GEICO may rock

My accident last week left me so physically unscathed that I haven’t learned anything valuable from it yet. I mean, it’s got me thinking and all that, but “don’t have deer run in front of you when you’re on the highway” probably won’t be the last lesson I glean from the experience. One thing I have figured out is that our car insurance may be surprisingly good.

Everyone has been courteous, prompt, professional, helpful, stuff you don’t automatically expect from your insurance company after an accident. I looked up consumer experiences after having a car totalled, and I braced for the worst. (Not GEICO-specific experiences for the most part, just general stuff, whatever I stumbled across.) To my untrained eye, the car was pretty messed up, and I was concerned that it was going to be repaired and not replaced. From what I read, you usually you don’t want your car totalled by the company because you’ll only get fair value for it, and fair value won’t replace the car. And “fair value” is pretty rough sometimes; at best, I was expecting low Blue Book value or something, again just based on what I read.

First, they did total the car; no games or anything. I mean, I saw it, and I’m not surprised, but I’m relieved that we won’t take on a vehicle that we wouldn’t have too much confidence in; as I mentioned, it’s pretty messed up. Second, the value they gave us for the car was almost double what my pessimistic, worst-case estimate had been. Still can’t replace the car without financing again, but it’s a real foothold and not some empty gesture. We’ll settle it on Monday, not even 2 weeks after the wreck. I have to admit that every time I see some kind of hospital scene on TV now, I think, “man, that really could have gone worse,” and that feeling now extends to how our insurance company has treated us.

What could have been a drawn out, bureaucratic nightmare has been so unexpectedly painless that I’m still waiting to wee what the catch is. I mean, maybe my premiums will double now or something and I’ll have a different feeling in 2 months, but so far, I couldn’t be happier with them or recommend them more highly. 

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