The Auto Channel
The Largest Independent Automotive Research Resource
The Largest Independent Automotive Research Resource
Official Website of the New Car Buyer

Kanbay Report: Consumers Rank GEICO as the Top Performer


PHOTO

GEICO Captures Top Spot for Customer Service, Associate Training

WASHINGTON, Dec. 18 -- When the Kanbay Research Institute in 2006 asked consumers which insurer best met their needs, GEICO was the clear choice as the country's top performer.

Two factors stood out in the minds of those consumers -- GEICO's high regard for customer service and its focus on staff training and development.

Within the company it's well known that GEICO associates will go to heroic lengths to help their policyholders. There was the time, for example, that a GEICO counselor traced the location of a customer who had become unconscious while she was talking to him on his cell phone. While trying to keep a conversation going with him on one line, the counselor contacted the man's wife and his cell phone company on other lines to get his location. The cell phone company could get his approximate location based on a nearby cell tower and the GEICO counselor described his vehicle to the emergency medical team so they could quickly locate his car and provide medical care.

Another story from the company archives illuminates the service nature of GEICO associates:

A GEICO special investigator acted immediately when a minivan and pickup truck crashed at an intersection right in front of him. A former combat medic and police officer, he called 911 as he ran to assist the truck driver whose legs were pinned under the dashboard of his vehicle. Squeezing himself through the passenger-side door, the GEICO associate managed to force the dashboard up enough to release the pressure and then helped calm the victim. He crossed the muddy ditches near the accident scene to check on the minivan passengers where the situation was even more serious.

When the firefighters arrived, he assisted them in removing the driver from the truck, then borrowed a medical kit to splint the man's fractured leg. Somewhere in the confusion, his cell phone disappeared, and GEICO counted it as a small cost for such a heroic job.

The Kanbay Report is the latest survey that indicates GEICO is highly responsive to customer needs and one that consumers want to do business with. Among other recent awards and honors for GEICO:

  * Fortune: Berkshire Hathaway and GEICO ranked as the top property
    casualty insurer in the U.S. and the No. 7 U.S. company on its list of
    Most Admired Companies.

  * Ward's: GEICO was named to Ward's 50 Benchmark Group in 2006 for the
    16th consecutive year for its outstanding financial results in the areas
    of safety, consistency, and performance.

  * Web Marketing Association's WebAwards: GEICO earned both an Insurance
    Standard of Excellence Award and an Outstanding Web Site Award based on
    site design, innovation, content, ease of use, interactivity, technology
    and copywriting.

  * Washington Consumer's Checkbook: GEICO Voted Best Buy.

  * Forrester Survey: Consumers rated GEICO above the national average for
    simplicity of doing business, trustworthiness and benevolence.

  * Webby Award: GEICO earned Best Insurance Site Award.