Online Versus Offline Auto Insurance Quotes

By Rob Gormly

You may be like many people and your time may be limited. You may not feel like you have the time to shop for auto insurance quotes. You want to save time while getting the best auto insurance quotes possible. You must decide where it is worth trying to shop online or call around to agents for auto insurance quotes.

Plenty of companies, from Progressive to Geico now have websites where you can see their insurance rates. Many of them will even show you their competitor's rates. This sounds like a great way to save time, but just think about it a minute. How much incentive does any insurance company have to show you their competitors better rates. No matter what you see on the website, you'd better check the competitor yourself, just to be safe.

If you decide to check with an insurance agent, you'll probably be using the Internet anyway. After all, who uses the Yellow Pages anymore? When you look up a new insurance agent on the Internet, you are probably going to be required to fill out a form with a lot of personal information to try to give them a head start in finding what you need. It may turn out that this doesn't save you much time at all.

Almost any agent you talk to will have to get the same information to give you a good quote. In most states, insurance companies use the same basic form, because it's mandated by the state. That means, they're all going to need the same information. Just be ready to answer the same questions over and over again. These are the same questions you have to answer on the Internet form, I mentioned earlier. In any case, it's a good idea to have all the information handy beforehand to save you time. For an auto insurance quote. You'll need your license number, vehicle identification number, registration and information about all the regular drivers. You'll also need to know how many miles you commute to work every day.

Depending on your situation, you may find better discounts online. If you have a second car or have other insurance you can bundle you may want to rely on talking to agents for auto insurance quotes. It is worth the time to shop around for auto insurance quotes and ask agents what discounts that they can offer you up front.

No matter how you do it, it pays to be an educated consumer. If you have simple auto insurance needs, you can easily handle it online by yourself. But if your situation is more complex, you'll save yourself a lot of headaches by finding yourself a good agent, who can handle everything together.