Holy Geico Batman!

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bogleviewer
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Holy Geico Batman!

Post by bogleviewer »

Some of you may have read my thread about being eligible now for USAA but have been with Amica. The price difference between the two (USAA/AMICA) for auto, hoi, umbrella was within $10 of each other. I was with a relative the other day and asked who they insured through and he said Geico for auto and umbrella with Amica for home owners. I found that strange that Geico could issue an umbrella with a different carrier for home owners. In any event, I asked what he paid and it was substantially less than I. So I figured I would get a quote.

I got a quote with Geico for the two auto's and an umbrella (with same coverage) and the savings from Amica/USAA was $850! To be sure that maybe USAA/AMICA wasn't simply high, I got a full quote from American Family Insurance and they were more than USAA/AMICA (and obviously Geico as well).

How in the world? Geico was less than $1,000 annually for two auto's, two drivers and an umbrella. Amica/USAA came to roughly $1850.

That is nearly 50% savings. I've searched the forums and it seems like there are several that have been with Geico for many years but many more with USAA or Amica for many years. Geico had a few negative reviews, USAA only a couple and I couldn't find a single negative comment about Amica on Bogleheads forum.

For the discussion of this thread:

1) Is there some underlying coverage difference that makes Geico that much cheaper?
2) Would you be worried to have an umbrella with a different company than your home owners?
3) Would you switch (or mix and match) carriers to save 50% on your auto/umbrella insurance bill?


It would also be helpful to understand who you are currently with and your general thoughts or experiences with Gieco/Amica/USAA.
Grt2bOutdoors
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Re: Holy Geico Batman!

Post by Grt2bOutdoors »

I use State Farm for homeowners insurance, GEICO for auto and umbrella. I must say, I've had excellent customer service from Geico, including when I was involved in a no-fault auto accident where they gave me a pass on raising my premiums, something about being a good customer. :happy If you own Berkshire Hathaway, you get a discount on the liability portion.
To answer your question: No worries, as long as you hold the recommended levels of liability with your homeowners and auto insurance, you should be good to go.
Last edited by Grt2bOutdoors on Mon Jul 22, 2013 12:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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BestWishes
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Re: Holy Geico Batman!

Post by BestWishes »

My concern for mix and match, the insurance companies might not agree on who is responsible for what and when.
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Dumbo
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Re: Holy Geico Batman!

Post by Dumbo »

Last year I was looking to insure two of our cars, one a luxury vehicle, used and another a standard sedan and I had a similar experience. GEICO quoted us about half of what AMICA and Liberty Mutual. In fact I signed up for AMICA initially and cancelled the policy a couple of days later after getting in touch with GEICO.
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yosef
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Re: Holy Geico Batman!

Post by yosef »

Been with Geico 15 years, and always had great service. They even reduced our premiums by forgiving an accident my wife had about 2 years before it would have otherwise dropped off for "being a loyal customer".
Leesbro63
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Re: Holy Geico Batman!

Post by Leesbro63 »

BestWishes wrote:My concern for mix and match, the insurance companies might not agree on who is responsible for what and when.
+1
Topic Author
bogleviewer
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Re: Holy Geico Batman!

Post by bogleviewer »

Leesbro63 wrote:
BestWishes wrote:My concern for mix and match, the insurance companies might not agree on who is responsible for what and when.
+1
This is certainly the concern I had, but looking to see if anyone had any experience about this or knows the "law" about how this is handled. :)
Quickfoot
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Re: Holy Geico Batman!

Post by Quickfoot »

Been with Geico for almost 12 years, I've had auto insurance, home owners, and renters insurance threw them. I have had nothing but great service from them (even with a couple claims) and no concerns about offering some insurance through other companies.

I was rear ended and originally was going to have Geico process the claim but I would have had to pay deductible and have the other insurance company re-reimburse me. I decided not to do that, Geico called the other company and provided the claim information so I wouldn't have to do it twice.
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englishgirl
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Re: Holy Geico Batman!

Post by englishgirl »

I have auto and umbrella with GEICO, and homeowner's with other companies (I just can't get homeowner's insurance through most companies as they won't write policies where I live). I don't have any experience other than that, as I haven't made any claims.

Still, it's been a few years since I took out my auto policy, so it's time to shop around again. I'll switch if GEICO aren't the cheapest or won't match whatever I find elsewhere.
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Quasimodo
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Re: Holy Geico Batman!

Post by Quasimodo »

"For the discussion of this thread:

1) Is there some underlying coverage difference that makes Geico that much cheaper?
2) Would you be worried to have an umbrella with a different company than your home owners?
3) Would you switch (or mix and match) carriers to save 50% on your auto/umbrella insurance bill?

It would also be helpful to understand who you are currently with and your general thoughts or experiences with Gieco/Amica/USAA."

1) Homeowners and personal auto coverages are fairly standard, but personal umbrellas are not, so there could be a meaningful difference in coverage for the umbrella. Exactly what that might be, and whether it's worth the additional premium, I don't claim to know. My guess is the coverage differences, if any, between the umbrellas is probably not that meaningful. It should be possible to get copies of the umbrella policies and read through them to compare. This could be worthwhile if only for peace of mind.

2) We have GEICO auto and umbrella coverage. GEICO doesn't write homeowner's insurance, so they have a brokerage arrangement with other companies to handle that part of the coverage. GEICO quoted our homeowner's coverage based on their arrangement with Travelers, so I'm not worried about the possibility of them claiming I neglected to tell them something about the Travelers coverage, because they arranged it. I agree this could be a concern when getting an umbrella quote from a carrier different from the ones writing the primary homeowners and auto coverages.

3) With GEICO offering the cheaper price, I believe I would be willing to switch to them. I trust GEICO because I believe as part of Berkshire-Hathaway they will be financially stable and offer a decent product for the price. I would not recommend switching personal insurers just based on price without feeling comfortable about the fairness and stability of the company offering the cheaper price. There is always going to be someone willing to offer a lower price, and cheaper isn't necessarily better with insurance for a variety of discouraging reasons, such as coverage limitations, low quality of service, higher prices on renewal and perhaps changes in reinsurance or loss ratio that result in various kinds of bad news for policyholders down the road.

Thankfully, I have no claims experience with GEICO, so can't comment about that.

Good luck whatever you decide!

John
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Meg77
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Re: Holy Geico Batman!

Post by Meg77 »

As far as why it might be cheaper, perhaps they are just way under-represented and/or trying to expand in your area. I had a friend who worked for State Farm and she told me I was over-paying for my home owners insurance with them because they had too much exposure in the state of TX and had jacked up premiums to basically slow that down. It's kind of what big banks do with interest rates to control loan volume.
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P&C actuary
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Re: Holy Geico Batman!

Post by P&C actuary »

Based on the thread, I wanted to see if I could save with GEICO. My family has 3 cars and 4 drivers. We are currently with 21st Century and have been with them for many years, although the name has changed over time.

Our 6 month policy will renew for $1120. For almost the same coverage, GEICO quoted $1064. The highest liability offered at GEICO is 250,000 per person/500,000 per accident. We have $500,000 per person/per accident. I am not changing to save $56 and have less liability coverage.
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Cut-Throat
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Re: Holy Geico Batman!

Post by Cut-Throat »

P&C actuary wrote:Based on the thread, I wanted to see if I could save with GEICO. My family has 3 cars and 4 drivers. We are currently with 21st Century and have been with them for many years, although the name has changed over time.

Our 6 month policy will renew for $1120. For almost the same coverage, GEICO quoted $1064. The highest liability offered at GEICO is 250,000 per person/500,000 per accident. We have $500,000 per person/per accident. I am not changing to save $56 and have less liability coverage.
Thank you for doing and posting this. I currently have American Family and decided to get a quote from USAA based on some glowing recommendations. After a fairly extensive process, They gave me a quote that was close to American Family. They said I was already getting their 'long term member' discount etc. etc.
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G-Money
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Re: Holy Geico Batman!

Post by G-Money »

bogleviewer wrote:1) Is there some underlying coverage difference that makes Geico that much cheaper?
Dunno. You'd need to read the policies to be sure.
bogleviewer wrote:2) Would you be worried to have an umbrella with a different company than your home owners?
Not really.
bogleviewer wrote:3) Would you switch (or mix and match) carriers to save 50% on your auto/umbrella insurance bill?
Yes, assuming the coverage was comparable.
Don't assume I know what I'm talking about.
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soaring
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Re: Holy Geico Batman!

Post by soaring »

P&C actuary wrote: The highest liability offered at GEICO is 250,000 per person/500,000 per accident. We have $500,000 per person/per accident. I am not changing to save $56 and have less liability coverage.
Maybe states are different. My Florida Geico auto policy liability limits are 500,00 per person/750,000 per accident, property 500,000.
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soaring
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Re: Holy Geico Batman!

Post by soaring »

3) Would you switch (or mix and match) carriers to save 50% on your auto/umbrella insurance bill?
I've been with Geico 3-4 yrs with no claims. Several weeks ago priced same coverage with Amica and they were 47% higher. If I were with Amica I would switch to Geico but I didn't need to. I hoped Amica was competitive since Geico's customer service record is not as stellar as Amica But I won't pay 47% premium.

edit:
not to say this is the only truth but worth considering

http://www.badfaithinsurance.org/indexdetaillist.html
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Tycoon
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Re: Holy Geico Batman!

Post by Tycoon »

I've been driving for 34 years. I've had auto coverage with State Farm, Allstate, Farmers, Geico, and a few "independent" companies whose names I can't recall. As a rule I would switch companies every two years to avoid premium creep. The worst claims service I ever received was from Geico. After watching their omnipresent commercials about how I could save 15% or more I called and asked them to review my coverage. They couldn't save me a dime so I switched to a company that could save me 15% or more and ended up with more coverage for less money. To date, AMICA has been the only company that hasn't raised my premiums every six months.
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investor1
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Re: Holy Geico Batman!

Post by investor1 »

Tycoon wrote:I've been driving for 34 years. I've had auto coverage with State Farm, Allstate, Farmers, Geico, and a few "independent" companies whose names I can't recall. As a rule I would switch companies every two years to avoid premium creep. The worst claims service I ever received was from Geico. After watching their omnipresent commercials about how I could save 15% or more I called and asked them to review my coverage. They couldn't save me a dime so I switched to a company that could save me 15% or more and ended up with more coverage for less money. To date, AMICA has been the only company that hasn't raised my premiums every six months.
I was with Progressive for a few years (~5) for auto insurance, and they never raised the rates until the end. In fact, they typically lowered the rates every six months. I shopped around when I signed up with them, and they were the best deal at the time.

Of course, they eventually wanted to raise the rates, so I shopped around. Geico was about 25% cheaper for the same coverage. I have been with them for less than six months, so I am still waiting to see if they try to raise the rates. Thus far, I don't have any complaints about Geico other than they took my money for six months of coverage which didn't yield me anything since I didn't get into an accident, but they all do that :)
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frugaltype
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Re: Holy Geico Batman!

Post by frugaltype »

I'm very happy with AMICA.

Note that the quotes people are getting from AMICA may not be taking into account the annual refund/dividend that people get. For my two cars and liability (don't know how the refund breaks down since I pay with one check) that is about 30%.
slick_dealer_05
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Re: Holy Geico Batman!

Post by slick_dealer_05 »

We have two drivers and two cars with Amica. Annual cost = $885
Leesbro63
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Re: Holy Geico Batman!

Post by Leesbro63 »

Prior to 4 years ago I had ENCOMPASS for years. Three cars, house and umbrella. Then there was a huge rate hike so I switched to Travelers. They were fine the first renewal but the second one had big jump in premium in the homeowners...huge in fact. To my surprise, Encompass bid at a lower cost than what I had paid before the big hike 4 years ago. AMICA, by the way which I shopped, was DOUBLE the Encompass premium. So I've been with Encompass and just got the Aug 1 renewal which actually DECREASED a slight bit. I think my son, who just passed the 3 year driving mark (age 19) with no claims, may have crossed into a cheaper tier or something, thus the slight decrease.
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interplanetjanet
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Re: Holy Geico Batman!

Post by interplanetjanet »

soaring wrote:
P&C actuary wrote: The highest liability offered at GEICO is 250,000 per person/500,000 per accident. We have $500,000 per person/per accident. I am not changing to save $56 and have less liability coverage.
Maybe states are different. My Florida Geico auto policy liability limits are 500,00 per person/750,000 per accident, property 500,000.
I think there must be differences - I had 1m/1m liability with my Geico auto policy for a while, until I purchased an umbrella. They won't sell more than 500k uninsured motorist coverage to me, though, which is annoying.

I've been with Geico for about ten years now, and have dealt with several claims over the years. Their service has always been excellent and I haven't felt that they've tried to "cheap out" on anything. I've shopped around with other insurers and none have been cheaper for me, but some have come close. Note that insurance rates are heavily dependent on both your location and driving history, so this information may not be very useful - you really need to shop around for yourself.

I pay about $800/yr for two older drivers/two older vehicles with full coverage, high limits. I really should drop collision coverage, but we've been the victim of more than a usual number of other (at-fault) drivers and I'm a bit hesitant.
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Re: Holy Geico Batman!

Post by Dumbo »

investor1 wrote:
Tycoon wrote: I am still waiting to see if they try to raise the rates.
They automatically decreased my rates after 1 year of service. I didn't even ask for it. It was $130/month now it's $109 a month. That happened with the new calendar year - 2013. I never bothered to ask why or how.
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JoeJohnson
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Re: Holy Geico Batman!

Post by JoeJohnson »

Thanks for the reminder to shop around after my recent vehicle purchase.

Went from $788/yr at State Farm to $568/yr with Geico.
Gleevec
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Re: Holy Geico Batman!

Post by Gleevec »

I love GEICO, plus you can get the Berkshire Hathaway shareholder discount if you use them!
stlutz
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Re: Holy Geico Batman!

Post by stlutz »

Do you happen to know a personal injury attorney? Ask them what insurers they like. They would know who actually pays claims and who doesn't.
Bill M
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Re: Holy Geico Batman!

Post by Bill M »

The Geico ads always bothered me. They advertise 97% customer satisfaction rating; and it seems about right that 3% of customers make claims. I just don't like the way that adds up.
arthurb999
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Re: Holy Geico Batman!

Post by arthurb999 »

Used to have allstate. Switched to Gieco and saved a ton of money. Got my homeowners through them as well (the were the broker there, not the insurer)... again a great price.
Very happy with thier pricing.
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Re: Holy Geico Batman!

Post by Toons »

arthurb999 wrote:Used to have allstate. Switched to Gieco and saved a ton of money. Got my homeowners through them as well (the were the broker there, not the insurer)... again a great price.
Very happy with thier pricing.
+1 :happy
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Re: Holy Geico Batman!

Post by Sam I Am »

Message deleted.
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EHoops
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Re: Holy Geico Batman!

Post by EHoops »

Based on this thread, I looked into GEICO and we are saving $350 this year in auto alone for the same policies that we had -- we are actually paying $358 for 6 months and I think it might go down a bit at that point. Two drivers, two Honda autos. Wow and thanks.
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Re: Holy Geico Batman!

Post by OAG »

Looked at GEICO (mainly dur to this thread) got a quote but was only able to approximate current USAA coverages (close enough tho).The price on the surface was considerably cheaper but looking below the surface I find I get a small discount on my Condo policy (also USAA) due to multiple policies, and last year I received a USAA Savers Account deposit that more than offset any GEICO premium difference on the auto policy.
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Abe
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Re: Holy Geico Batman!

Post by Abe »

We have two drivers and two vehicles with Geico. Annual cost = $831.00
I changed to Geico in 2008 because they were $332.00 a year cheaper than anything else I could find. They have gone up some, but I'm sure the others have too.
Slow and steady wins the race.
Rushmore
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Re: Holy Geico Batman!

Post by Rushmore »

I just went from $1820 for a Honda and BMW to $1175 using GEICO. (Massachusetts generally has expensive car insurance.) Loving the switch to GEICO, wish I had thought to shop at GEICO years ago. I shopped around at many other insurance companies, and GEICO won hands down. --Rushmore
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ejvyas
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Re: Holy Geico Batman!

Post by ejvyas »

Rushmore wrote:I just went from $1820 for a Honda and BMW to $1175 using GEICO. (Massachusetts generally has expensive car insurance.) Loving the switch to GEICO, wish I had thought to shop at GEICO years ago. I shopped around at many other insurance companies, and GEICO won hands down. --Rushmore
GEICO entered MA somewhere in 2009-10 after they eliminated some price regulation. Happy since then :)
core5
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Re: Holy Geico Batman!

Post by core5 »

I have USAA. I ran into another car a few weeks ago and it was my fault. Fortunately, it was a low-speed impact and no one was hurt (brake distance was just short). I called USAA first and didn't bother with the police, since I knew they'd probably ticket me for the accident.

The USAA representative took statements and asked questions of both parties, and recorded it. The other car was still functional, but mine had a radiator leak. USAA towed mine, took care of the salvage dealings (they called it totaled) and deposited a check into my account three days after I mailed them the title. They paid very well for my loss, which I've heard can be a problem at other companies.

I never heard what they did with the other party, but they had contact info, so I assume they were taken care of.

I really just wanted to get the whole thing over with, and USAA was very quick about it. They also approved a loan at 2.25% for 4 years (same rate for 3 years) for a lightly used car I found.

I'm aware that they charge more for insurance than some other providers, but I think they offer very good "real" coverage when claims actually happen.
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Re: Holy Geico Batman!

Post by Blessed2BNUSA »

I have been reading Bogleheads for a while and this post finally made me want to add my 2 cents.

Last summer I was about to back up when a car flew around a curve lost control and slid into me sideways. I had two witnesses that said it was the other drivers fault. I was about to call the police, but the driver gave me his Geico policy card and took full responsibility verbally and wrote "my fault" across his policy card which he gave me.

I never dreamed I would have any problem having my vehicle fixed so as I was driving home, I called Geico. They ask me if I had been drinking while driving carpool and all sorts of interrogating questions. A few days later & I call Geico to be told that I had to get all the parents of the children that were in my car to call or send in written statements that they were OK before they could process my claim. I did this then my insurance called me to say they had received a claim. Geico had counter claimed which I didn't know they could do and said that I had failed to yield. I then provided the written proof to my insurance and had them call the 2 witness. Geico dropped the claim but would not pay for my vehicles damage.
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Re: Holy Geico Batman!

Post by JoeJohnson »

Blessed2BNUSA wrote:I have been reading Bogleheads for a while and this post finally made me want to add my 2 cents.

Last summer I was about to back up when a car flew around a curve lost control and slid into me sideways. I had two witnesses that said it was the other drivers fault. I was about to call the police, but the driver gave me his Geico policy card and took full responsibility verbally and wrote "my fault" across his policy card which he gave me.

I never dreamed I would have any problem having my vehicle fixed so as I was driving home, I called Geico. They ask me if I had been drinking while driving carpool and all sorts of interrogating questions. A few days later & I call Geico to be told that I had to get all the parents of the children that were in my car to call or send in written statements that they were OK before they could process my claim. I did this then my insurance called me to say they had received a claim. Geico had counter claimed which I didn't know they could do and said that I had failed to yield. I then provided the written proof to my insurance and had them call the 2 witness. Geico dropped the claim but would not pay for my vehicles damage.
Always always always always call the cops if the other person is at fault.
lindisfarne
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Re: Holy Geico Batman!

Post by lindisfarne »

There are other threads about Geico on this site. Doing a search for them might be informative in terms of getting answers to your questions.
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