There are an enormous amount of factors that will determine the best car insurance company for you.
These are the questions to ask yourself (don't actually post the answers):
- what are you looking for in an insurance company: cheapest price or do you want other features such as a good mobile app, 24/7 service, good customer service, etc.?
- what kind of driver are you: new or experienced, aggressive or safe, short commuter or long commuter, etc.
- are you willing to use a telematics device in your car so that the company can determine your driving safety?
- do you want an independent agent or are you okay with a large company (most large companies still have local agents)
- your state and area (one company can be the cheapest in one state and the most expensive in another for various reasons)
Get a quote from 3-7 companies and compare.
If you want to know which to go with, I would recommend quotes from:
Independent agent (can quote multiple companies, which includes some of the smaller ones you wouldn't think to quote)
GEICO (second largest nationally)
Progressive (third largest nationally)
State Farm (largest nationally)
USAA (known for their customer service, have to be eligible though)
If you want a quick quote, you can get quotes from the larger companies in about 15min. online.
Some things to know about rates:
- the rating process is extremely complicated and government regulated
- at the end of the day, the insurance company has to make a calculated guess at your risk profile depending on demographic and sometimes telematic data. This is why things like increasing crime in your neighborhood can increase your rates because you are now more likely to be a liability from break-ins and such.
- don't get upset about raised rates:
- if you are in an accident, your risk is now higher and you will probably get a higher rate
- insurance is basically a pool of money that everyone pays into and that few collect on; if the entire population gets in more accidents year over year, rates have to go up
- some common causes for rate hikes that are outside of your control: weather catastrophes, crime increases, accident increases (which have trended upwards since smartphones), cost of damage increases (your Tesla is a lot more of a liability than a 97' Toyota Corolla because it costs so much more to fix, also factor in here the increasing use of complicated technology such as cameras, sensors, electric cars, etc.), and cost of inflation to name a few.
- don't be afraid to shop! you can usually leave any auto policy at any time without penalty
- there is a reason that the larger companies are large: they are very well liked. Some can boast (and rightly so) claims like 97% customer satisfaction (which is legitimate and legally sound), allow multiple policies on the same account (such as home and auto), mobile apps, customer service, savings and discounts, etc.
Source: I work for the Marketing department of one of the largest auto insurers in the US. Feel assured that I write this without any bias (I don't really care which company you use); these are all facts, don't believe me? Google it!
This is not an advertisement for a specific company and I am not an advisor, just a guy that knows a lot about insurance!
So go out and make an informed decision!
*Please don't post comments about your negative experiences with any auto insurer here, experiences vary drastically person to person and I don't want this to turn into a complaint thread.
April 26, 2019 at 07:51AM
