insurance by Category
Geico Industry Ratings
Our review scores throughout this article are a combination of ratings from industry organizations, customer reviews and other sources. For a more detailed look, we’ve provided scores from individual ratings sources below:
Geico Insurance Reviews: What Customers Say
We ran an in-depth analysis of hundreds of customer reviews from sites like the BBB and Trustpilot to gauge customer sentiment. This is what we learned:
Where Geico Excels
When we do come across a positive customer review with the company, praise tends to focus on the service of individual agents. Some policyholders reported having an exceptional experience with Geico customer service representatives.
Where Geico Falls Short
Complaints from customers in online reviews are fairly normal for Geico and other insurance companies too. While policyholders report a wide range of issues with the company, the most common complaints center around cost. Geico customers frequently complain about lack of transparency around rates and rate increases. Despite a handful of positive experiences with individual agents, complaints consistently cite issues with claims handling and customer service.
Geico Auto Insurance
Our Overall Rating
4.6
Key Takeaway
Geico offers affordable car insurance coverage for most drivers and some unique offerings and discount opportunities.
Auto insurance is where Geico does its best. The company is the second-largest auto insurer in the country for a reason — several, actually: It consistently offers lower-than-average rates, is available in all 50 states and offers one of the most robust coverage portfolios in the industry.
That said, the company’s struggle with customer reviews applies to its car insurance division just as much as it does to home and life. By and large, customers seem to have lots of issues with Geico when it comes to rates, claims and overall communications.
As with anything else in the insurance world, your experience with Geico may vary from someone else’s. Take others’ reported experiences into consideration, along with what are likely to be objectively low rates and enticing coverage options.
Geico Auto Insurance Coverage
Geico offers a full range of basic and optional car insurance coverages, allowing you to build a policy that suits your budget and needs.
Geico Auto Coverage Highlight: Mechanical Breakdown Insurance
Geico is one of the only auto insurers that offers mechanical breakdown insurance (MBI). This policy is similar in function to an extended car warranty, which covers the cost of repairing unexpected mechanical issues.
For example, if your transmission breaks down while driving, an MBI policy from Geico would likely cover the cost of fixing it. Some people may find this perk extremely convenient — buying from your insurer instead of a third-party warranty provider.
Minimum Coverage
Minimum coverage plans consist mainly of liability insurance coverage — which are designed to meet basic state requirements. Geico offers all the specific coverages you are required to have depending on the state you live in and register your vehicle. Below is a breakdown of each basic coverage.
| Coverage | Description |
|---|---|
| Bodily injury (BI) liability | Covers medical expenses, lost wages and associated costs for other parties involved in an accident you’re found at fault for |
| Property damage (PD) liability | Covers damages to vehicles and other personal property resulting from a collision for which you are found at fault |
| Uninsured motorist/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) liability | Covers the cost of damages when an at-fault driver lacks sufficient coverage |
| Personal injury protection (PIP) | Covers you and your party’s medical expenses resulting from an accident, regardless of who is at fault. Required in no-fault insurance states and some at-fault states. |
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Read more: Liability coverage
Full Coverage
We and other insurance experts recommend a full-coverage policy — one that includes protection for your own assets in addition to liability coverage — for the majority of drivers. You can also find these coverages from Geico.
| Coverage | Description |
|---|---|
| Collision coverage | Covers your vehicle and other personal property in an accident, regardless of who is at fault |
| Comprehensive coverage | Covers your vehicle from sources of damage other than an accident, such as fire, theft or severe weather |
| Medical payments (MedPay) | This covers medical expenses for you and your passengers, no matter who is at fault for an accident |
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Read more: Full coverage car insurance
Geico Car Insurance Cost
Geico’s national average rate estimate of $1,220 per year for minimum coverage and $1,915 per year for full coverage is around 30% cheaper than the national average for the industry as a whole. In general, Geico tends to be one of the more affordable options among major national providers.
Geico Car Insurance Discounts
Like most insurers, Geico offers a wide selection of discounts that can help bring the cost of your policy down.
Geico Auto Insurance Discount Highlight: Government Employees
Geico started as the Government Employees Insurance Corporation, providing insurance to employees of the federal government. While the company is open to anyone these days, it still offers a policy discount to federal workers.
Geico DriveEasy
Similar to most insurers, Geico has a telematics-based insurance option called DriveEasy that monitors your driving habits with a smartphone app and adjusts your rates according to your behavior.
According to the company, DriveEasy can save you up to 25% if you consistently avoid unsafe behaviors such as hard acceleration, emergency braking or using your phone while driving. If you do not avoid these high-risk behaviors, DriveEasy can cause your rates to go up.
One of our team members, who we’ll call Stephanie, tested DriveEasy to get first-hand experience. Stephanie told us the app has an easy to understand scoring system that is used to adjust and determine your discount rate.
You can see your score on the app out of 100 and anyone else on your policy. Most of the things it tracks make a lot of sense. You can lose points for things like speeding or braking suddenly too many times.
Stephanie told us that the app also tracks phone usage, which can be cumbersome and fail to take into account when a driver is actually driving vs. a passenger.
It also tracks how many times you use your phone while you’re driving, so I turned off access when I was on a road trip and wanted to call a couple of people. I lost points the other day for phone usage, which didn’t seem entirely fair as I only used my phone while I was stopped at traffic lights.
So far, Stephanie has aced her side of the DriveEasy bargain and currently holds a score of 98 out of a possible 100. We’ll report back about how Geico rewards her safe driving as soon as we get her results.
List of Geico Car Insurance Discounts
Geico also offers many other discount opportunities that you’d find at other insurers. These include:
| Geico Car Insurance Discount | What It Covers |
|---|---|
| New car | Earn up to 15% off your policy if your vehicle is three model years old or newer. |
| Emergency deployment | Save up to 25% when you are part of an emergency deployment to an imminent danger zone. |
| Federal employee | Get up to 12% off your car insurance premium if you’re a federal employee. |
| Seat belt use | Earn a discount off medical payments (MedPay) or personal injury protection (PIP) coverage if you and your passengers use seat belts. |
| Air bag | Receive up to 23% off your policy if you have air bags in your car. |
| Anti-lock brakes | Get a 5% discount on certain car insurance coverages if you have an anti-lock braking system. |
| Anti-theft system | Save up to 23% on comprehensive car insurance if you have an anti-theft system installed. |
| Daytime running lights | Earn a 3% discount on certain car insurance coverages if your vehicle is equipped with daytime running lights. |
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Read more: Car insurance discounts
Geico Home Insurance
Our Overall Rating
4.1
Key Takeaway
Geico works as a broker for the homeowners insurance policies it offers, but policyholders can still bundle home and auto insurance.
Geico is not nearly as established in the home insurance market as it is in the auto insurance industry. That is, in part, because the company doesn’t underwrite its own homeowners and renters insurance policies and instead serves as a broker. Other companies, often Geico subsidiaries, serve as the actual underwriters for these policies.
This adds some complexity for those looking to bundle policies. You can still combine your homeowners policy and your auto policy — along with many of Geico’s other insurance products. However, you’ll have to manage your homeowners insurance and file claims with the actual underwriter, rather than Geico.
Geico Homeowners Insurance Coverage
Because your homeowners insurance policy comes from a third-party provider, the coverages available to you will vary. However, there is a great deal of overlap in these coverage selections. The table below shows the coverage options you’re likely to find through Geico as a broker.
| Geico Home Insurance Coverage | Description |
|---|---|
| Property damage (also referred to as dwelling coverage) | Covers damage to your house and any permanent structures on your property from fire, wind, hail and water. |
| Personal property | Covers belongings that were damaged or stolen such as furniture, appliances and clothing. |
| Jewelry | Limited insurance coverage is available for jewelry stolen from your home. You may need special coverage for items like engagement rings, wedding bands or diamond bracelets. |
| Personal liability | Covers medical expenses or property damage to others caused by you or members of your household. It can also pay for legal costs in the case of a lawsuit. |
| Medical bills | Covers medical payments for minor injuries to others who get hurt on your property. |
| Additional expenses | Covers extra costs you might have to pay when experiencing a covered loss. |
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Additional Geico Homeowners Coverage Options
Similar to auto insurance, Geico offers a few specialty add-on options for homeowners policies. These coverages can help take care of some of the indirect costs that come with homeowners insurance losses.
| Homeowners Additional Coverage Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Identity theft protection | Covers costs if critical pieces of your personal information are stolen, such as your Social Security number or credit card information. |
| Scheduled personal property coverage | Most standard policies limit coverage for special pieces of personal property such as musical instruments, jewelry, fine art, furs, antiques and firearms. |
| Water backup | Covers other types of water damage beyond standard conditions, including damage from water trapped in your home due to a clogged drain, seeping groundwater or backed up sewage and sump pumps. |
| HOA loss assessment | Homes belonging to a homeowners association, or HOA, are responsible for a portion of damages or losses in common areas. An HOA loss assessment endorsem*nt can protect homeowners against paying those costs out of pocket. |
| Replacement cost coverage | Replacement cost value, or RCV, replaces 100% of the product’s original value, unlike standard actual cash value (ACV) coverage that comes with most policies. This coverage typically results in a larger sum paid out in the event of an insurance claim. |
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Geico Homeowners Insurance Cost
The cost of homeowners insurance can vary tremendously based on the size and value of your home, your location and other factors. The table below shows the national average estimates for different levels of dwelling coverage, all based on a policy with a $1,000 deductible.
| Homeowners Insurance Dwelling Coverage | National Average Estimate |
|---|---|
| $250,000 | $1,981 |
| $350,000 | $2,511 |
| $450,000 | $3,062 |
| $750,000 | $4,669 |
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Geico Homeowners Insurance Sample Quotes
With so many variables at play, comparing costs is difficult without getting actual quotes. To give you a better idea of what you might pay for Geico homeowners insurance, we included a few real quotes from our secret shopper study in the table below.
| Location | Home Square Footage | Monthly Cost | Total Cost Per Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| McKinleyville, Calif. | 1,344 square feet | $95 | $1,143 |
| Charlotte, N.C. | 1,595 square feet | $87 | $1,055 |
| Marlton, N.J. | 1,706 square feet | $88 | $1,064 |
| Schertz, Texas | 2,346 square feet | $118 | $1,418 |
| Richmond, Va. | 2,112 square feet | $87 | $1,044 |
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Geico Renters Insurance Coverage
If you aren’t a homeowner, you can still get coverage for your home and belongings through Geico’s renters insurance. Again, Geico acts as a broker for these policies and does not underwrite them directly.
Renters insurance policies offer similar coverage to homeowners policies with the major exception of not covering the actual structure of your home. The table below shows common renters insurance coverages you can purchase.
| Renters Insurance Coverage | Description |
|---|---|
| Personal property | Covers the replacement cost of personal belongings damaged in a covered loss. Coverage includes fire, theft, vandalism and sudden water damage (not from flooding). |
| Personal liability | Covers medical expenses or property repair or replacements costs if another party suffers an injury or loss while at your residence. |
| Loss of use | Covers expenses stemming from not being able to use your home following a loss, such as a hotel stay if your home is rendered uninhabitable. Sometimes referred to as additional living expenses coverage. |
| Disaster | Covers damages from natural disasters such as earthquakes, which aren’t covered under standard renters insurance policies. |
| Identity theft | Covers costs related to having your identity stolen, such as replacing government-issued ID cards. |
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Geico Home Insurance Discounts
You can also get discounts on your homeowners and renters policy from Geico. The actual selection of discounts available to you varies depending on the underwriter that services your policy, but we’ve listed some of the most consistently-offered discounts in the table below.
| Geico Homeowners Insurance Discount | Description |
|---|---|
| Multi-policy discount | Even though Geico doesn’t underwrite its own homeowners policies, you can still save by bundling your homeowners insurance with your Geico car insurance |
| Home security systems | Homes with an alarm system are eligible for lowered rates. |
| Fire safety features | Smoke detectors and fire extinguishers can garner homeowners a discount for a safer home. |
| Military discount | Geico offers discounts for active and retired military members. |
| Federal employee discount | Employees of the federal government can get a discount on their homeowners insurance through Geico. |
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Read more: Ways to Save On Home Insurance
Geico Life Insurance
Our Overall Rating
4.0
Key Takeaway
Geico policyholders can choose from three life insurance policies, but available coverage limits and costs are individualized.
In addition to auto and home coverage, Geico offers life insurance that you can bundle into your policy. But just as it does with home insurance, Geico merely acts as a broker for life insurance, matching customers with a third-party underwriter.
Geico Life Insurance Coverage
Life insurance policies pay a lump sum figure to a person or people the policyholder designates as a beneficiary. There are three main types of life insurance policies, which you’ll find explained in the table below.
| Life Insurance Coverage | Description |
|---|---|
| Term life | Covers a policyholder for a specific period of time, replacing lost income and other expenses stemming from an unexpected death. Policy terms are usually for 10, 15, 25 or 30 years. |
| Whole life | Covers a policyholder for the duration of their life, rather than a predetermined term. The most common type of permanent life insurance. |
| Universal life | Covers a policyholder for the duration of their life, but allows the policyholder to make adjustments such as pausing payments or changing the premium. |
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Other Geico Insurance Products
Auto, home and life insurance aren’t the only policies you can buy and bundle from Geico. The company also offers a wide range of other types of insurance, with many of those options listed below. Expand the section to see them.
| Geico Insurance Product | Description |
|---|---|
| Pet insurance | Covers the cost of medical care for your pet similar to health insurance for a human. |
| Travel insurance | Covers expenses that arise when travel plans are changed or canceled due to illness or injury, such as food, alternate travel and accommodation. |
| Boat insurance | Provides similar coverage to car insurance, but for your boat. |
| Flood insurance | Covers losses from flooding, which standard homeowners and renters insurance policies almost never do. |
| Overseas insurance | Covers your car and other personal property while you are abroad. |
| Business insurance | Protects your business against liability claims and other lawsuits. |
| Identity protection | Available with homeowners and renters insurance but can be purchased as a standalone insurance product that protects your assets and covers expenses if your identity is stolen. |
| Umbrella insurance | A kind of “catchall” insurance product that provides coverage against a wide range of scenarios not covered under other policies, including injuries, property damage, certain lawsuits and personal liability situations. |
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Geico Insurance Review: The Bottom Line
As a general insurance provider, Geico wins a lot of points for affordability and loses some based on customer sentiment. Since the company doesn’t underwrite its own home and life insurance policies, you lose some of the simplicity that is usually a benefit of bundling coverage.
In the end, we think Geico is a good option for people specifically seeking affordable auto insurance policies — seeing as this is the company’s main priority. Geico may also be a worthwhile consideration for federal employees, who can get a discount on the company’s already-inexpensive coverage.
Geico Insurance Reviews: FAQ
Below are some frequently asked questions about Geico.
Based on our insurance rate data, Geico tends to have cheaper rates for most drivers than Progressive. However, Progressive is often cheaper for drivers in high-risk categories, such as those with a DUI, speeding ticket or accident on their record. Both companies scored similarly in our auto insurance study in most other categories.
Geico can be difficult to deal with at times, based on our research. Customer reviews for Geico frequently mention challenges communicating with the company and difficulties dealing with claims. Some reviews do mention good experiences with individual agents.
Geico has cheaper rates than many providers because it sells coverage directly to customers without an intermediary. The company also keeps its overhead lower than many providers by limiting its physical offices and in-person agents. Geico also offers many discounts that help bring the cost of its coverage down.
Geico has relatively low customer satisfaction ratings in online review portals. It currently has scores of less than 1.3 out of 5 stars from customers on both the BBB and Trustpilot. In official studies such as the J.D. Power Auto Insurance study, Geico’s performance varies widely depending on the region.
How We Rate Insurance Providers
Because consumers rely on us to provide objective and accurate information, we created a comprehensive rating system to formulate our rankings of the best auto, home and life insurance companies. We collected data on dozens of insurance providers to grade the companies on a wide range of ranking factors. Learn more about how we rate insurance providers in each industry below:
- Auto Insurance: Our team has analyzed more than 130 auto insurers based on their industry standing, availability, coverage, cost and discounts, customer service, and technology. We evaluate both national and regional insurers to determine the most reputable options on the market. Learn more about our auto insurance methodology.
- Home Insurance: We assessed dozens of home insurance providers and created a scoring system to compare each company’s quality and service. We took a comprehensive look at insurers’ reputations in the industry, coverage offerings, average costs and customer service. See our rating process in more detail in our home insurance rating methodology.
Life Insurance: Our team has researched and ranked more than 30 life insurance companies using an in-depth scoring system that analyzes brand trust, coverage options, availability and ease of use, and riders. We look at how customizable each provider’s policies are to fit consumers’ needs. To learn more, read our full life insurance methodology for reviewing and scoring providers.
If you have feedback or questions about this article, please email the MarketWatch Guides team at [email protected].
