Can I really save 15 percent on car insurance?
Can GEICO really save me 15 percent on my car insurance in 15 minutes?
I'm sure you've heard GEICO's claim they can save you 15 percent on your car insurance. Can they really? The only way to know for sure is to get a GEICO car insurance quote and find out for yourself!
How can GEICO claim to be able to save you 15%? It's all in the numbers, and their appetite for car insurance business. Companies can control the type of consumer that purchases a car insurance policy simply by adjusting the rate factors for their policies. For example, if a company wants to write only middle-aged drivers with excellent credit and good driving history, they will give the best pricing to those customers when they get free comparison quotes.
Since car insurance rates must be filed with each state's insurance department, other companies know how their rates will stack up against the competition. So when you see websites that show the rates of other car insurance companies and wonder how they do that, it's simply applying the different filed rates to the quote information provided by the consumer.
By targeting a specific type of driver, GEICO is able to provide a better rate which results in more new car insurance policies issued for those drivers. Since drivers will more than likely switch companies to take advantage of this savings, and drivers indicate their prior car insurance premium when getting a GEICO quote, GEICO is able to determine how much lower their rates are on average than the consumer's prior carrier. Over time, this magic number is roughly 15%, which allows GEICO to claim to save you 15 percent on your auto insurance.
Does GEICO always save you 15%? Don't bet on it. You may actually save more than that, or their rates may be higher than your current carrier. It all depends on your age, driving history, credit score, marital status, the types of vehicles you drive, your claims history and many more factors. Other companies such as State Farm actually advertise larger car insurance savings than GEICO, and the same type of selective "cherry picking" allows them to do so. The more restrictive the criteria, and the lower the filed rates are for this select market, the higher the potential savings are for car insurance consumers. So don't assume the advertised savings applies to you, as you'll need to get your own comparison quote to find out if you're part of the chosen market.
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