Comparing car insurance quotes is a great way to see if your current car insurance rates are inline with other company’s rates. Car insurance policy terms are usually 6 months, so it’s a good idea to comparison shop your rates every two renewals, or once a year.

Making a fair comparison between different rate quotes can be tricky, and some companies may attempt to lower coverages to make their insurance quote appear more affordable. The rate may be lower, but in reality you may be giving up important coverages such as uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage or liability protection.

When it’s time to shop your auto insurance around, it’s crucially important that each quote you receive uses similar deductibles and coverage limits as your current policy. That’s not to say your current coverages are adequate, but in order to fairly compare rates, you need an apples-to-apples comparison between carriers. Read the rest of this entry

Affordable car insurance is an elusive concept but if you follow these steps, you have a great chance of slashing your next auto insurance bill. The key to finding the most affordable rates is to shop around and take advantage of available discounts.

How to shop around for affordable car insurance

Being a licensed propery and casualty agent, I can give you a few pointers about the best way to find affordable car insurance. The key is to compare rates from as many companies as possible, including independent agents, captive agents and online companies. There may be some overlap, since some online companies also sell via the independent agent channel, such as Progressive Insurance.

If you have access to an independent agent, that would be a good place to start your search for affordable car insurance. Independent agents write with many different companies and can do the legwork for you in comparing rates. They may write with smaller companies that don’t have large advertising budgets and you may not have heard of. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as long as the companies have a solid financial rating. Read the rest of this entry

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

For the third consectutive quarter, RateWatch from Insurance.com has shown an upward trend in car insurance rates, reversing the downward trend of 2007. On average, the lowest car insurance rates for the third quarter of 2008 rose $56 over the previous quarter.

Does this mean your car insurance rates are going to go up? Not necessarily, and actually it could mean your rates are going down! The national average rate increase was 3%, with the largest increases coming in Washington D.C. (8.3%), Nebraska (8.0%), Rhode Island (7.4%), Kansas (6.6%) and Florida (4.9%). The largest car insurance rate decreases came in North Dakota (-7.8%), West Virginia (-7.0%), Wyoming (–4.5%), Alabama (-3.3%) and Vermont (-3.2%). Read the rest of this entry

As we come to the end of 2008, you’ll undoubtedly be making a few New Year’s resolutions. It’s the perfect time to add cutting your auto insurance premiums to the list of “to-do’s” in 2009.

Car insurance companies adjust their rates on a regular basis, and the great deal you got a year or two ago may not be the lowest auto insurance rate today. If you’ve maintained a good driving record and kept your credit rating above par, then now is a great time to find out if you can save some money on your car insurance rates. Read the rest of this entry