Could Switching From Geico Really Save You 15% Or More On Your Car Insurance? (BRK-A, BRK-B, PGR, ALL)

Geico investors must ask themselves, on occasion, perhaps if Geico focused less on dressing Warren Buffett as Axl Rose and animating geckos with British accents in its commercials, and more on providing lower rates, maybe $500 million could be put back into Geico customers' pockets. There is no doubt Geico, owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway BRK BRK, spends exorbitant amounts of money on its catchy advertisements riddled with a talking gecko and humor, yet sometimes these advertisements have no connection to its supposed car insurance superiority. However, the roughly $500 million Geico spends on advertising each year is not without a large impact on American life. Geico's catchphrase, “Fifteen minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance,” has certainly become a recognizable household idiom. Nevertheless, the question remains: Is Geico's goal to be popular, or to provide the best car insurance rates? Of course, Progressive PGR, State Farm, and Allstate ALL are far from innocent . Though not quite as entertaining as a talking gecko, Progressive created the quirky Flo, who enlightens prospective customers as they peruse the car insurance retail store. State Farm drags family into the mix with their slogan “No wonder so many of your family and friends trust State Farm.” All-State makes car insurance a philosophical question, “Are you in good hands?” Are you really in good hands? Not all policies are created equal. Maybe Geico can save you 15% or more than other insurance companies. But who wants to total his car and be riding a bicycle to work because collision coverage is omitted in the plan? This is why not only cost, but value must be considered to choose the right coverage at the lowest cost. Perhaps Geico can save you 15% because of teaser rates. A common denominator in car insurance, phone services, banks, and many other service industries is that they love to offer steep discounts or rewards for the first month or six months, before boosting the rates to the regular price. Assuming it would be a hassle to switch over at this point, Geico is relying on consumer laziness in order to retain customers. Only the truly frugal consumer would capitalize on these low teaser rates and switch companies once they expire. Comparing competitors is strikingly simple. When Susie Jones picks up the phone to save 15% on her car insurance, Susie can also using the internet to look at hundreds of other competitor. In fact, Susie is starting to realize that she could save 15 minutes by just not calling Geico and, instead, use basic searching skills to find competitive insurance rates. Susie can save both time and money by instantly comparing insurance companies online and delivering her quotes in seconds to make an educated choice. No gecko required. Huh, maybe switching from Geico really could save you 15% or more on your car insurance. Happy driving.