I’ve had Geico for 5 or 6 years and have been very happy. I originally switched my car insurance to them and then a year later switched my homeowners too. In MA they don’t actually write the homeowners policy, they just act like the agent. My homeowners policy is actually with Travelers (more on that later) but my payments are made to Geico and any claims would be through them also.
For both car insurance and homeowners insurance I shop around every 2 years. I have compared pricing from about 10 different insurance companies each time and Geico has come out cheapest every time. The closest was Amica but they were still about 10% higher, Progressive was next at about 20% higher and everyone else was between 50 and 100% higher.
I’ve had 3 auto claims since I’ve been with Geico. Two were at-fault accidents (one my wife and one my daughter) and the third was a not-at-fault (car was rear-ended). Each time the process was super easy and painless. They were incredibly easy to deal with and claims were paid quickly without any issues.
On the homeowners insurance I mentioned my policy is through Geico but actually with Travelers. I originally had a homeowners policy directly with Travelers and had that policy for many many years. They, like most insurers, were raising my rate ever year so I shopped around. Because I had my car insurance with Geico I could get some discounts if I switched the homeowners over to them. They told me that they wouldn’t actually the insurer, but it would essentially be seamless to me. My homeowners policy cost was cut by almost half, even though it’s through the same insurance company (Travelers), and even though I increased the amount I carry for umbrella coverage substantially.
If definitely pays to shop around. Customer service is certainly important too but I think most insurance companies are getting pretty good at the customer service part and that’s not as big a determining factor as it once was.