Sean O'Gorman: fahrvergnugen:
GIECO fell off of our radar a few years back when our son was attending Ohio State and had them. He got hit by a hit-and-run vehicle and we tried to get it covered under the uninsured motorist coverage (works for other insurance companies). Low and behold GIECO claimed that there was mistake when the policy was issued two years prior because the State of Ohio insurance laws "prohibited" the sale of uninsured motorist coverage in that state. GIECO was going to be gracious and refund the extra money we had paid for this added coverage, but they were NOT going to cover the damage to the car! I went ballistic!
I researched the Ohio statutes and it turns out that more recent Ohio law does not "require" insurance companies to offer uninsured motorist coverage, but it is NOT prohibited from offering. When they called me back I laid into them. The guy made some comment about do giving them "attitude" as they were again going to be gracious and cover the damage to the car, but no more uninsured coverage after that.
The better part of valor here was to take the money and run... which we did and then cancelled the bastards. That little gecko is a slimmy jerk. I wish somebody with good Photoshop and FinalCut skills would make a parody commercial of that little gecko getting run over by a car!
I absolutely bash GIECO every chance I get. They can save your 15% in 15 minutes and cheat you out of thousands of dollars in a heartbeat! I've been with State Farm for decades and had excellent service and no nasty surprise rate increases, even after I went through a period of having two separate unattentive women plow into my cars within 2 months of each other!
Are you talking about uninsured motorist bodily injury coverage, or uninsured motorist property damage coverage? Because if you have collision on a car, there is no reason to have the uninsured motorist property damage coverage, the uninsured motorist is covered under your collision coverage. If you didn't have collision on your son's car, that's a different story. They can't deny coverage on something you've been paying a premium on.
Additionally, there is alot of misinformation on this thread. An insurance company can't deny a claim on the basis that you had a radar detector, that's bad faith. You can do all sorts of stupid stuff and still be covered. DUIs, going 150 MPH and losing control, getting in a random street race, etc. Intentional acts are obviously not covered, so don't go crashing into your ex-wife. Also, the policy wording I've seen on every policy I've ever read excludes any sort of competition, and that includes autocross. There is, however, a handful of companies that will cover losses that occur in an HPDE.
Alex Jones, if you are reading this thread still, PM me about the details of your friend's incident. There aren't grounds for a claim to be denied like that.
There is certainly a fair amount of misinformation in this thread, however that does not mean it is NOT true recounts of events that have taken place. Many companies thrive on the 'stupidity' of their clients and have no desire to make good on their 'promises' as coverage providers. What I find slightly, well ok more than slightly amusing here is that no one, even an licensed agent caught this and brought it up. Just because your vehicle is victim to a hit and run accident does NOT mean the damage should or even will be covered by Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist coverage. Do yourself a quick reality check here and realize that just because it was a hit and run does NOT and I will repeat again, NOT mean the driver was Uninsured. Now I refuse in any way, shape, or form to stand up for or behind the slimy little lizard ever in my life, imo that is Buffett's worst business call of all time, but all the same, the damage caused here was NOT an Uninsured motorist accident. You cannot prove that the offending driver was Uninsured at the time of accident, all you can prove is they did not stick around to take the heat.
Every state is different in their insurance laws, some much better than others, but there is one reoccurring theme across all states, they are free to not renew your policy for any number of reasons and none of which actually require a full on explanation. Think of this almost like employment at will states where an employer does not need a reason to fire you other than "You're Fired!" Sure some states still use the wonderful state plan where any at risk drivers can still have their policy written and serviced by a higher end provider such as a State Farm, Allstate, Nationwide or whoever you feel is just wonderful, but are covered by the state and as a result that plan cannot operate in the red. When this happens, everyone including drivers with zero claims ever help pick up the tab and cover the bad drivers.
If you want to know what kind of agent you are working with, forget ever talking to the agent, talk to their staff. Thats where you will get the real dirt on what goes on with your policies. The agents more often than not are simply a name and face that only show up when required and the staff is trained to the same level, only difference is they are the ones writing and servicing your policies. Sorry if any agents are offended by this but in all fairness you cannot and should not try to dispute this. Sure there are some agents who are in their office 5-6 days a week working hard for their policy holders but they are a rare exception to the rule and any honest one will agree instantly.
Rob S.
116 FS 2008 Ford Mustang Bullitt
South Carolina Region