GEICO Tops 5 Million Policyholders

Wanda Jankovich of Huntsville Earns Honored Spot in GEICO Record Books

WASHINGTON and DALLAS, April 9 -- GEICO, the country's largest direct marketer of auto insurance, today is celebrating the addition of its record-high 5 millionth policyholder. Earning a coveted spot in the company record books is Wanda Jankovich of Huntsville, Texas.

Gary Brown, GEICO's regional vice president for Dallas operations, contacted Ms. Jankovich to thank her personally for choosing GEICO as her automobile insurer.

"We really surprised her with the news. I let her know this is certainly a great milestone for the company," noted Brown. "It shows GEICO's strong and steady growth. We'll do our share of celebrating here in Dallas and then it's back to business. We all look forward to that 10 millionth policyholder."

LaToya Warren, a sales counselor in GEICO's Dallas regional office, sold the policy during the early evening hours of Sunday, March 23. According to Ms. Jankovich, her experience with GEICO's LaToya Warren was "exceptionally courteous" when she called GEICO then for a policy quote. Ms. Jankovich's daughter, also a GEICO policyholder, referred her to GEICO.

"We know our low rates make us very attractive to buyers," said Chairman Tony Nicely. "That, plus our dedication to giving customers a superior service experience helped us reach this 5 million customer level. We are enjoying our good fortune today with celebrations around the country. All of our 20,000 associates worked hard to make this happen and I congratulate them."

GEICO has gained more than 2 million policyholders in the past five years. Annual growth rates during that time have reached as high as 24 percent. GEICO currently insures 8.4 million vehicles.

To handle the company's rising number of policyholders, GEICO has increased the number of associates in the past five years from 9,000 to more than 20,000 associates today. A new Tucson service office was opened earlier this year.

GEICO operates six regional offices (Fredericksburg, Va.; Woodbury, N.Y.; Macon, Ga.; San Diego, Calif.; Dallas, Texas; and Lakeland, Fla.) and four service centers (Virginia Beach, Va.; Coralville, Iowa; Honolulu, Hawaii; and Tucson, Ariz.). Corporate headquarters is in Washington, D.C. GEICO is wholly owned by Berkshire Hathaway.