February 1, 2011

How To Decide Which Online Auto Insurance Quote Is Best

If you’re in the market for car insurance and have gone online to obtain an auto insurance quote you’re not alone. Millions of consumers visit auto insurance quote sites every day in search of cheap auto insurance quotes. More people shop online for their auto insurance needs than all the other methods combined. Of all types of insurance sold, it’s reckoned that more than two-thirds of the sales are generated online. When buying insurance, especially online, here are some things to consider.

Who Is the Seller?

There are hundreds of thousands of companies from which you can obtain a free auto insurance quote on the Internet. Unfortunately, some of these companies are not exactly as they appear to be and some may even be a scam operation. One way to easily make sure the company with whom you’re considering doing business is a solid entity is to check their rating with A.M. Best Company. A.M. Best is the accepted authority on the financial stability of insurance companies and, without a Best rating of A-, A or A+, you might be better off looking for another insurance provider. The best policy for benefits to premium ratio is still worthless if the issuing company cannot or does not pay its claims.

How to Compare Apples to Apples

All auto insurance policies contain certain, specified benefits and limitations which have to be considered when comparing one policy to another. If one policy’s premiums are significantly lower than another policy with comparative benefits, chances are good that the deductible amounts are not the same between the two. For a true comparison, benefits must be the same, including the limits on the liability amounts and also the deductible amounts. There is a long list of options that can be added to basic auto insurance coverage. When comparing policies to uncover the best deal possible it’s important to compare like to like.

What Company Offers the Best Service?

One great feature of the Internet is that it allows consumers to become quite educated on just about any topic there is. Learning about different aspects of auto insurance, including such things as collision and comprehensive, uninsured and underinsured motorist, PIP, etc., is easy to accomplish online. If you can find an auto insurance website that contains policyholder reviews of the company’s service and claims paying history you can get a good idea of what it would be like to deal with this particular company.

Cheap auto insurance quotes aren’t everything but they’re a good place to start. If a cheap auto insurance quote is offered by an A rated company with good benefits you probably have a winner.