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The Government Employees Insurance Company , usually known by the acronym GEICO , is an American auto insurance company. GEICO is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway that as of 2007 provided coverage for more than 10 million motor vehicles owned by more than 9 million policy holders. GEICO writes private passenger automobile insurance in the District of Columbia and in all 50 U.S. states. The company is notable for its copious television advertising, with several prominent campaigns running simultaneously in national markets. Its mascot is a gecko that originally had an American accent but for marketing reasons was changed to a Cockney accent.

History

GEICO was founded in 1936 by Leo Goodwin and his wife Lillian to provide auto insurance directly to federal government employees and their families. GEICO's original business model was predicated on the assumption that federal employees as a group would constitute a less risky and more financially stable pool of insureds, as opposed to the general public. Despite the presence of the word "government" in its name, GEICO has always been a private corporation.

An important figure in GEICO's history is David Lloyd Kreeger, who became president of the company in 1964 and helped steer it into a major insurance enterprise. In 1948, he formed a group of investors who bought into GEICO. He became senior vice president and general counsel of the company. Six years after becoming president of GEICO in 1964, he was named chairman and chief executive officer. He retained those titles until he retired in 1974. He continued as chairman of the executive committee until 1979, when he was named honorary chairman. Intriguingly, the GEICO web site avoids any mention of Kreeger.

In the 1970s, under Kreeger's leadership, GEICO began to insure the general public, after real-time access to computerized driving records became available throughout the United States. In 1996, GEICO became a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway.

GEICO generally deals directly with consumers via the telephone and the Internet, freeing up capital that would otherwise be spent on employing insurance agents in the field. As a result, the company is now the 3rd largest direct writer of private auto insurance in the United States.

Advertising campaigns

Main article: GEICO ad campaigns

GEICO has many well known ad campaigns, most involving the tagline "fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance." Ads have also included well-known mascots "Martin the GEICO gecko" (an anthropomorphic Day Gecko) and the GEICO Cavemen (from ads claiming using their website is "so easy, a caveman could do it") who were the stars of the short-lived sitcom (unrelated to GEICO) Cavemen . There are also GEICO ads that feature stories from GEICO customers about situations in which the company assisted them, but are narrated by celebrities like Little Richard.

Parodies and references to the ads have appeared on programs like Robot Chicken and The Late Show with David Letterman .

Competition

GEICO's major competitors include State Farm, Allstate, Progressive, Nationwide, and USAA. Progressive is targeted in many GEICO commercials in order to counter Progressive's claims of being able to quote their rates and those of several of their competitors' by stating that GEICO quotes are only available at GEICO.com.

See also

• List of United States insurance companies

References

1. ^ Revenue: premiums written (2004), from Berkshire Hathaway 10-K
2. ^ ^{a b} http://www.geico.com/about/corporate/history/
3. ^ http://www.nytimes.com/1990/11/20/obituaries/david-lloyd-kreeger-dead-at-81-insurance-official-and-arts-patron.html
4. ^ http://www.geico.com/about/corporate/at-a-glance/

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