Chicago Body Shop Workers Stage Accidents to Scam GEICO
Three former body shop workers from Chicago admitted to staging fake accidents in exchange for kickbacks from a GEICO claims adjuster, the Chicago Tribune reported. Adam Wiktorczyk, Tomasz Klepka and Stanislaw Szczerbinski, who worked at the former AAAA Auto Care, pleaded guilty March 1 to submitting false claims to GEICO. The trio was accused of
Court Rejects Class Action on GEICO Insurance Fraud
The 7th Circuit Court in Chicago dismissed a man’s prospective class action that accused GEICO of omitting necessary repairs from its collision-damage estimates because he donated his car to charity after the crash instead of choosing to fix it, Courthouse News reported. The ruling supported the decision of an Illinois federal court that ruled in
GEICO Awards $1,500 Tool Grants Via Collision Repair Education Foundation
The Collision Repair Education Foundation (formerly the I-CAR Education Foundation) and GEICO Philanthropic Foundation have announced the winners of the GEICO Tool Grant Program. The program will offer $1,500 in tool purchases for the selected schools. The schools selected for this award are in New York; Washington, D.C.; Florida and California and were applicants for
STRANGE BUT TRUE: Man Crashes Into GEICO Auto Xpress Building
Now that’s what you call drive-up service…or should we say drive-through service? At least the driver involved in an accident in Fresno, Calif., won’t have to bother hunting around town for a body shop. Why? Because he crashed right into one – specifically, a GEICO Auto Xpress building. Investigators say the car was headed east
Connecticut DOI Fines GEICO Companies $177,500
Four GEICO subsidiaries were fined a total of $177,500 for improper rating, claim delays, failing to for pay loss of use and employing unlicensed adjusters, among other violations, Connecticut Insurance Commissioner Thomas R. Sullivan announced. The total fine amount is a result of smaller fines assessed to subsidiary companies. Violations and fines varied by company:
Ohio Body Shop Nabs Best Cycle Time for GEICO
Montrose Collision Center in Fairlawn, Ohio, recently learned that it finished No. 1 in the nation for cycle time of driveable vehicles for the GEICO Auto Repair Express program. The collision facility notched 1.2 days, ahead of second-place finisher AMM Collision Center of Austin, Texas (1.3) and third-place finisher Bill Luke Dodge of Phoenix, Ariz.
Missouri Shop Selected for GEICO’s ARX Program
Schaefer Autobody Centers’ O’Fallon, Mo., location was chosen to participate in GEICO’s Auto Repair Xpress program. Schaefer Autobody Centers originally opened in 1985 at its current location in Webster Groves, Mo. The O’Fallon location opened in 2000. Other locations include Crestwood, Ellisville, Fenton and Creve Coeur. Schaefer says its growth has been the result of
GEICO’s Popular Characters Missing from New Ad Campaign
GEICO, which spent $561 million in advertising in 2008 and $473 million through October 2009, has set aside the cavemen, the gecko and Kash, the googly-eyed pile of money, to introduce a new ad campaign entitled, "Rhetorical Questions." The new ads spotlight GEICO’s claim that car owners can reap great savings by purchasing car insurance
Minnesota DOI Fines GEICO $30,000 for Underpayment of Claims
Minnesota Commissioner of Commerce Glenn Wilson has issued a consent order to GEICO alleging that the company violated a state claims practice statute that requires insurers to pay "all costs for the satisfactory repair" of a claimant’s vehicle. GEICO was ordered to pay a civil penalty of $30,000 and to cease and desist from any
GEICO Donates $21,000 to I-CAR Education Foundation
Along with donating $15,000 to the I-CAR Education Foundation’s Collision Repair Education Campaign, the GEICO Philanthropic Foundation announced additional scholarship opportunities for students studying collision repair. The GEICO Scholarship Program will offer a $1,500 tuition-and-tool-purchase scholarship to each of four recipients – $1,000 for tuition reimbursement and $500 for tool purchases – for an additional