Collision damage repair insurance questions (Geico)

[teartags]

My father used to have a windshield replacement business and they did LOTS of insurance claims. Geico was BY FAR the most difficult to collect from and they tried to pay as little as possible on each claim. He took them to court over a bunch of unpaid claims and won. There's a reason they're cheaper than everyone else.

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[twraps]

Slightly off topic I guess but I am also on GEICO and based on this now I am scared to drive my R1S… what insurance provider would you guys recommend?

 

[mcrivian]

My R1T got rear-ended earlier this year. I continued to drive it for months as it basically looked like it broke the hitch cover and nothing else. Finally took it in to a certified repair shop (Gold Coast Auto) and they said 31k in damage. GEICO totaled it out. Unreal really.

 

[invernite]

Slightly off topic I guess but I am also on GEICO and based on this now I am scared to drive my R1S… what insurance provider would you guys recommend?

Cincinnati through Rivian Insurance Agency has been great! I was involved in a collision and they handled it as well as could be. Will write up a separate post with details, but I highly recommend Cincinnati with full replacement car coverage.

 

[invernite]

My R1T got rear-ended earlier this year. I continued to drive it for months as it basically looked like it broke the hitch cover and nothing else. Finally took it in to a certified repair shop (Gold Coast Auto) and they said 31k in damage. GEICO totaled it out. Unreal really.

Was your FG? I might have seen it there when I took mine in to Gold Coast.

 

[mcrivian]

Was your FG? I might have seen it there when I took mine in to Gold Coast.

Yep that was me

 

[Count Orlok]

Slightly off topic I guess but I am also on GEICO and based on this now I am scared to drive my R1S… what insurance provider would you guys recommend?

for almost 20 years we had Amica but switched to STate Farm when Amica balked at insuring one of our properties (a 19th century farm house they had a hard time fitting into their system). State Farm has been excellent with my Rivian collision repairs and since the other guy also had state farm, I will get my $1,000 deductible back when the claim closes.

but with all things YMMV.

 

[NY_Rob]

FWIW- our i3 got rear-ended by a Geico policy holder last December.
A 100% classic rear-end hit with "their" vehicle having only front end damage and "our" vehicle only having rear end damage. I took plenty of 360deg photos of both vehicles upon arrival at the accident site and we had dashcam footage as well -I had installed one of those electronic rear view mirrors that records all trips (front and rear views) on to an SD card a year earlier. The next day we contacted Geico and sent them photos of both cars. A few days Geico called us, took our verbal "official" statement over the phone and after hearing our statement and seeing the photos told us they accepted 100% liability for the accident/repair costs.
Eventually the i3 got repaired ($17K repair bill) and Allstate (our insurance carrier) paid the Body shop, etc.. and started the subrogation process to get the $$ back from Geico who already accepted responsibility in a phone call to us (which they started by saying "this call is being recorded").

Well, fast forward 5 months after the accident and we get a phone call from Allstate claims stating that they need to record our account of the accident to be used against Geico because they have now reneged on their position of responsibility and the case is going to arbitration between the two insurance giants. That's the last we heard about it, but it just goes to show how bad some of these insurance carriers can be! You can have photos, statements and even video evidence and they still refuse to pay..

 

[twraps]

FWIW- our i3 got rear-ended by a Geico policy holder last December.
A 100% classic rear-end hit with "their" vehicle having only front end damage and "our" vehicle only having rear end damage. I took plenty of 360deg photos of both vehicles upon arrival at the accident site and we had dashcam footage as well -I had installed one of those electronic rear view mirrors that records all trips (front and rear views) on to an SD card a year earlier. The next day we contacted Geico and sent them photos of both cars. A few days Geico called us, took our verbal "official" statement over the phone and after hearing our statement and seeing the photos told us they accepted 100% liability for the accident/repair costs.
Eventually the i3 got repaired ($17K repair bill) and Allstate (our insurance carrier) paid the Body shop, etc.. and started the subrogation process to get the $$ back from Geico who already accepted responsibility in a phone call to us (which they started by saying "this call is being recorded").

Well, fast forward 5 months after the accident and we get a phone call from Allstate claims stating that they need to record our account of the accident to be used against Geico because they have now reneged on their position of responsibility and the case is going to arbitration between the two insurance giants. That's the last we heard about it, but it just goes to show how bad some of these insurance carriers can be! You can have photos, statements and even video evidence and they still refuse to pay..

That's horrible! I am not sure how these companies are legal... listening to people's stories makes me feel that all of these insurance execs should be in prison.

 

[NY_Rob]

That's horrible! I am not sure how these companies are legal... listening to people's stories makes me feel that all of these insurance execs should be in prison.

Back in the day, there was a lot of "he said/she said" around accidents and it was sometimes difficult to ferret out who was at fault.. but nowadays with clear cut video evidence from a dashcam that records front and rear action there is no defense against a everyday rear-end accident where following driver just wasn't paying attention and plowed in to a stopped vehicle. But.. as we see, this still doesn't dissuade low-live insurance companies from trying to get out of paying up.

 

[R1TSuzanne]

So an update:
Repair shop finally looked -without any teardown- at the truck almost two months later and gave us an estimate for the initial repair cost, Geico adjuster went the next day checked & approved the initial estimate & authorized a check with it. This has been a total nightmare for us, we decided to sell the vehicle as is, at this point losing some money but ending this chapter is worth it. Not having a vehicle for months on end with kids is just a nightmare. I’m not sure if Geico are the best insurance company but they were swift in approving the estimate & issuing the check. Im based in Illinois and there are only 3 or 4 certified rivian shops and they all refuse to deal with Geico and State Farm (maybe another company i forgot to mention).
Open to any questions

 

[Electrified Outdoors]

So an update:
Repair shop finally looked -without any teardown- at the truck almost two months later and gave us an estimate for the initial repair cost, Geico adjuster went the next day checked & approved the initial estimate & authorized a check with it. This has been a total nightmare for us, we decided to sell the vehicle as is, at this point losing some money but ending this chapter is worth it. Not having a vehicle for months on end with kids is just a nightmare. I’m not sure if Geico are the best insurance company but they were swift in approving the estimate & issuing the check. Im based in Illinois and there are only 3 or 4 certified rivian shops and they all refuse to deal with Geico and State Farm (maybe another company i forgot to mention).
Open to any questions

I hate that this happened to you. Thankful though that nobody was hurt.

Did you have rental car coverage on your policy?

It sucks to have this kind of experience.

Having rental coverage makes things a little easier and keeps you moving while the vehicle is being sorted. Also, I would have contacted some other repair shops that maybe could have gotten you in sooner. When things drag out it makes it that much more frustrating.

In the end though it sounds like the result was at least acceptable. Definitely wish it was a better experience for you though.

 

[R1TSuzanne]

Yes i have 30 days rental coverage that I wanted to use when the car was being fixed in June, but the shop kept saying sometime in June and we ended not using that benefit.
I now know the shoos take forever to look at your vehicle, tear it down, and then forevermore to order parts which take weeks to arrive. So I would definitely have a rental on my insurance and more than 30days!
There’s only 3 (or 4) certified shops in Illinois and they all refuse to deal with geico, State Farm and some other company as well, i called two and they were rude & one hung up on me when i said geico!
I couldn’t tow my truck to another state because i have kids and limited time.
Thank you ? and hopefully nobody goes through this nightmare.
and yes i will still use Geico because they haven’t done anything wrong in this whole thing, they replaced car seats etc swiftly, i cant speak to what would have happened if additional repairs were needed.

 

[Electrified Outdoors]

Yes i have 30 days rental coverage that I wanted to use when the car was being fixed in June, but the shop kept saying sometime in June and we ended not using that benefit.
I now know the shoos take forever to look at your vehicle, tear it down, and then forevermore to order parts which take weeks to arrive. So I would definitely have a rental on my insurance and more than 30days!
There’s only 3 (or 4) certified shops in Illinois and they all refuse to deal with geico, State Farm and some other company as well, i called two and they were rude & one hung up on me when i said geico!
I couldn’t tow my truck to another state because i have kids and limited time.
Thank you ? and hopefully nobody goes through this nightmare.
and yes i will still use Geico because they haven’t done anything wrong in this whole thing, they replaced car seats etc swiftly, i cant speak to what would have happened if additional repairs were needed.

That's unacceptable that you were treated that way. If those shops are Rivian certified and they treated you that way I would share the experience you had with Rivian.

Insurance companies will make you jump through hoops...some more than others. Not that it's any consolation but service is challenging right now too with some folks waiting three months for an appointment.

I'm confident that Rivian will sort these issues in time. It's important for folks like yourself to share these experiences with Rivian so they can use this info to improve the customer experience.

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