Automobile Insurance
Key Findings - Top Buying Tips
- Millions of people are paying too much for their car insurance year after year simply because they do not take the time to check around for lower prices. Overpayment of hundreds of dollars a year is common.
- You can find out in thirty minutes or less whether you are paying too much for auto insurance by getting price quotes online.
- KEY FINDING: The following are the auto insurance companies MOST likely to save you the most money over your current policy without sacrificing quality coverage: 21st Century, GEICO, and esurance.
- KEY FINDING: Our online survey found that INSWEB and Insuremeare the best of the comparison websites where you get quotes from four or five insurance companies but only have to enter your information once.
- When you make comparisons between different companies be sure you are getting quotes for exactly the SAME coverage.
- IMPORTANT: Make sure you buy a level of protection that you are comfortable with – personal liability insurance is fairly cheap - buy more than you think you need.
Online Buying Guide
The Basis for Our Recommendations - Personal Research
I recently investigated whether I was paying too much for my car insurance with Farmers. I got quotes online from at least ten different companies I used both comparison websites like INSWEB or Insuremewhere you can get quotes from multiple companies and single company websites like 21st Century, GEICO and esurance.
Based on my research, I purchased a policy from 21st Century that saves me almost two hundreds dollars each year and I get significantly better coverage than I had before
About the Recommended Web Sites.
The recommended sites are all easy to use and will not waste your time asking for endless details.
They offer competitively priced auto insurance from top quality insurance companies.
My research shows that the recommended single company websites ( 21st Century, GEICO, and esurance) will save you more money than the comparison sites but to be sure you get the best prices, I recommended you also get quotes from at least one comparison site ( INSWEB, or Insureme ).
Note: I tried several other comparison websites but found their quote procedures too lengthy and cumbersome and the results (prices offered) not worth the trouble.
Recommended Single Company Sites
21st Century (Top Pick)
21st Century, offers extremely competitive auto policies. They are very focused on providing policies with excellent coverage and low prices. Their web site is crisp, clear and easy to use. You can get a quote from them FAST and not even have to give them your email. 21st encourages comparison with the competition and even publishes a chart on their site that shows how they stack up against the competition (extremely well) as well as containing lots of useful information on buying car insurance.
21st offers very good coverage options. For example, 21st is the only company I have seen that offers a $0 comprehensive deductible. When I switched my policy to 21st I bought a policy that had substantially better coverage than my policy with Farmers at a cost savings of over $200 per year. So far I have been pleased with. Get a quote from 21st Century here.
The one limitation I know of about 21st is that they only write policies in these states:California, Arizona, Illinois, Indiana, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Texas and Washington. If you don't live in one of these states move on to one of the companies below or to one of the Comparison web sites.
GEICO (A Close Second)
You have to love the GEICO Geko (it’s worth going to their website just to check him out), but aside from that, GEICO is definitely an insurance company to consider seriously for protecting your auto against those unforeseen disasters. They can usually save you substantial money over companies like Farmers and they have a superb reputation for taking care of their customers. I have a number of friends and family who insure with GEICO and they won’t hear of taking their business elsewhere, even if they could save some money on premiums.
A strong point for GEICO is that it is a much larger company than21st and has been in business since 1936. GEICO and its affiliate companies provide auto, homeowner, and other types of insurance to over 6 million people, in 49 states plus the District of Columbia.
The GEICO quote process is friendly, but you may have to wait for an email from them to get your quote. (Should take a day or less) For a quote from GEICO, Click Here.
esurance.com (very low prices)
They claim that you can get a no obligation quote in 3-5 minutes and you can! esurance verifies consumer information like driving records in real time so you can complete the whole process of purchasing insurance and printing out insurance ID cards in minutes.
Based on rates I checked, esurance has some of the lowest rates available. I would have rated their site higher but I have no personal experience with their customer service. However if their excellent web site is any indication it should be top notch.
This is a very user-friendly site and has good information on determining levels of coverage and other insurance topics. esurance sells policies in these states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Washington.
To see how much you could save with esurance Click Here.
AARP the Hartford (Specials for Seniors)
If you are over 50, AARP the Hartford has an attractive offering that includes
12 month policies and competitive rates. You can get a quote from
AARP - The Hartford.
Recommended Comparison Sites
(You fill out one form and get quotes from several companies)
INSWEB (Top Comparison Site)
I rate INSWEB, thebest of the comparison sites for its potential to save you money, its rapid reponse time, and ease of use. INSWEB, offers a choice of competitive coverage from many quality insurance carriers like Travelers, Hartford, and Liberty Mutual. Navigation of their site is efficient and user friendly. You take ten minutes or so to provide some information and INSWEB immediately produces a number of competitive quotes from several top companies based on your information and the coverage you want.
If you do not already have a well priced policy - you should save money at INSWEB
Insure me (Top Comparison Site)
I like Insureme's web site a lot and also rate it a top site although you will not get your quotes as fast as you can from INSWEB. Insureme works a bit differently than INSWEB. You also first provide information about yourself and the coverage you want. (Their procedure here is very streamlined and quick, faster than INSWEB). However, once they have your information they send it to several companies and insurance agents who send you customized quotes by email within a day. Initially this delay made me feel I could not recommend this site, however the quality of the responses I got was excellent. I received, within a day, quotes from five different top companies and insurance agencies as well as very courteous follow-up telephone calls.
A Word about Coverage
Considering the litigious nature of our society (translation: lots of lawsuits) I recommend you buy liability insurance of at least $100,000/$300,000. Even if you don’t have a lot of assets to protect, it’s nice to not have to worry that someone will get what you do have or hope to have. With the pending bankruptcy law changes which will severely limit who can declare bankruptcy, getting enough auto liability insurance is an area where money is well spent. Getting a lot of liability protection is relatively cheap anyway. I carry $300,000/$500,000 and I am considering getting an umbrella policy for
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