Quick and Easy Car Insurance Quotes
Car insurance quotes are a great money saver. Rates can vary by over $800 for the same car garaged in the same area, and there’s no way to find out which agency charges the least without requesting quotes. Keeping these things on hand will make your search for quotes go more quickly:
* Your car’s title or registration. You’ll need the details of make, model, year, and engine size in order to get accurate quotes.
* A current insurance policy. Your current policy lists the kinds of coverage you have, plus details about some of the deductions for which you qualify. This data will be a help in getting accurate car insurance quotes and in choosing the level of insurance you want for your new policy.
* A list of the auto insurers and other insurance companies in your area. Note that this list separates insurers out by COMPANY, not by AGENT. Insurance agents are frequently middlemen for larger companies, so it’s easy to accidentally query National Insurance Company four times via four different agents. To avoid wasting time, ask each agent which company provides his or her car insurance, and complete a query only for agents who represent companies from which you haven’t yet gotten car insurance quotes.
* Membership papers for any organizations or clubs of which you are a member. Some clubs and organizations offer insurance discounts for their members. For instance, AAA has arranged a discount of about 3% with many insurance companies. When you ask for a quote, find out which organizations have arranged a discount with the agency or company, and be ready to give your membership number so you can receive your discount.
* A general idea of what level of coverage you want. You don’t need to know exactly what you need at the outset, especially since agents will know more about the details than you will and many kinds of coverage can be increased with surprisingly little expense. However, before fine tuning your insurance policy with the agent, you need a basic idea of what you’re looking for. Collision? Comprehensive? Do you need your insurance to cover rental cars? Knowing the general level of coverage you want will save floundering and frustration early on.
* Patience. No one particularly wants to spend time on the phone reciting the same information to a dozen different agents a dozen different times, but it’s a necessary part of getting insurance quotes. To make the process easier, start by getting car insurance quotes online, where you can enter your data into a form once and get quotes from dozens of agents. Then, when you have an idea of what the market looks like, refine your search by phone. Take breaks to keep your mind fresh, break off for the day if you feel yourself getting frustrated and losing your temper, and always keep your sense of humor alive.