Sunday, March 26, 2006

How To Shop For Cheap Car Insurance Rates

By: Jim Johnson

Car insurance is one of those purchases whose price can vary
radically depending on which company you contact. Because of the
wide disparity in rates when you make an auto insurance
comparison, you need to know how to get the cheapest car
insurance rates that you can. After all, if all other
considerations are equal, the auto insurer with the best car
insurance quote is often your best bet.

The first thing to do is make sure that you shop around
thoroughly to get enough rate quotes that you can make a good
educated decision. Just don't get a car insurance quote and buy
the policy right there. As with so many other consumer
decisions, car insurance is something that must be shopped and
compared to get the best deal.

It's often suggested to get at least three car insurance quotes
before making a decision, but that is more like the minimum
actually. You can get insurance quotes both online and offline
as car insurance companies vary as to how they sell insurance.
There are still many who sell through a network of their own
agents exclusively. Other insurance companies will also sell
through independent agents who may represent several companies
at a time and can offer to make an auto insurance comparison
among all the companies that they represent to give you the best
deal.

But one of the fastest growing trends in selling car insurance
is the online, direct to consumer companies. The internet has
changed the face of many industries and auto insurance is
certainly one of those that have been permanently altered.
Today, you can simply find one of the major insurance quote
providers on the web, enter your information and get a quote
from several sources in very little time at all. And because
many of these companies have much less overhead than other more
traditional insurers, they are able to sell direct to the
consumer and save them money as they do.

However, there are some things that you should consider before
making any car insurance purchase. Be sure that the company you
buy from is financially stable. As more and more newer companies
get into the car insurance field, this becomes critical, so
check their financial stability on sites such as ambest.com and
standardandpoors.com before you buy, and see how the company is
rated. It's also a good idea to call your state insurance
commissioner's office and see how many customer complaints have
been received by a particular company that you are considering
too. This can help you find out if they not only sell insurance,
but also provide good customer service after the sale.

Finally, ask around among your family and friends about their
experiences with car insurance companies and see what
information you can get. This is often one of the best, most
unbiased ways of learning about almost any kind of product that
you want to buy, so factor what they have to say in making your
final decision as well.

If you take the steps mentioned above as you make an auto
insurance comparison, you should be able to get a good picture
of what will be the best choice for you and how you can get
cheap car insurance rates too.

About the author:
Find out more about how to get cheap car insurance rates and the best
car insurance quote
by visiting our Auto Review website.

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