If you haven’t compared auto insurance policies recently, you may be missing out on a great opportunity to not only save money, but possibly find more or better coverage, or even find a better insurer. The only way to know if you are purchasing the best of any product that is offered by multiple companies is to compare all parts of the product offered from each company. This is true for car insurance as well; the only way to know you are getting the best policy or the lowest price is to compare what is already out there from other insurers. Below we’ve listed our idea of how to evaluate an insurance policy is three parts.

Part 1: Comparing Prices
The price of a policy is often what motivates a policyholder to look around at other insurers. Someone who feels they are paying more than necessary will take advantage of this comparing step and look around at what other companies are offering. Sure, it’s feasible that a person would want to contact a list of insurers in the local area and speak with a representative from each one to get a better idea about who offers the lowest price. Each conversation could take 10 to 20 minutes, so be aware that half of a day or even an entire day may be spent on the phone looking for the lowest price. Because of this tedious sounding task, many policyholders opt to skip looking around and instead stick with their current insurer and price.

A much easier and quicker way involves using the quote comparison tool found on our site, OnlineAutoInsurance.com. Located on our homepage is a white box requesting a local zip code. This box can also be found at the top of most of the other pages found throughout our site. A driver can simply enter in their zip code, click “Go,” and watch as a new page opens. This page and the couple that follow it are imperative to the process. They ask questions about the driver, the vehicle, and then finally about the coverage that will be purchased for the policy. This shouldn’t be intimidating in any way because the information that is wanted is only basic info that a driver should know about themselves and vehicle anyway. However, it does need to be accurate so make sure the applicant or driver is well aware of their address and driving history, as well as their vehicle’s VIN, current mileage, estimated annual mileage, year, make and model among other things before beginning to answer the questions. All in all the process should take only a matter of minutes, which is awesome compared to spending hours on the phone with different representatives to get the same end result.

Once the questions have been answered, submit the answers and watch as you are given a list of quotes from surrounding providers. The applicant can take their time in deciding which policy is best, but to find the cheapest policy it will only take seconds. We offer the quote list in a side by side format so there is no confusion about which policy is the cheapest. As a side note, if you want to see how different coverage amounts and types added to a policy will affect the final price, you can go back through and change that part of the questionnaire’s answers as many times as you’d like. There is no limit to how many times a driver may use this tool and there is no fee either. This will help compare the prices of policies offered and help the driver pick the cheapest price.

Part 2: Compare Financial Strength
The point of comparing the financial strength of an insurer is to make sure that company has the money on hand to be able to pay for their part of the contract, or any claims the policyholder may make in the future. Imagine the scenario of filing a claim with your provider for a recent accident, only to find out weeks later they have no intentions of paying the claim because they cannot afford to. Despite the fact that the policyholder had been paying their premiums on time, they will not be given what they paid for; coverage. So, to avoid situations like this, it’s also important to not just look at the price of a policy, but the financial strength of the company who is offering it.

Not everyone has participated in a comparison such as this before, and it may seem a bit out of reach to perform. But really, it isn’t. Good companies know this type of information should be made available, and when they are strong financially, they are very willing to share it in the hopes they will gain more customers. Not only could they make it available, but other companies do as well. In fact, there are third party companies who go in and evaluate each insurer’s financials and then post their findings on their own website. These are non-biased findings, which help consumers get a better idea of the real situation the insurer is in. Two of these companies are Standard and Poor’s (standardandpoors.com) and AM Best (ambest.com). They tell the public which auto insurance companies are financially strong, and which ones are not. To some drivers, t’s important to look beyond price since a low price may be offered by a financially weak company.

Part 3: Compare Service
When dealing with their car insurance company, most people care that they are treated politely by a representative who is very knowledgeable about the company and the specific policy. They want the insurer to have a website that is easy to read and learn from. Filing claims should be quick and painless, and so should paying the bill. The basic decision maker is how the policyholder feels after having any interaction with their insurer. Because you can’t find out for yourself about the individual companies’ service tactics, you can turn to jdpower.com and view their results. As discussed in the financial strength section, there are third party companies who evaluate auto insurance companies. One company, called JD Power, evaluates the customer service provided by an auto insurance provider and posts their findings for the public to use. Annually they choose one insurer as being the best in customer service.

An online car insurance comparison can easily be done using OnlineAutoInsurance.com to find the best price and other means by which to compare policies that are offered. With so many choices available to many drivers, there should be a way to safely compare what is offered without getting caught up in the lowest price. If price is the number one goal for a policyholder, they will certainly benefit from our quote comparison tool. Other drivers who want an all around great experience with their auto insurance provider can use our steps mentioned here for a more thorough comparison.