Used to be, if you had unexplained damage to your car--for example, if someone dented your fender in a parking lot then skeedaddled--you'd call GEICO, they'd send an adjuster out who'd put together an estimate, then you'd make a decision whether or not to move ahead with it based on cost, deductible, etc. Now the onus is on the insured to take it around to body shops for estimates. GEICO has adopted the Walmart business model of making customers unpaid employees.
@BlueMan2 my wife’s car was hit by a State Farm insured driver; same thing.
@BlueMan2 my motivation to investigate came from an hours long phone extravaganza to get AAA motor club to honor the warranty on one of their car batteries.
@CanisPundit We have Travelers homeowner's insurance. Made a claim about 10 years ago when a big tree branch fell on the roof during an ice storm. They fixed it. Would have preferred a new roof, but it's still holding. The only other car insurance we've used was State Farm. They wanted to jack our rates up in '95 when I bought a Mustang because it was a "sportscar". I went to GEICO and ended up paying less than I was for my previous car, a Taurus.