Buying car insurance online has transformed the way auto insurance is advertised, sold and delivered. Your only option used to be calling or stopping by your local insurance agent’s office. Advertising was much more location-focused with large companies attempting to push the consumer to their local representative.

Nowadays, advertising efforts are directed at getting the consumer onto a website or calling an 800 number and buying insurance direct from the company. Buying car insurance online is as simple as browsing to any number of online auto insurance websites, but is it for you? Are you comfortable enough with what you know about car insurance to make your own decisions about deductibles and liability limits? Read the rest of this entry

If you’ve had a bad experience with an insurance company, how do you go about making sure other consumers don’t have the same problem? Your state insurance regulators are responsible for making sure admitted companies handle your claims fairly and to the letter of the law. If you feel you haven’t been treated fairly, you don’t have to take the insurance companies decision as final. By taking your complaint to your state insurance department, you can hold your insurance company accountable and help other insurance consumers in the process.

Most states have specific proceedures for filing complaints against insurance companies. The first step in the resolution process is to contact the company or your agent to try to achieve a satisfactory conclusion to your problem. If you get nowhere, which is probably why you’re here reading this, then it’s time to file a formal complaint with your state’s insurance regulating department. Read the rest of this entry

When we talk about “green car insurance”, I’m not talking about the color of GEICO’s gecko, rather I’m referring to the footprint car insurance companies leave on the environment with their practices and policies. There has been a significant push in the U.S. towards more environmentally-friendly car insurance options and hopefully 2009 will see some real action taken by companies to be more eco-friendly.

The U.K. has seen several companies cater to environmentally-conscious consumers, including eGreen Insurance, The Green Car Insurance Company and ibuyeco. In return for buying a car insurance policy from these companies, they will buy part of a rainforest, offset your carbon emissions by planting new trees or offer a discount on how you drive your car.

Here in the states, other companies are taking the initiative to either improve the environment or reduce your auto insurance rates through a number of different plans. GMAC offers a program in conjunction with GM’s OnStar system where you can opt-in to send your mileage statistics via OnStar and if your annual mileage driven is under 15,000 miles, you can receive up to a 54% discount on your GMAC car insurance. Read the rest of this entry