Why is GEICO so cheap?

Yes, Geico offers accident forgiveness in 47 states and the District of Columbia, with the exceptions being California, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. Geico accident forgiveness protects you from increases to your car insurance premium after your first at-fault accident. The accident forgiveness feature may only be used once. How much your premium would rise without accident forgiveness depends on your state, driving record and claim payment amount. The increase could range from 2% to 50%, or even more for a bodily injury claim.… read full answer

How to Get Geico Accident Forgiveness

There are two ways to get Geico accident forgiveness. The first is to earn it as a free upgrade to your Geico car insurance policy. Policyholders who are 21 years of age or older can earn the upgrade by being accident-free for at least five years.

The second way to get Geico accident forgiveness is to purchase accident forgiveness as a supplemental coverage option. To purchase this protection, policyholders must meet minimum driving-record requirements. However, Geico does not specify what these minimum requirements are on its website, as the rules and coverage terms vary by state.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. owns Geico. Berkshire Hathaway, led by well-known investor Warren Buffett, is a multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska.

Warren Buffett has owned shares of Geico stock since 1951, after an impromptu visit to the auto insurer’s headquarters. He made a second stock purchase, reportedly of a million shares, in 1976. Twenty years later, impressed with the direction that Geico was heading, Buffett’s holding company made a $2.3 billion cash offer to buy all the Geico shares that Buffett did not already own. As a result, Geico became a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway in 1996.… read full answer

Geico Corporation is headquartered in Washington D.C., and Warren Buffet serves on its board of directors.

GEICO insurance rates are very competitive, ranking 2^nd overall (behind only Progressive) in WalletHub’s 2019 Cheap Car Insurance Study. The study compared 46 major car insurance companies for a variety of driver profiles. This means GEICO’s rates tend to be lower than those charged by State Farm, Allstate, Nationwide, Travelers, and other popular auto insurers.… read full answer

Individual results may vary, however. The rates GEICO quotes you are based on your driving record and experience, along with your location, credit score (in some states), vehicle age, and vehicle equipment. Your coverage and deductible choices matter, too.

GEICO tends to have relatively low rates for new drivers and those with less-than-perfect driving records. The following chart shows how GEICO ranks among 46 U.S. auto insurers in terms of monthly costs for different types of drivers. Learn more about how we obtained these sample quotes in the Methodology section of our 2019 GEICO Car Insurance Review.

Sample GEICO Car Insurance Rates:

Those quotes don’t take into account GEICO’s various discounts. GEICO offers impressive discounts for having multiple policies and certain vehicle safety equipment, for example. But it doesn’t have “green car” or loyalty discounts, unlike some of its competitors.

At the end of the day, knowing that GEICO ranks among the cheapest major auto insurers provides a helpful starting point as you shop for auto insurance. But the best option will be the one that gives you the coverage you need, plus excellent service, at a price that fits within your budget.