GEICO Does Not Honor Accident Forgiveness Policy, Class Action Lawsuit Claims

New to ClassAction.org? Read our Newswire Disclaimer

A proposed class action lawsuit claims GEICO has failed to honor its accident forgiveness policy, which promises customers that their insurance premiums will not increase as a result of their first at-fault accident.

Get the latest open class action lawsuits sent to your inbox. Sign up for ClassAction.org’s free weekly newsletter.

The 14-page GEICO lawsuit alleges that instead of complying with its policy, the insurance company unlawfully disguises premium increases for customers with accident forgiveness coverage as “surcharges” or other misleading terms following an insured’s first at-fault accident.

According to the suit, GEICO offers accident forgiveness coverage to customers who have been insured by the company for five years and have clean driving records. The benefit can also be purchased alongside auto insurance or when renewing a policy, the case says.

The lawsuit was filed by a Dallas resident who claims he and his wife were covered by GEICO auto insurance that included accident forgiveness. The plaintiff says he received a policy renewal letter from GEICO one month after his wife got into a minor fender bender accident for which she was at fault—the couple’s first at-fault crash, according to the complaint.

Per the filing, the policy renewal letter notified the plaintiff that his premium had risen from $1,392 to $2,663, an increase of 91.3 percent. After contacting GEICO for an explanation, the man was told that the company had not increased his premium but had “merely applied a surcharge,” the suit states.

The case alleges the insurer has engaged in an unlawful scheme “designed to ensure GEICO’s customers would still pay higher premiums due to first at-fault accidents” despite representing otherwise.

The lawsuit looks to represent any person or entity in Texas insured by GEICO with accident forgiveness whose premiums increased following the first at-fault accident caused by an eligible driver on the policy.

Check out ClassAction.org’s free legal resources to learn how to file a class action lawsuit.