July 26, 2011

Top Reasons Online Auto Insurance Providers Can Offer Discounts

One of the first considerations when thinking about buying a car, or purchasing a new one, is obtaining insurance for that vehicle. However, most people don't think about their auto insurance coverage until after the searching, purchasing and signing of papers for their new car has been completed. Then they are surprised to find out that their auto insurance is much higher than they anticipated which could be for any number of reasons. If you go through your current insurance provider for a vehicle you already own, it doesn't necessarily mean that you will be charged the same premium on the newer vehicle. That's why the new trend is to get auto insurance coverage online since online providers can offer certain discounts the physical providers do not. There are some reasons why an online insurance provider offers discounts.

The first reason, and it may be the most obvious, is that online insurance providers don't have to worry about overhead. While it's true that they have to pay a webmaster and an IT person or department to maintain their website and keep it running smoothly, those costs are often much less than running a physical location. With a brick and mortar insurance company, there is rent to be paid, maintenance and lease agreements that must be dealt with, all resulting in a number of bills - not to mention employees. However, an insurance provider that does the bulk of their business online concerns themselves with the cost of running the website and personnel and not much else. This means they can pass those savings onto the customer.

Since the online insurance providers are sometimes strictly online, they can scour the Internet looking for comparisons in cost and coverage. They are able to gain connections to other insurance providers and find out what their costs are, what coverage they offer and subsequently pass those savings on. At the same time, because some companies place ads on the insurance provider's website, a quid pro quo is sometimes conducted that allows the company to offer lower prices for certain coverage.

Paperless transactions are another reason online insurance providers can offer so many discounts to their customers. Oftentimes, the only physical document received is the auto insurance card letting you know that you are covered. This saves the company money and the customer time and eventually discounts can be offered because of it. Less cost on the part of the insurance company means less cost on the customer's end as well.

There are many more reasons why online insurance providers can offer discounts. Shopping online has become a new trend since online retailers offer the same service for less.