Shop Car Insurance

How To Shop For Car Insurance

Similar to other major purchases, all consumers want to avoid feeling buyer’s remorse when it comes to choosing their auto insurance. Since auto insurance can make up a large percentage of your total monthly cost to own or lease a vehicle, it should come as no surprise that you need to shop for your auto insurance just as you would for any other major purchase.
Shopping for auto insurance involves soliciting information from multiple sources so you can compare quotes and coverage options from several companies before making your final purchase decision.
Before you set out on your auto insurance shopping spree, it’s very important to first be prepared with a consistent set of must-have items you need included on your policy. This requires you to do some homework before approaching an agent or website to obtain your quotes so you are prepared to communicate the same consistent coverage wishes to all quote resources.
Sticking with consistent coverage options when obtaining your quotes will help you avoid a situation where you’re comparing apples to oranges. With insurance, a lower quote can often translate into less coverage or a shorter policy term (i.e. 9 months instead of 12 months) so you want to make sure you have an apples to apples comparison when you sit down to review your quotes.
If you’re having trouble deciding exactly what you need on your auto insurance policy, the following shopping avenues are not only resources from which to obtain quotes from multiple insurance companies, but they also provide licensed insurance professionals that can help you with your questions.
Visit your local insurance agent. For those of you who prefer face-to-face contact with a licensed insurance professional, visiting a few of your local insurance agents can be a very rewarding experience. Since local insurance agents are typically experts regarding insurance in your area, visiting an agent can be valuable if you require professional guidance concerning your auto insurance needs. Before making plans to visit with several agents review these distinguishing factors:
*Contract Insurance Agent. If you visit a State Farm or Allstate agent, this is an example of a contract insurance agent because they are exclusively representing the products of their parent company. This is also known as buying-direct. By visiting a State Farm agent, you will walk away with a quote for auto insurance provided by the State Farm insurance company.
*Independent Insurance Agent. If you visit an independent insurance agent, these agents typically have permission to sell auto insurance for multiple insurance companies. Therefore, you can expect to walk away with quotes from multiple insurance companies. Before making an appointment to visit an independent agent, ask them how many and which auto insurance companies they represent. This can help you in your decision to choose the independent agent that can provide the most quotes for your comparison.
Connect with your inner online shopper. If you prefer to shop for auto insurance from the comfort of your own home, there are many online resources that allow you to obtain quotes and even purchase your auto insurance through a secure online transaction. Similar to insurance agents, e-options for obtaining auto insurance quotes can either follow the buy-direct model or the independent model. For example, if you visit the website for GEICO or Esurance you will receive quotes for GEICO or Esurance products. On the other hand, if you visit an independent site like ComparisonMarket you will likely receive quotes from multiple insurance companies.If you decide to shop for your auto insurance quotes online, you can still find answers to your insurance questions because online resources have customer service numbers you can call while using their website. Some even offer an online chat with a licensed insurance professional as you are proceeding through their quote questioning screens.
The best of both worlds. One of the greatest things about shopping for auto insurance is that there are so many options for obtaining your quotes. If you’re not sure whether visiting an agent or using online tools is the best option for you, try both. Also keep in mind that there is often some cross-over between the two shopping channels because you can obtain an online quote from State Farm or Allstate, and your local independent insurance agent may have a website where you can obtain quotes from the insurance companies they represent. Trying a mixture of both shopping experiences, can help you select the option that best meets your customer service needs and will leave you with the most confidence at the end of your transaction.
Review A.M Best Rating. Once you shop for quotes it’s important to review and compare the A.M. Best Rating for each insurance company. The A.M. Best Rating provides an indication of the financial strength of the insurance company. In other words, in the event of a loss or claim, this rating is a signal as to the chances the insurance company will have the money available to cover the loss.
As an example, ratings for insurance companies whose quotes you are provided can range from A++ to C-. Therefore, if the company with the lowest rate also has a C- rating you may want to reconsider purchasing the policy due to what the A.M. Best Rating indicates about the financial stability of the company. If you received your quote online, information regarding the A.M. Best Rating is typically provided in the quote detail information, and if you receive your quote from an agent you can ask them to provide you with this information. You can also visit A.M.Best.
Shopping for auto insurance can be an intimidating and time consuming task, but equipped with the right information you will actually feel more confident and relieved at the end of your shopping experience. (How Much Car Insurance Do You Need?)