Complaint Review: Geico Insurance Company - Nationwide

In 2013, I was hit stop at a green light in the rear by an uninsured motorist. Both cars were damage and the uninsured motorist's car was impounded.  The uninsured motorist was ticketed for driving on a suspended license and for not having valid insurance.  I suffered a neck injury that required that I recieve extended medical treatment and pain management. I had $25,000 in medical insurance. I hired an attorney to handle the claim. Over the past 30 years I have only had two car accidents. The one that occured in 2013 and one that occurred in 2011. However, I was not insured by Geico in 2011. Geico lawyers refused to settle the claim stating that I had staged the accident. Geico lawyers suggested my damages were related to the accident I had in 2011.

The Geico lawyers deposed police officers and other witnesses attempting to prove that the accident did not occur. Geico lawyers even attempted to correlate my unemployment status with the occurrance of the accident. Even though, I informed the lawyers that I am unemployed by choice because I selected to care for my 94 year old mother and work on my doctoral degree.  I am currently working on my dissertation. During the deposition and arbitration I was treated like a criminal not like a customer. I have never been in prison nor jail and have an excellent driving record. I have no history of deceptive practices Each month I pay my insurance premium for my automobile. But when I filed a claim for an accident that was not my fault, Geico treated me horribly.

Instead of fairly settling my claim Geico opt to pay three affluent arbitrators a maximum of $20, 000 each, in accordance with my insurance policy, to arbitrate my claim. The arbitration decision resulted $1500.00 settlement. I refused to accept the arbitration decision and informed my attorney that I will file a civil suit. The attorney that I hired was fearful of Geico and did not advocate effectively. Geico undervalued my claim and paid three arbitrators to bully me into a settlement. Geico used the policy arbitration requirements to force me to present in front of arbitration panel that they claimed was neutral and fair. In my opinion the arbitration process was unfair.

The arbitrators were paid by Geico and each arbitrator could charge as much as $20.000 in arbitration fees. My policy is on $50,000/100, 000 per occurrance. The Geico lawyer offered a settlement of $1,100 and the arbitrators agreed to $1500. This a joke and abuse of the arbitation system.  52 percent of accidents that occur are caused by uninsured motorists in most communities in Illinois. If Geico does not want to fairly settle uninsured motorist claims, Geico should stop offering uninsured motorist policys. I am going to address this issue with my U.S Senator. I know Geico is the third largest insurance company for car insurance but in opinion Geico is unfair and the company's unfair practices must stop.