by Joseph Welusz
Insurance premiums for automobiles seem to rise every year. When the annual notice of renewal arrives in the mail, there is often sticker shock at how much the premium has gone up. Is there a way to save money with discount auto insurance? The television advertisements for discount auto insurance appear to make it attractive, but is it a right fit for you?
There are three basic types of auto insurance, Liability, Collision and Comprehensive. These three types are defined as follows. Liability is coverage for damage done by your vehicle. Collision is coverage for damage done to your vehicle. Comprehensive is coverage for fire and theft damage. If you lease or have your vehicle financed, either through a bank or finance company, the bank or finance company will require you to have all three, which is considered “full coverage”. If you own your vehicle outright, most states will require you to carry liability insurance only. However if your vehicle is involved in an accident you may have to carry the burden of repairing your vehicle if you do not have full coverage. There are numerous other types of coverage that are available to the insurance purchaser.
Prior to the availability of the Internet, auto insurance was purchased either from an agent or a broker. One particular company employed insurance agents while brokers represented several different companies. The agents and brokers were paid a commission for both the policies that they wrote and renewed. In theory, the insurance professionals could develop a relationship with the consumer and determine exactly what the needs were of each individual person.
If a customer was dissatisfied with either their coverage or their broker, a long and involved process needed to be undertaken to make a change. Multiple telephone calls with repetitive questions and answers needed to be made to various insurance agents. This process was both time consuming and in many cases caused frustration for the consumer. It was often difficult for the consumer to compare the coverage offered by the different companies.
In the late 20th century, insurance companies, recognizing the growth of the Internet created specific programs to allow consumers to get insurance quotes on line. This method of allowing the consumer to get a quote for a product allowed the product, insurance, to be offered at a discounted rate. The insurance company not having to pay a commission to the agent primarily generates this lower rate. Another factor in the ability to offer a discount rate for insurance is that by offering quotes on line, a greater number of customers can be attracted which allows for better economies of scale for the insurance company.
All insurance policies are unique and while offer the same coverage may have differences. These differences often called exclusions allow the insurance company to specify what they will not cover in case of an accident. In many cases these exclusions are included as “fine print” which the purchaser may or may not read. A consumer may in evaluating an auto insurance policy can potentially miss an exclusion that could potentially cost them money in the long run.
There are several factors that the consumer should be aware of when purchasing discount automobile insurance on line. The first and foremost is that a nationally recognized company should provide the insurance. A nationally recognized company may provide a higher quote than ABC Insurance, however the nationally recognized company may in fact provide better coverage than ABC Insurance. The coverage offered not only includes the policy but the customer service that the insurance company offers. Many small discount insurance providers have minimal customer service facilities. Claims are often handled by an extensive exchange of telephone calls, letters and or e-mail. In today’s mobile society a person who lives in Georgia may have difficulty in making a claim in North Dakota when that person was there on vacation and was involved in an accident.
In today’s market, prices of all goods and services seem to be rising while income appears to fail to keep up with the rising prices. When household budgets are analyzed, the one area that appears to offer the best opportunity to save money is auto insurance. Prior to purchasing discount auto insurance, the consumer must carefully analyze all of the policies offered. While on the surface they all may appear to provide the same coverage while in reality the fine print at the bottom of the policy may have significant exclusions. Prior to purchasing any discount auto insurance the consumer should carefully evaluate the company offering the insurance. This evaluation can be done through the Better Business Bureau to determine the performance of the particular company. If any doubts exist about the coverage offered, perhaps a local insurance agent or broker should be consulted. In many cases, the local agent or broker can provide discounted rates that are competitive with the discount auto insurance available on line. This comparison allows the consumer to be assured that the discount auto insurance that they are purchasing fits their particular needs.
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