Geico vs. Progressive

So, yesterday we got our bill for the six-month renewal of our car insurance from Geico. This was the first premium we've had to pay since I got in a car accident a few months ago. The premium had increased by $142 for six months. That's more than $23 more per month. That seems like a lot, especially right now when we're trying to save money.

Also, I'm not thrilled with Geico right now. I mean, from what I've heard from other people we should just generally be glad that they accepted our claim and paid for everything except our deductible, and we did find that they handled the claim well (except for the part where they stranded us in a parking lot for a couple hours after the accident, but I think that was the rental car company's fault) and were polite and efficient on the phone.

BUT. They referred us to one of their "preferred garages," meaning a collision shop where there's a Geico adjuster on site, and they pay directly for the repairs (post-deductible), rather than us having to pay and be reimbursed. We figured this would be a good plan since if there was a problem, we would have recourse with both the garage and with Geico.

And, well... I mean, maybe that's true. The garage fixed the car. It looked good when we got it back. Except for a couple small things:

• When we picked up the car, the brakes were wonky. It felt like there was air in the brake line or something. When we called the garage about this, they said they hadn't worked on the brakes so it couldn't have been their fault.
• The windshield now has a bunch of tiny scratches on it from where they rubbed it with a dirty cloth. We have no way of proving that they did this, even though we know the scratches weren't there before.
  
• The driver's side lock, though functional, always remains in the locked position, whether it's locked or not. When I called them about this, they told me to come in any time so they could take a look. When I came in, they looked at it and told me they'd have to tear the door down to find out what the problem was, and they didn't have time to do it that day, so I'd have to make an appointment to come back, AND THEN after that I'd need ANOTHER appointment to have it fixed once the part came in. Which is good and well, but why did they tell me to just come in whenever in the first place? Everything that happened when I brought the car in could have been discussed over the phone. What a freaking waste.
• The panel below the glove compartment on the passenger side fell off one day a couple weeks after we got the car back. Turned out one of the latches that holds it in place was broken, most likely by a mechanic who was in the car and kicked it by mistake. Torsten managed to wedge it back in place, so it's not a big deal, but when I told the garage about it, they said they hadn't worked on the inside of the car so it couldn't be their fault.
• The hood, which they replaced, now has a small crack in it, which needs to be repaired so it doesn't rust. It looks like a tension crack caused by a shoddy paint job. However, when I showed it to the guys at the garage, they said that it was caused by something falling on the hood. We have no way of proving what caused it, so it's our word against theirs, and guess who wins when that happens?
• Also, not that this is a big deal, but when we got the car back the trunk was full of trash. Plastic, empty boxes, old seat belt mechanisms. Obviously we just threw it away ourselves, but isn't that weird? Why wouldn't they just toss the trash in their own dumpster?

This garage, it's worth noting, offers what they call a lifetime guarantee on their work. So, to recap: five problems with the car, two relatively serious (brakes and hood), and the only one they're willing to fix is the door lock, which is the least important. And there's nothing we can do about this.

After talking to a few other people about our experience, I've come to the conclusion that the way Geico is able to charge so much less than other insurance companies is through using shoddy garages that cut corners. We didn't know this before, and of course we have no confirmation still, but let's just say that I would never use that garage again, ever. And I'm not so impressed that Geico referred us there. But Geico was SO much cheaper than everywhere else, so maybe we would have gone with them even if we had known? Who knows.

ANYWAY, now that they've raised our rates considerably, guess what! They aren't the cheapest anymore! I was able to get the exact same policy with the exact same levels of coverage with Progressive, after informing them of the details of the at-fault accident, for $58 less over six months. That's $116 less than we'd be paying with Geico per year. Of course, it's still $170/year more than we were paying before the accident, but oh well. There's nothing we can do about that.

Also, even though I didn't really want to do this considering that we aren't big fans of Geico anymore, I did call Geico to tell them about the Progressive quote and find out if they were willing to match it. They weren't. And that settled it.

So! We are now insured with Progressive. Or at least, we will be, starting in February. And I could not be happier to be leaving Geico behind.