When looking for a new auto insurance policy, many drivers wonder what to look for in the insurance provider. Any experience in dealing with a representative from the provider should be a positive one, even when the driver is in a situation with high levels of stress involved. While price is always a top priority in choosing a policy and provider, there is more that can be offered within the insurance experience in its entirety. To make sure you are getting the best possible experience, consider these 6 things (in no particular order) when choosing an automobile insurance company.

Coverage Options
Most insurers will offer the same types of comparable coverage options to their drivers, but occasionally one or two coverages won’t be offered or will be offered at a significantly higher amount. First, drivers should know what they want as part of their policy and then look for the options within the company. If the coverage option is not available, make sure it exists elsewhere and then see what it would take to get that coverage.

There are some situations where drivers won’t need every coverage and can opt out of them, such as comprehensive and/or collision. These are needed for cars who have a high cash value, which would be worth it to carry this extra coverage on them. For those vehicles that carry little cash value, comprehensive and collision may not be necessary and can be omitted from the policy.

Prices
An insurance company that offers their policies for outrageous amounts tend to have less customers than their competition who offer low prices. Most drivers want the lowest price possible, but they also tend to forget that by paying the lowest price available they could be dismissing other services that are provided by the other companies. If making the price work into the policyholder’s budget is the number one priority, then by all means take the lowest price and whatever else is (or isn’t) offered by that insurer. But, if the policyholder has some room in their budget, they should look around to see what else is being offered by other providers.

Website
Companies of all kinds lose customers when they do not have a website. This is mostly due to the convenience experienced by the customer, or more specifically, the ability the customer has to indirectly contact the company and get information about them, during and off business hours. There are easy ways to pay bills and have questions answered through a website and not needing to directly speak to an employee. car insurance companies are no different; when a policyholder has a question about their policy it is so easy to go online to the company’s site and find what is needed. Needless to say, just because a company does not have a website does not indicate they are incapable of doing their job. However, it does add to the ease of auto insurance to know there is an informative site waiting to be used at the policyholder’s time of need.

Financial Strength
The financial strength of an automobile provider is crucial in choosing which one to go with. The reason why shouldn’t be too hard to see either. When a company’s financial position or status is weak or compromised, that company is at risk of failing and subsequently leaving its customers without the promised coverage. Drivers buy their insurance policy with the intentions of that provider being around to provide the coverage that is bought. If a driver files a claim with their insurer and that insurer has no money to pay, the driver will be left to pay for those repairs alone. It could be months before that driver sees any of the money from an insurer with a weak financial status.

Public companies, including car insurance providers, must report their finances. Drivers can check out these findings for themselves and make their decision. Or, drivers can go to companies who rank an insurer’s financial status, such as AM Best or Standard and Poor’s. They go in and evaluate all insurers for the benefit of the public so we’ll know who is secure and who is vulnerable to financial failure.

State Admitted Carrier
A big suggestion would be to check and make sure that the insurer you are about to sign up with is a state admitted carrier, which means they are registered with the state. When an insurance company does this, they are showing they are a real company and aren’t about to commit insurance fraud by selling false insurance. Too often insurance fraud has been committed either by a false company or by a policyholder. This type of activity is taken very seriously and the guilty parties will be punished severely. Each state’s Department of Insurance should have a list of all of the insurance companies that are approved, including those companies providing coverage for automobiles.

Customer Service & Filing Claims
Another part of an insurance company to look into further is their customer service abilities. The customer service department is usually the only group of people the policyholder will ever deal with and talk to, and therefore it should be taken into account when making this decision. JD Power is a third party company that evaluates and ranks the customer service of insurance companies. They go through and look at the convenience of paying a bill with the company, filing a claim, and the overall experience among other things. Any driver who wants a pleasant experience with their insurer should make looking into their customer service department a priority.

online auto insurance companies exist to help drivers find quality insurance at a low price. Picking an insurance provider for your vehicle should not be based on one factor alone, especially if you want to get the best experience possible. These 6 things discussed are only a few ideas to think about when making a final decision. Other factors include aspects of insurance that are important to each individual driver and how they want this part of their life to be. There’s a good chance that not just one company will provide everything needed by a policyholder, which is why it’s important to look at all aspects of a company before choosing them.