A recently as ten years ago choosing an insurance company was easy.
You had a limited pool of choices to work with, and from that pool you had a limited number of agents in your local area.
The Internet has changed all of that, making it easier than ever for car insurance companies to do business with a nationwide pool of customers and making it almost ridiculously difficult for consumers to find the company that's going to work for them.
The first thing you should do when you're shopping around for a car insurance provider is find one that's going to offer you respectable rates on your insurance coverage.
No, dollar signs shouldn't be the only thing you look for when you're choosing an insurer, but they do matter-and when choosing between companies with excellent coverage and phenomenal customer service a company's car insurance rates might be the key factor in helping you make your decision.
Once you've collected a pool of potential providers that can give you the coverage you need at a price you can afford, check out their insurance license.
Believe it or not, not everyone doing business on the web is licensed to operate in every state.
By choosing a company that's licensed to offer insurance coverage in your state you're going to be able to comfortably launch your long term relationship knowing you've got the power of your state's insurance department standing behind you.
The other thing you want to check out is how your potential insurance provider's finances are faring.
Reporting agencies A.
M.
Best, Fitch, Moody's and Standard and Poor's all track the financial stability of car insurance companies doing business in the U.
S.
, and since you're (probably) never going to be able to integrate yourself into the inner workings of your insurance provider this is the best way to make sure your insurer is going to be in business for a long, long time and not go under the moment their drivers start filing car insurance claims.
Once you've got the facts straight and have a pool of options that have excellent rates, current licenses and a good financial stability score it's time to look at something a little more ephemeral-their customer service skills and reputation.
When you're filing car insurance claims it usually isn't because you've been sitting around in your living room twiddling your thumbs! When you've been in an accident you want a company with a claims representative that's going to calmly and competently handle your claim and a financial department that's going to cut you an insurance check without dragging you over hot coals first.
The level of customer service you receive when you're buying your policy in the first place is probably going to be a pretty accurate representation of the type of service you can expect when you're filing a claim, so keep that in mind when you're making your decision.
And before you sign on the dotted line take time to check out your new car insurance provider's reputation via various consumer services sites on the web! Nothing tells you how a company is going to handle your claims like the way they've handled other claims in the past.
You can't make all of the people happy all of the time, but if your car insurance company isn't making most of the people happy most of the time it's time to take a step back and figure out why before handing over your hard earned premiums.
Once you have all of this information in hand you've got the tools you need to sift through the 50+ car insurance companies doing business in the United States and find the one that's right for you.