Car Insurance by GEICO – That Little Lizard Started Quite a Trend

You've seen the TV commercials with the cute little CG lizard getting upset that people keep calling him for car insurance quotes. See, he’s a gecko (the common name for members of a family of small, harmless lizards, found mainly in tropical regions – Encarta) and the callers are trying to reach Geico, the auto insurance company. It stops being funny the second time you see it, but people fell in love with the Geico gecko and started calling the car insurance company, Geico, in droves.

Although the gecko for Geico has since all but been phased out in favor of their "I have some good news" ads, the clever play on their own name translated to advertising gold for the company which has been in existence since 1936, although many people were unfamiliar with the Geico name until that gecko showed up on television. Customers are still unfamiliar with how the company spells their name. Common Internet search engine misspellings include "gieko auto insurance" and "geiko car insurance." If the Geico people are upset about this, then they’re crying all the way to the bank.

Today the company boasts of over six million policyholders, over ten million vehicles insured, and receives consistent superior ratings from A.M. Best (A++), Standard and Poor’s (AAA), and Moody’s (Aaa). In the cases of the S&P and Moody ratings, only eight insurance companies in the United States have earned the same distinction.

Geico’s philosophy is one of cutting operating costs in order to offer discounts to their customer base. The company’s website claims that this was the brainchild of founder Leo Goodwin who started Geico as a company offering insurance coverage to government employees and military personnel. The plan, obviously, worked and Geico (now a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway) is the fifth largest private passenger auto insurer in the United States and the largest direct writer of private passenger auto insurance.

So, whether you want to call them "car insurance geico", "geiko auto insurance", or whatever name you like, it’s clear that the company with the lizard on their logo is here to stay and is a serious player in the auto insurance game.