dgrenthum

So I was in a accident two years ago https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...Lesson-Learned

According to FL law my CAR insurance company was responsible for the first 10k (i dont get it either). So it was taken care of, not seriously injured and I got a new bike out of the deal. All is well.

Two years later Progressive bumps my rate up 5% not a big deal but I call Geico to make sure that the price is inline with whatever is current. When asked about whether i was in an accident, no matter who is at fault, I tell them what happened with my cyclist vs Car, and that I am unsure whether it applies. The gentleman i was on the phone was courtsey but he had never had the situation and had to speak to an underwriter.

So he comes back and tells me "Due to the nature of the accident we can not insure you" I asked if it was cause I was a cyclist. He replied "I cannot give out the details of how we write our policies, but we cannot insure you do to the nature of the risk"

WOW........................ Really.................cause I got hit by a car running a light two years ago I am uninsurable to geico

end rant

JanMM

Weird.
I probably would have just assumed he meant in an accident while driving a car.
Maybe your state insurance commission could shed some light on the situation.

Doohickie

Wow. If a company wouldn't insure me, I sure wouldn't give them my business.



I've been treated right by State Farm for almost 30 years; you might give them a call.

009jim

Hey you gotta change your perspective on this. There are lots of businesses out there trying to get customers. Occasionally you strike a business that seems to think they are sooo good they can pick and choose. To them I say "Good luck with that".

NightShift

The thread title makes it sound like the issue is you're a cyclist. This makes it sound like the issue is you were in an accident while committing a traffic violation. If it's the former then I can see why we should care, if it's the latter, well, call someone else. I guess my question is would their response have been different if you were riding a scooter or motorcycle.

Doug5150

Geico is the company that will not issue a policy, or will cancel your policy, if they find out that you own a radar detector....

...Even though it has been ruled as an illegal practice, and they have lost multiple court cases already, and paid out hefty fines for doing it.

And yet they still keep doing it. If you have a Geico policy and a radar detector, don't EVER let them find out that you have a radar detector.

wahoonc

Unfortunately the insurance companies can pick and choose and they can charge you what they want with in reason. We needed insurance for a specific piece of property, we only found one company that was willing to write a policy, and they ain't cheap.

Aaron

Shimagnolo

He was hit by a *car* that ran a red light.

Burton

Based on some stories I've heard about insurance companies - I personally think I'd stand a better chance of collecting something by buying lottery tickets.

thirdgenbird

is there a chance you said "i got hit riding my bike" and he heard:

lucille

That's the first thing I thought as well. I always make sure to say "bicycle" and not "bike" to non-cyclists.

Nermal

Yeah, I heard a conversation between a bicycle rider and a motorcyclist who didn't realize they were talking about different things. It got real interesting, for a while.

prathmann

I didn't see anything in the OP to indicate that Geico's policy is specifically related to the accident having happened on a bicycle. The agent's question was whether the potential customer had had any recent accidents regardless of fault. So it sounds like even accidents where the other party was at fault are regarded as negatives by Geico. Presumably that would be even more true of accidents involving personal injury claims - especially if Florida has partial no-fault laws under which the insurance company must pay out even if their customer is no at fault.

It would be interesting to hear if anyone has successfully switched to Geico in Florida after having a recent automobile crash (i.e. not involving any bicycles) in which they were not at fault but did have a personal injury claim.

dgrenthum

To reclarify and part of the reason i posted the link to the story, I was hit by a car while on my bicycle. The driver of the car was ticketed for invading my right of way and causing the accident. The reason I mentioned the accident to Geico was because they were asking for disclosure of all accidents. Since the accident was reported to my car insurance company and they had to pay out ~3k. I mentioned it. The first representative didnt know how it affected me getting insurance with them he made a phone call to the underwriter.

After that conversation they came back with the response that due to that incident they cannot insure me. I have no other accidents and no tickets in the last 5 years.

I understand that every company has the right to pick and choose who they have as customers and vice versa. Which is part of the reason for the post, besides blowing off steam, is to inform other cyclist of Geicos policy to not insure cyclist that have had a car vs bike accident, regardless of fault. I do not know whether that applies to cyclist in general, and if joe schmo said "i ride a bike" if they would insure them. Its just a FYI.

Retro Grouch 

Direct writers, like Geico, are generally a little cheaper. Losing the middleman has benefits but you also lose having an agent to speak up for you. That's why Allstate is currently advertising that you get a local agent.

prathmann

But, as far as I can tell, you also don't know if Geico's policy would be any different if your accident had been car vs. car, regardless of fault but involving a personal injury claim on your part. Your post seems to be implying that there's some kind of discrimination against cyclists as opposed to non-cyclists and I'm left wondering if you actually have any evidence of that.

When I've gotten car insurance quotes, incl. from Geico, I've never been asked whether I ride a bike, so I don't understand why you even speculate that Geico might not insure someone who just says they ride a bike but hasn't had any accident claims.

david58

Geico, Progressive, Esurance, etc are out to sell based on price, and have notoriously poor service (Geico has been rated poor for decades) - and today cater to those that will price shop for pennies difference. The average policy age, per my agent, for those companies is actually a bit under six months (consider that the standard policy term is six months). They are shaving costs as much as possible, and will pick and choose carefully who they insure. They want totally pristine driving records from their clients, and the fact that you were in an accident and filed a claim knocks you off their list.

There really is a benefit to staying with an insurer for a longer period. You end up with discounts, etc, based on multicar, longevity, etc. Chasing a few bucks from insurer to insurer doesn't work out well in the long term.

It is interesting, I watch these commercials and see that the savings the average customer gets by swapping to the advertiser's insurance company is more than my whole policy for one car. Curious - how does that work?

But again, Geico will be very choosy, since they sell a limited range of insurance types and are operation purely on price.

Retro Grouch 

I'm pretty sure that's a lie. Insurance companies are required to file their underwriting rules with the state insurance boards. It kind of backs up my previous point. Life is a lot easier when you have an agent, who has a personal vested interest in your business and who knows the rules, arguing in your behalf.

no motor?

Geico has humorous commercials, and a reputation for lousy insurance. Better to learn this sooner than the hard way later.

NightShift

You read it as the car ran the light. I read it as he ran the light.
I checked his other thread for clarification and neither one of them ran a red light.

dgrenthum

geez, prath. He came back from who he talked to and because of the nature of the accident they cannot insure me........... Nope, cant say that everyone that has any type of accident whether geico can or cannot insure, i dont write policies for them. Only relayed what he said. I know people that have had mulitple accidents and geico hasnt dropped them, but of course they are already on their insurance. I am sure you can think of 1000 different ways that you can say geico was in the right and there were some extenuating circumstances. FACT - Due to the nature of my Car vs bicycle accident Geico will not offer me a policy at any cost. He!! call them, if you doubt me.

I still have progressive so i am not in dire need or anything.... It was just something interesting that happened to me because i was a cyclist that had an accident and i am forwarding on the info. Not asking for anyone to sign a petition.... Just letting those interested know that something like this happens.

Koobazaur

Hmm I can kinda understand the logic, from a business point of view. Its not like insurance companies make those decisions on a whim; its all very scientific and research based. My gut feeling is: long long time ago they used to give insurance to people who were hit by a car while crossing a sidewalk, but after studying their clients they learned those were the same people who had a x % chance of getting into another accident, making them lose money x % of the time, which outweighed the profit they made from that sector. Simply put, statistically, taking on those people WILL make them lose money. Business is business.

Now while I say I understand the logic, I am not justifying or arguing in its favor. Personally, I would be pissed as heck in your case! I was hit by a car twice while on my bike (both cases the driver hit me while trying to pass me, so not my fault), and I would be annoyed if it somehow magically made my car driving skills appear worse.

jputnam

Did you say "bike" or "bicycle"? Perhaps as important, and hard for you to know, did the phone rep ask the underwriter clearly about a "bicycle" accident or a "bike" accident?

Quite possible the underwriter thinks you had an uninsured *motorcycle* accident. That could easily raise red flags, insurance companies don't like people who are willing to operate without insurance.

DataJunkie

Consider yourself lucky. Geico is downright awful in my experience as a former customer.

prathmann

But the OP's crash wasn't an 'uninsured' one. He specifically said that his auto insurance policy paid out a few thousand dollars to cover the personal injury expenses even though he wasn't at fault (presumably Florida has some form of no-fault insurance making his own insurance company liable). Insurance companies may or may not like people who are willing to operate without insurance, but they certainly don't like to pay claims. So in deciding whether to take on a new customer it's entirely reasonable for them to consider whether that person has a past history of causing his insurance company to have to pay claims $$. As David said above, the companies that compete entirely on price (incl. Geico) are looking for customers with clear records who have no recent claims.

I'm still not clear on why the OP thinks this has anything at all to do with his crash having been while cycling - in my experience insurance companies don't like to see past claims for car crashes any more than they like to see them for bicycle crashes.