Shopping for car insurance doesn’t have to be a pain if you utilize online tools to help you get quotes to compare from the comfort of your own home. The best way to get the cheapest yet most effective auto insurance for your needs is to do some comparison shopping. Not all insurance companies price the same way, and what works for your neighbor might not work for you.
Shopping for automobile insurance used to be a tedious process of meeting with different companies, calling different places, or meeting with brokers to help you select plans. Today, you can take advantage of an internet website built to help you get insurance quotes quickly and easily. There are many of these sites to choose from, and not all are built for your best interest. We’ll break them down in this article so you see what your next steps should be.
Different Types Of Automobile Insurance Quote Websites
Before you choose where to get your auto insurance quote online, make sure that the information you receive is accurate and that your data is protected. Some websites are designed to help consumers, while others are designed to compile your contact information to sell to third parties.
General Insurance Websites That Offer Either Estimates Or Real Quotes
General insurance sites will offer a lot of good content about insurance for consumers to attract traffic to their website. They will also partner with insurance companies to provide quotes when requested. Their main goal is to generate ad revenue and affiliate income, but that doesn’t make them bad sites. Some take a limited amount of information from you and provide an estimate or average quote for you. Other sites partner directly with insurance companies to provide real-time more custom quotes, but you will have to give them more of your personal information to get it.
Sites like Nerdwallet and Gabi will provide fast estimates and compare them to their competitors. This is a quick and easy way to get a ball-park idea of what insurance costs are like at different companies near you. The upside is that you don’t have to give them a lot of information in order to get your estimate. The downside is that your estimate could be off by quite a bit. The more personalized your quote is, the more accurate it is.
There are sites that give you a real-time quote that is much more accurate. They often also have blogs with good consumer information. For the most part, they are transparent about what they do with your data and do not sell data to third parties.
A few of these real-time car insurance quote websites are:
Insurify - This is a free insurance comparison website that’s been featured in leading financial blogs like Forbes and The Wall Street Journal. You can use their quote feature on their website, on an app, or even through Facebook messenger. Some of their quotes offer buttons to click for easy access to more information or to apply online.
Policygenius - This site is partnered with CoverHound and lets you get quotes and apply for many types of insurance, including auto. You can also get quotes for homeowners insurance, life insurance, or others.
The Zebra - At The Zebra, their goal is to present insurance quotes in “black and white” or transparently. It will also help you identify policies with discounts that might apply to you. You can pick and choose which companies you want to compare to each other.
Independent Websites Of Brokers With Customized Quotes And Comparisons
Independent brokers also have websites where you can get a fast quote for free from the auto insurance companies they partner with. For example, Cheapest Auto Insurance offers quotes to people who live in parts of Oklahoma and Texas. Local independent insurance brokers are a fantastic source of information because they know your local area and local insurance companies very well. Within the next year, Save Money Car Insurance will be launched by the same company that will offer a fast and anonymous quote process.
Individual Insurance Companies
You can always go right to the source. While this process will be more time consuming, it is an option. If you only feel comfortable giving your personal information directly to the insurance company you can choose to do the leg work yourself, submitting your information to individual insurance companies to get quotes. This would mean going to the websites of companies like Progressive, State Farm, or GEICO and getting a quote from each one.
Lead Generation Sites That Offer Quotes But Sell Your Information
Finally, there is one type of auto insurance quote site that does sell your information to insurance agencies which is called lead generation. These sites look similar to any other offering insurance information and allowing you to fill out a form to receive a quote. However, these sites turn around the sell your data to third parties that will use it to send you advertisements. If you want to avoid emails, calls, and texts, then do not use these sites for quotes.
Here are a few examples of known lead generation sites:
DMV.org (don’t be fooled, the official DMV website ends with .gov)
InsuranceQuotes.com
NetQuote.com
ValuePenquin.com
What Information Will You Need To Get An Auto Insurance Quote
A car insurance quote is an estimate of how much it will cost you to insure your car with different companies. It is recommended that you compare a minimum of three companies before deciding which to go with. Also, you should do comparison shopping for lower rates at least once a year as part of an overall insurance checkup.
To make filling out online forms for auto insurance quotes easier, you should have the following information at hand:
Driver’s License for everyone you want a quote for (members of your household)
Vehicle Identification Number(s) (VIN) which can be found on the driver’s side dashboard printed on a sticker or inside the door jamb.
Mileage for each car
It’s also best to know what kind of policy you are looking for (liability or full-coverage most likely)
You could also be asked for your address with zip code, your driving history, and even your credit score. The more information you provide, the more accurate your quote will be. For example, if you obtain an estimate that doesn’t include your driving history and you have had a few accidents, then your quote will be off by quite a bit. To avoid unwanted contact from companies, look for sites that allow anonymous quotes. You can also use some fake information for name and address, but your quote might not be as accurate.
What Factors Heavily Influence My Auto Insurance Premiums?
Insurance is a game of risk, and the premiums are calculated using probability statistics that hope to limit the insurance company’s amount of that risk. While all of the data they collect is important, different companies will put a different weight behind each component. This is why comparison shopping is so critical to make sure you get the best rates. Some companies might care more about your credit score or your first accident than another.
Another factor to consider is learning what discounts are offered by each company you are interested in. Your rates could be better controlled with a plan that offers accident forgiveness or money off for teen drivers with good grades, as a few examples. Some professions like farming and the military will have their own insurance companies just for you with special rates. Choose to pay your premiums annually or by auto-draft for more valuable savings.
Here are the most important factors in calculating insurance premiums:
Your Address: Insurance premiums can vary a lot within the same state or even within the same city. Knowing your state average for full coverage insurance will not get you very close to what your actual cost will be. Figuring out which zip codes are the most expensive can be tricky as well. For affluent areas could see higher rates due to driving more expensive cars; however, a low-income area can have high rates due to crime, accidents, or low credit scores in the area.
Your Vehicle: The type of car, or cars, your family owns can also impact or change your rate quite a bit. Safety features and anti-theft devices can sometimes help lower the cost of newer cars. Used cars will have more affordable insurance unless they are deemed to be vintage or rare.
Your Age: Teen drivers are the most expensive age group to insure because of their inexperience and high rate of accidents, including having the most accident fatalities. Young adults will see a drop but are still more expensive. Between 35-65, you’ll enjoy the best rates, but after 65, sometimes the rates creep back up due to a high number of low-impact accidents for seniors. A couple in their early 40’s will be enjoying great auto insurance rates until they add their first teen to the family plan.
Your Driving History: Even one accident can raise your rates considerably. Most accidents and tickets will stay on your driving record for 5-7 years, while DUI can sometimes haunt you long after that. Reckless driving, high speeding tickets, and driving while intoxicated can not only raise your rates but get you kicked off your chosen plan. Try using defensive driving skills, controlling your speed, and avoiding distracted driving to decrease your risk for accidents.
Your Marital Status: Statistically speaking, being married makes you a more appealing auto insurance client. Marriage brings stability and responsibility and can lower your car insurance premiums. Sometimes your gender can also influence your rates, depending on what state you live in.
Your Credit Score: Surprising to many people, having a low credit score can hurt your chances of getting a good deal on auto insurance. Poor credit is associated with risky behavior and can give you much higher rates. To improve your credit, start by getting a copy of your credit history. There are often mistakes on it that you can correct quickly or past due bills you didn’t know about that can be resolved fast. Keep up with all minimum payments on time, and avoid taking out more credit than you need.
What Type Of Automobile Insurance Coverage Are You Looking For?
Minimum Liability:
If you simply need to be a legal driver quickly with the cheapest possible rates and you own your car (as in, you do not have a car payment), then you can get the minimum liability policy required by your state. Liability coverage pays out to the other party when you cause an accident. Each state requires a different amount of liability coverage in order for you to drive legally. Keep in mind; liability doesn’t do anything for your personal costs associated with the accident. Carrying the minimum liability only can leave you open to a lot of risks. You could have damage to your own car that you can’t afford to pay for, or if you cause a high-dollar accident, you could be open to being sued for the balance insurance doesn’t cover.
Full-Coverage:
If you want the best possible coverage, and you own a car that is financed by the bank (meaning that you have car payments to make), then you’ll probably want what is called full-coverage car insurance. This term is not a policy but rather a way to quickly explain that you have liability, collision, and comprehensive coverage all at the same time. Adding collision and comprehensive coverage will help you protect your own investment and assets.
Collision coverage is a policy that helps you pay for your personal claims after an accident you cause. It is most often associated with multi-car accidents but does include some single-car accidents as well. You can choose the amount of coverage you want, what add-ons you want, and what deductible you feel comfortable paying. All of these things can change the premiums.
Comprehensive coverage is what pays out claims on property damage that wasn’t caused by an accident. This could be theft, vandalism, weather-related, or animal damages. Normal wear and tear on the car or parts going out are not covered. Again, you’ll be choosing the amount of coverage, add-ons, and deductible you want to round out your plan.
How Accurate Are Online Car Insurance Quotes?
Online insurance quotes can be very accurate under the right circumstances. The more information you are asked to provide, the more accurate your quote will be. If you rush through the forms or provide false information, then your quote will be less accurate.
In order to increase your chances of getting an accurate quote, choose a real-time custom quote website. One way to do this is to use an independent insurance broker website like Cheapest Auto Insurance. Choose one that specializes in your location. Make sure to have accurate information on your VIN, mileage, and driving history. While providing more information slows you down, it gets you a better quote. You don’t want to select a plan based on an average quote only to find out after applying that your real premiums will be several hundred dollars more than you expected.
Getting Online Quotes For Difference Types Of Insurance
Of course, there are many more types of insurance you can shop for online besides car insurance. All types of insurance have websites where you can compare notes on service, policy, and quotes. Many of the websites already mentioned above will have a form for you to fill out for different types of insurance like homeowners, health, life, and more.
Homeowners and renters insurance is a popular type of insurance people like to check for online. You can choose to gather direct quotes from companies like Allstate, State Farm, or Lemonade for homeowners insurance, or you can use a quote comparison company like Insurify or Policygenius as well. Your homeowner’s policy will mostly take your address and home value into consideration for calculating your premiums.
Health insurance is a vast industry with new players and new rules that change all the time. If you don’t have a policy through your employer, then you can use an online site to help you find an independent plan or sign up for insurance through the government using the Affordable Care Act.
If you have a family to care for, then you can certainly use life insurance. You can even have more than one life insurance policy. You can find life insurance quotes on comparison sites like NerdWallet or through independent brokers that work with many companies.
The more you know about the type of insurance you want, the easier time you will have finding accurate quotes online. As we move forward, companies will be focused on protecting data and providing access to anonymous quotes that protect your identity until you are ready to sign up for a specific plan.
New to Cheapest Auto Insurance?
No matter what type of insurance you’re shopping for, start by comparing personalized quotes between companies that are available to you. So many factors go into premium quotes, you can’t truly see which is the best deal without requesting quotes and seeing them side-by-side. Remember, if you’re searching for auto insurance and want anonymous quotes, check out this link with Cheapest Auto Insurance. Cheapest Auto Insurance wants to be your neighborhood insurance partner in Tulsa. You can reach one of our agents via phone at 918-744-5145 or get an instant online quote at the link above.