GEICO

The Government Employees Insurance Company (GEICO , colloquially capitalized as Geico) is an American vehicle insurance company headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland. It is the third largest auto insurer in the United States, after State Farm and Progressive Corporation. GEICO is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, which provides coverage for more than 24 million motor vehicles owned by more than 15 million policy holders as of 2017. GEICO writes private passenger automobile insurance in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. The insurance agency sells policies through local agents over the phone directly to the consumer via licensed insurance agents, and through their website. Its mascot is a gold dust day gecko with a Cockney accent, voiced by English actor Jake Wood. GEICO is well known in popular culture for its advertising. Despite the presence of the word "government" in its name, GEICO has always been a private corporation and not a government agency or a government-owned corporation. Leo Goodwin Sr. and his wife Lillian Goodwin originally founded the company in 1936 to sell auto insurance to federal government employees. GEICO manages the policies as the "insurance agent" and has a separate customer care team that handles the property and umbrella policies.