Geico vs. Progressive: Cost & Coverage Comparison (2024) (2024)

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In our industry-wide review, we ranked Geico and Progressive similarly overall — both were high on our list of the best auto insurance providers. However, the two insurers are not identical.

Is Progressive or Geico Better?

Here’s a snapshot of Geico vs. Progressive:

Geico has some of the lowest rates on average nationwide. It is a financially stable insurer that earns high marks for customer satisfaction, according to its ratings from AM Best and the BBB. For these reasons, we named Geico our choice as the Best for Budget Conscious drivers among top car insurance providers. Geico also has one of the simplest online signup processes.

Progressive, like Geico, is a financially stable company with a positive industry reputation. We recognized Progressive as being the best for tech-savvy drivers because of its high technology scoring and app ratings.

Both Geico and Progressive offer full coverage insurance options. This means that each insurer provides the six standard types of car insurance coverage:

• Liability: Liability car insurance is broken into bodily injury liability and property damage liability coverage. This type of policy pays for damages to other parties’ vehicles and persons after an accident for which you are at fault. Liability insurance is required in most states.
• Collision: Collision insurance covers repair costs for your own vehicle after an accident or if your vehicle flips. Collisions with animals are not covered by this coverage.
• Comprehensive: Comprehensive insurance pays for repair costs if your vehicle is damaged by animals, natural disasters or fire. This type of coverage also pays to replace your vehicle if it is stolen or vandalized.
• Medical payments (MedPay): This coverage pays for the medical expenses of you and your passengers after an accident.
• Personal injury protection (PIP): This coverage pays for medical expenses for you and your passengers, as well as pain and suffering damages and compensation for lost wages if you cannot work due to accident-related injuries. It is required in many no-fault states.
• Uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM): Uninsured motorist coverage pays for your property and injury expenses if you are involved in a hit-and-run. It also covers accidents with drivers that do not have insurance or do not have high enough policy limits to cover the full cost of your damages. UM is required in some states.

We recommend that most drivers carry full coverage, but many drivers carry only the minimum liability limits in their state. Our team surveyed 1,000 car insurance customers in 2022 and found that about 25% of drivers carry minimum coverage and about 67% carry full coverage. Of those who have full coverage policies, 45% have high limits and 55% have low limits.

Additional Coverage Options

Along with standard auto insurance policies, both Geico and Progressive offer additional coverage options like roadside assistance and rideshare insurance.

*Accurate at time of publication.

Progressive offers more add-on insurance options, though they may not be relevant if you don’t want or need this extra coverage.

Usage-based Insurance Comparison

Both Geico and Progressive haveusage-based insurance programs(also sometimes called telematics). These programs monitor your driving habits and provide premium discounts for safe driving.

Geico’s usage-based insurance option is called DriveEasy. The program monitors your driving through a mobile app that tracks your phone use, speed and hard braking. The Progressive usage-based program is called SnapshotⓇ. Snapshot also tracks your driving habits through a mobile app or plug-in device, monitoring what time of day you drive, changes in speed, phone use and the amount that you drive.

The Snapshot program is available in all states exceptCaliforniaandNorth Carolina.

Currently, DriveEasy is only available to drivers in Washington, D.C., and 28 states:Alabama,Arizona,Colorado,Connecticut,Florida,Georgia,Idaho,Illinois, Indiana,Iowa,Louisiana,Kentucky,Maryland,Minnesota, North Carolina, Nebraska,Nevada,New Jersey, New Mexico,Ohio,Oklahoma,Oregon,Pennsylvania,Tennessee,Texas,Utah,Virginiaand Wisconsin.

Of course, costs vary by driver, and your rates are determined by a number of factors, including:

• Age
• Driving history
• Marital status
• State
• City
• Vehicle
• Policy limits
• Credit score (in some states)

The only way to find out which provider will be cheaper for you is to reach out for car insurance quotes from both. The insurer that is more affordable may depend on the discounts you qualify for.

Geico vs. Progressive Discount Comparison

While both Geico and Progressive offer similar savings opportunities, there are a few differences in their available discounts. A full breakdown of the discounts offered by each provider is shown below.

Progressive has some additional money-saving features on top of the discounts that it offers. These include:

• Deductible savings bank: For every policy period without an accident or violation, $50 is subtracted from your comprehensive or collision deductible (requires an additional fee to opt-in).
• Small accident forgiveness: Progressive won’t raise your rates after the first claim if it’s below $500.
• Large accident forgiveness: If you have a Progressive policy for five years and stay accident-free for three, your rates will not increase after an accident.

Geico offers accident forgiveness as an add-on coverage that can be purchased up front, or it will be automatically added to your policy after going long enough without filing a claim. Availability and details vary by state.

When comparing Geico vs. Progressive in terms of customer service reviews, Geico generally performs better. In the J.D. Power 2022 U.S. Auto Insurance Study^SM, for example, Geico scored above average in eight of the 11 regions. It also received higher scores than Progressive in every region.

Both auto insurers are similarly scored by customers on the BBB, each with just over a 1.0-star customer rating. Geico has about 2,000 customer complaints filed with the BBB in the last three years, and Progressive has nearly 4,000. This number of complaints may seem high, but it represents a small fraction of customers when you take into account the fact thatGeico is the second-largest car insurance provider in the U.S. and Progressive is the third-largest, according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC).

Geico and Progressive are two of the best choices for auto insurance coverage on the market. Geico tends to offer lower rates for most policyholders and has slightly higher customer satisfaction scores. On the other hand, Progressive has great options for high-risk drivers and more widely available usage-based insurance. We recommend comparing rates from both when you shop.

Top Alternatives to Geico and Progressive

Geico and Progressive aren’t your only good options for low-cost car insurance. It’s a smart idea to reach out to both companies for car insurance quotes when insurance shopping, and an even smarter one to compare more providers. We recommend getting quotes from other top-rated providers like State Farm and USAA.

State Farm: Best Customer Experience

We recommend State Farm for student drivers based on its discount offerings. The Drive Safe & SaveTM and Steer ClearⓇ programs both help young drivers save on insurance premiums. Of course, State Farm isn’t only for young drivers. It is the largest insurer in the country according to the NAIC and has an A++ financial strength rating from AM Best.

Keep reading: State Farm insurance review

USAA: Best for Military Members

USAA is a reputable insurer that is known for its excellent customer service. It received the highest customer satisfaction score in every region of the U.S. in the J.D. Power U.S. Auto Insurance Study. It also has some of the lowest rates on average. However, coverage is not available to everyone. To be eligible for an auto insurance policy with USAA, you must be a member of the military or have a family member who is a USAA member.

Keep reading: USAA insurance review

Other Types Of Insurance To Consider

• Homeowners Insurance
• Renters Insurance
• Travel Insurance
• Pet Insurance
• Boat Insurance
• Home Appliance Insurance
• Dental Insurance

Our Methodology

Because consumers rely on us to provide objective and accurate information, we created a comprehensive rating system to formulate our rankings of the best car insurance companies. We collected data on dozens of auto insurance providers to grade the companies on a wide range of ranking factors. The end result was an overall rating for each provider, with the insurers that scored the most points topping the list.

Here are the factors our ratings take into account:

• Cost: Auto insurance rate estimates generated by Quadrant Information Services and discount opportunities were both taken into consideration.
• Coverage: Companies that offer a variety of choices for insurance coverage are more likely to meet consumer needs.
• Reputation and experience: Our research team considered market share, ratings from industry experts and years in business when giving this score.
• Availability: Auto insurance companies with greater state availability and few eligibility requirements scored highest in this category.
• Customer experience: This score is based on volume of complaints reported by the NAIC and customer satisfaction ratings reported by J.D. Power. We also considered the responsiveness, friendliness and helpfulness of each insurance company’s customer service team based on our own shopper analysis.

Our credentials:

• 800 hours researched
• 45 companies reviewed
• 8,500+ consumers surveyed

*Data accurate at time of publication.