GEICO review: Auto insurance 1

GEICO is unpredictable and arbitrary. You'd need insurance for this insurance, since GEICO is unable or unwilling to provide the most important function of insurance: certainty. They cancelled my new auto insurance for no reason other than their own incompetence.

Long story short: I paid the policy in full. While on a vacation with my family, I opened GEICO app and was surprised to find that my policy is scheduled to be cancelled. When I came back home I found a letter saying that I have eight days from the 5th of October to send them documents (only accepted by postal mail, even though every document was a copy) or my insurance would be cancelled. In fact the letter was delivered *about 8 days after the 5th of October* (again, delivered while I was not home). At no earlier point had I been informed that these documents were required, and GEICO made no attempt to contact me by phone call, text message or Email. In fact, had I not checked the app and stayed on vacation for longer, I might have ended up driving without insurance unwittingly.

I called GEICO multiple times. They consistently assured me that if I sent the correct documents before the fast-approaching cancellation date, my policy would continue. So I sent all the documents they requested by priority mail. In spite of the supposed urgency they were attempting to convey, it took them six days after receiving the documents to start reviewing them (with no way to contact the underwriting department or confirm that they had recieved them). It took five more days for the final review because of their own confusion about what was clearly included in the documents I'd sent them.

Two days before the deadline, I find out by calling them (without any notification on their part) that, in fact, my policy will be cancelled. The reason is that I had no prior insurance, which they claimed was contrary to my statements. This is 100% false and can be refuted by recorded calls to customer service in which I stated that GEICO was my first insurance, and by the fact that they don't have the name of my previous insurance company and the coverage limits (required information when you register online if you state that you've been insured). GEICO had zero interest in checking the evidence or compensating me, and there was no way to appeal.

Price I have to pay for GEICO's incompetence: Having to find new insurance in two days (which was hard in the first place since I have no driving record in the US), possibly higher rates because of the cancellation on my record.

If it happened to me, it must have happened to thousands of other customers in the country, as confirmed by a large fraction of GEICO'S customer reviews online. So the chance that it will happen to you is non-negligible.