Car insurance is often one of the most expensive parts of owning a vehicle if you do not search for the best rate. Whether you are looking for the mandatory state minimum amount of insurance or full coverage on your vehicle, it is always best to search for the lowest price from a trusted company.

There are a number of insurance companies who will be willing to give you a quote over the Internet. You will be asked a lot of questions which are a prerequisite to getting accurate affordable auto insurance quotes. Some of the questions may seem kind of superfluous to you, but make sure you answer every question anyway.

You will have to provide basic information on your vehicle such as make, model, year and Vehicle Identification Number to an insurance company when you want to get a quote for car insurance. Different companies have different regulations when it comes to quoting insurance costs for your automobile. They will take into account age, marital status, number of accidents and past moving violations.

Another example of a factor insurance companies consider would include your credit score. Because people with bad credit typically have more accidents than those with good credit, the insurance companies will pull a credit score on you and base your quote partially on what that score is.

Many people worry that requesting affordable auto insurance quotes might negatively impact their credit score. What they don't realize is that while insurance companies do check your credit, the 'hit' on your credit report is considered a 'soft' hit. Whether you apply one place or more than one place for vehicle insurance, you will not lose points from your credit score for requesting any type of insurance quotes.

There are companies who offer customers the benefit of representing several different insurance companies. Therefore, if you're looking for affordable auto insurance quotes, the one company can get quotes for you from several different insurers and save you a lot of looking. Of course, if you find a company who is offering you a very low rate, check into the reputation of the insurance company before buying.

When comparing quotes from several companies, it is important to make sure that you are comparing apples to apples. For example, "Company A" may quote a lower price than "Company B", but then in the fine print, you see that the quote from "Company A" includes a discount for having your home insurance with them too! You may find that their price is quite a bit higher than "Company B" if you do not also insure your home with them.

Also be sure to check the deductible amounts that each company is basing their quotes on. The deductible is the amount you have to pay after an accident before the insurance kicks in. If one company is figuring a $100 deductible and the other company is basing their quote on a $500 deductible, the quotes WILL BE DIFFERENT!

Another thing to consider is any "free benefits" that the company offers. The company I use offers free identity theft protection... And yes, I have had to use it once already. A company I recently got a quote from charged an extra $83 per year for this protection.

In closing, the internet is a great way to get several quotes on your car insurance without having a line of agents knocking on your door at supper time. However, you must consider the details of each quote to be sure you are truely getting the best deal!

James Holloway has been in the insurance industry for over 16 years and has written several articles regarding health, life and auto insurance.

James Holloway
08-23-2008

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