Category: Auto Insurance Advice


Should I Pay to Get an Auto Insurance Quote?

January 17th, 2012 — 12:12pm
Don't get washed by overpriced quotes

Don't get washed by overpriced quotes

Auto insurance is big business and there are lots of dollars changing hands (whether it’s your dollar to the insurance company for premiums or their dollar to you for a claim payout). At times, while shopping for insurance you may feel like shark bait, just waiting for someone to take a bite out of you. Obviously, insurance companies aren’t “not-for-profit” organizations; they need to make a buck off you. That is why one of the great things about freecarinsurancequotesonline.com is exactly that, we provide free services! You’re going to end up paying for car insurance, that’s a given, but you shouldn’t have to pay to shop for them!

Some other sites don’t have the same scruples that we do. One sneaky way that a site might end up getting you to pay for your “free” quote is by asking you to provide your credit card information, presumably for the quote, and then charging you discreetly for their services. Don’t let this happen to you. There is never any reason for you to provide credit card information for a free service. You may be asked to provide credit history information (or to allow the insurance company to access your credit history) and other personal information that should strictly relate to measuring your insurance risk profile (age, driving history, etc.), but shouldn’t be asked for credit card information. Stick with reputable sites that respect you and your privacy enough to not even ask for that kind of information.

Along those lines, should you encounter a site that flat-out asks you to pay for insurance rate quotes, avoid them. There’s no need to pay companies to solicit your business. You pay for the product, not for the right to purchase the product. Be wary of businesses that charge for a “consultation session” or other type of fee to offer you an insurance quote. While it isn’t illegal to ask you to pay for what should be a free service, agencies, sites or companies that do so are trying to take advantage of you. If a company is trying to sell you the right to buy a service from them, just imagine what types of fees you’ll purchase from them over the life of your policy.

An insurance quote is simply an estimate of the cost for a policy. It is a price list, just like the menu at your favorite restaurant. While the dishes may be a little more complicated (more fine print…that you should read or discuss with a trusted adviser, which may be your insurance agent), the concept is essentially the same. Imagine if a restaurant tried to charge you a fee to take a look at the menu. As with restaurants, insurance companies want you to take a look at the menu; it is the first step in the purchase process. Of course they have to make a profit, but that should be for providing you a valuable service, not for opening the door to their establishment.

Just as restaurants have moved to the web, so too have insurance companies. Menus for your local eateries can be found on the web and that’s what we’re all about, helping you shop for the service that best fits your needs and not charging you a dime for it (we charge the insurance companies). We provide services that give you tailored quotes, from some of the best insurance companies in the business, who operate locally to serve your needs. Shop around, trying things on, taste the samplers, etc. just don’t pay to do so. Once you have found the policy you want and the company you are comfortable doing business with, that’s the time for you to “pony up” and in return, they’ll need to start “earning their keep.” It’s a give and take relationship; not a take and take.

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How Accurate are Free Car Insurance Quotes?

January 9th, 2012 — 12:00pm

If you have ever considered using the internet to request a free car insurance rate quote, you have probably wondered about whether or not the quote will be accurate. Will an online service adequately understand your situation and price a policy correctly? Will your needs be understood such that the policy isn’t filled with features you don’t need or want?

This car is very small!

I wonder how much THIS guy pays for his insurance?

The accuracy of the rate quote you receive is directly related to the accuracy of the information you provide when filling out your application. When filling out online quote forms, it can be tempting to “erase” a ticket, an accident, or even something as serious as a DUI or DWI charge from your reported driving history, know that this information will eventually come to light. Insurance companies do check this information and when they do (notice we didn’t say if), you will be billed appropriately; in many cases, you will have to pay back amounts owed. A lie or omission is also a good way to get your policy terminated without reimbursement. Always strive for honesty and integrity when requesting a free rate quote.

Don’t forget either that changes in your life can affect your car insurance rate quote. Getting married or divorced, having children, growing older, having a wreck, getting a ticket, moving, and many other life changes and situations can cause a change in your insurance rate. Therefore, make sure you always request a rate quote based on your most up to date information. Also, once you have insurance, alert your agency of any such changes in your life. Annual “insurance checkups” are always a good idea and are part of a healthy financial regiment. Soliciting quotes online and comparing them to your existing policies (even if you don’t switch insurers or otherwise change your policy) is a wise financial move.

While online rate quotes may be inaccurate at times, they tend to be inaccurate in your favor. What we mean by this is that you are quoted a premium that is higher than the one you actually end up having to pay. This is generally the result of discounts or other deals that you find you qualify for as you get further along in the process. For instance, you may have forgotten to list the car alarm that you installed after you purchased the car on the initial rate quote information form. This anti-theft device might come to light as you review the final policy or communicate with the insurance agent, which results in a discount to your premium. Be sure to explicitly inquire about discounts as well, as some agencies are, unfortunately, less than forthright with such information and will only offer discounts if you specifically ask about them. A good agent will walk through these discounts with you to find the ones that apply to your situation.

Occasionally you may be quoted a rate this is lower than what you eventually end up paying. While this doesn’t happen often, it is usually a result of inaccurate information on the application form or inaccurate information “on file” with the insurance company (if you are a past customer for instance). Be sure to bring these issues up with the insurance company. Some companies may even offer you the lower price as a gesture of goodwill or as an apology for their error. Comparing multiple rate quotes (or your existing premium/policy to online rate quotes) is a good way to identify these types of issues.

Fortunately, the insurance business is highly regulated. In addition to federal regulations, each state has a dedicated organization to regulate insurance companies operating in that respective state. These organizations exist to protect consumers, and all that regulation applies to insurance purchased through online services. While it may not ferret out the sites that offer horrible customer service, these regulations and regulatory bodies do help to ensure that you end up with an accurate policy.

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Top 5 Reasons to Always Compare Auto Insurance Quotes Online Prior to Purchasing

January 7th, 2012 — 7:55pm

Since the cost of car insurance is generally spread throughout the year across monthly payments, it may not seem like a significant purchase. However, those monthly payments add up, and when you factor in the likelihood that you’ll stay with a provider for a couple of years (though we strongly urge annual reviews to make sure you’re getting the best deal!), car insurance becomes a significant purchase. As with all significant financial decisions, shopping around for the best deal is a best practice. Using car insurance rate quotes from online services like ours can make the job fairly easy. If we haven’t sold you yet on the importance of shopping for a deal, here are some additional selling points:.

  1. You Could Miss Out On Some Great Deals
    No one likes to miss out on a big sale or a great discount, but that is essentially what you might be doing to yourself- by choice- when don’t shop around and compare quotes online before purchasing automobile insurance. Insurance companies are continuously re-balancing their “portfolios” (which is effectively the population of insurance contracts that they have entered into). Each company uses a unique and complicated risk model to determine pricing and to find the mixture of policies that minimizes their overall risk and maximizes their profit. An insurer may find that they need more teenage drivers or more drivers with multiple policies (etc.) and may offer discounts or reduced pricing to attract that type of customer. Effectively, that insurer is having a sale and that sale may only last a limited time, until their portfolio is again “in balance” at which time they stop trying to aggressively attract your business. Only by shopping policies across insurers can you find these types of deals.
  2. You Might End Up Overpaying
    Beyond offering “sales discounts,” insurance companies are all unique. Each one has its own set of internal models that measure risk and return, and each company focuses its attention on a certain mixture of policies. As insurers compete against one another, they specialize (which involves tailoring their financial models) to best control their risk and maximize their profit. Many insurers specialize in specific demographics (or portfolios). Some insurers specialize in “high-risk” drivers (teenagers, people with poor credit, etc.) while others prefer to specialize in low-risk drivers (for instance, a middle aged person with a clean driving record, a dog and two kids).This specialization enables these companies to build tailored models that better manage risk and return. Specialization also allows a company to offer tailored customer service practices to meet their target population (for instance, a company may focus on Hispanic drivers and employ Spanish-speaking customer service agents). You can benefit from the competition between insurers by comparing policies to find the insurer who is able to offer the cheapest car insurance policy and best customer service due to their specialization.
  3. Comparing Rate Quotes is Quick
    As millions of retail consumers have come to learn, shopping online is quick! It’s one of principal reasons why shopping online has grown significantly in the past couple of decades. As the internet has matured, the speed has only increased. This speed and efficiency applies to insurance as well as it does clothing or electronics. At freecarinsurancequotesonline.com our services and business practices offer you quick access to insurance quotes. The whole process can take as little as ten minutes. While time is important, we do recommend that you compare multiple policies to find the best policy for you.
  4. Comparing Rate Quotes is Free
    Since it doesn’t cost you a dime to view and compare rate quotes, and can actually save you quite a few dimes in the long run, there really is no excuse for not comparing quotes online. Unless, of course, you enjoy just throwing money away.
  5. Comparing Rate Quotes is Informative
    Above all, the best thing about being able to get and compare rate quotes online is how much you learn in the process. Insurance is a big purchase, both in terms of dollars and in terms of peace of mind. Not only do you learn which providers operate in your area, their rates, and their coverage options, but you gain the knowledge to take control of a major financial arena. That, in itself, is absolutely priceless and will serve you continuously over the course of your life.

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Don’t Renew Your Auto Insurance Before Comparing Quotes Online

January 4th, 2012 — 11:16am
Avoid the accident of not comparing rate quotes

Avoid the accident of not comparing rate quotes

If you currently have automobile insurance for which your policy renews automatically every six months or every year, then you could be spending way more money than you actually have to. Most people think that after they have secured automobile insurance at a rate that they are happy with, they can stop shopping around, but the truth is, you should actually continually check on your rate and compare it to other rates available in your area. Your car insurance rates often go up gradually each year, something your insurance agency will only make known to you in fine print and that you might not even notice at all. What’s more is that changes in your life can cause other agencies and rates to become more worthwhile for you. Therefore, to avoid overpaying, you have to stay on top of your options.

The good news is that this doesn’t have to take much of your time at all. In fact, if you choose to use our free rate quote form, you can receive a variety of free, local rate quotes in just a matter of minutes. It’s great to use this site and its service anytime, but it can be especially useful when you are trying to decide whether or not to renew your current policy.

Receiving your rate quotes from the site is incredibly easy. Unlike other sites, which require you to fill out long, boring, complicated forms with lots of sensitive, personal information, we simply asks you to provide your zip code. Once you have done so, you just hit submit and wait a few seconds for a listing of all insurance providers in your area offering free rate quotes to fill the screen.

You are then free to request free rate quotes (or not) from any agency you are interested in. You should use the quotes you receive to find out whether or not you could be getting a better deal elsewhere. Just make sure that you also consider the level of coverage and protection offered with each policy, as this is just as important as the rate that you will be asked to pay. Whether you make the decision to switch or not is up to you, but at least you will know what your options are and be able to make an informed choice, rather than just taking a shot in the dark.

Obviously, it’s smart to use Free Car Insurance Quotes Online. Just make sure you don’t get it confused with any of the other sites out there. Many of them claim to offer the same type of service, but few of them do. What’s worse is that a lot of those sites have hidden charges and fees, and/or share your sensitive personal information with third parties. Don’t let that happen to you. Always make sure that you are using the very best site in the industry.

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What Criteria is Required for Getting an Auto Insurance Quote Online?

January 1st, 2012 — 9:09am

Most people who are in the market for automobile insurance or who are just curious to see whether or not they are overpaying for their car insurance have at least considered the option of getting a free online rate quote. If you are one of those people, however, you have probably wondered about how much and what kind of information you will have to provide in order to get free quotes. The answer is that it really depends on the site you are using, and on how legitimate it is.

Some insurance rate quote sites will ask for a lot of sensitive and personal information. While this in itself is dangerous, the sites that you should be the most wary of are those that ask for your credit card information. These sites can be complete scams that are just trying to steal and use your most sensitive information, or they, more likely, can be sites that charge your card hidden fines and fees for using the service. For best results and to avoid nasty surprises, never put your credit card information into such a site. If a site is truly free, it will have no need for this information.

The best way to avoid all of these issues is to use a site that you can trust, and we strongly recommend Free Car Insurance Quotes Online. This site is fully secured, so even if it did ask you for a lot of information, it would be safe. However, all the site will actually ask for to generate your free rate quotes in a matter of seconds is your zip code. Once you’ve entered that, you will be presented with a list of insurers in your area that offer free rate quotes.

Take an old time ride with us

Take an old time ride with us

From there, you will be able to choose which agencies you wish to see rate quotes from and which ones you don’t want further information about, no questions asked. That- the fact that you are always safe and in control- is what makes Free Car Insurance Quotes Online superior to all of the other sites that are out there. So keep yourself safe by making the smart choice and going with a website that you know you can trust. Not only will you walk away with lots of great, free rate quotes, but you’ll also feel safe.

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It’s Easy to Avoid Overpaying for Auto Insurance (Here’s how..)

December 30th, 2011 — 2:53pm
Cool reflection on a car door

Take a moment to reflect on this

If you’re tired of spending too much on your automobile insurance, or even of just wondering whether or not you are overpaying, there is an easy, convenient way to put a stop to your problems. By using Free Car Insurance Quotes Online, you can know, in a matter of minutes, what your rate options are in your area. Then, if you already have coverage, you can easily avoid overpaying, and if you’re looking for new coverage, you’ll instantly know when a rate quoted to you is too high and should be avoided.

The process of getting your rate quote and determining whether or not you’ve been overpaying is quick, painless, and most importantly of all, truly free. The site will never ask you to put in credit card information of any kind, so there is no way that sneaky charges or fees will show up on your credit card bill. Unfortunately, we can’t say the same for most of the other sites out there. All you have to provide with this site, though, is your zip code. Within seconds, all of the insurance providers offering free rate quotes in your area will fill the screen. You can request to see rate quotes from as many or as few of them as you prefer. No matter how many you choose, the service is still completely free.

Keep in mind, too, that when you request a free rate quote through the site, this does not mean that you are under any kind of obligation to make a purchase of any kind or to sign up for a service. All you are saying when you fill in your zip code is that you are interested in learning more about car insurance rates offered by insurance agencies in your area.

So, now that you know how simple the process can be with Free Car Insurance Quotes Online, why make it harder on yourself by choosing another site? You won’t find faster, more hassle free service anywhere else on the internet. Plus, the most important thing of all is that this site truly can help you to avoid overpaying for car insurance ever again. You will never have to worry about spending too much money, money that could be spent on more important things, like you and your family. You wouldn’t just throw your money in the trash, so why throw it away on insurance coverage?

If you’re ready to stop spending and to start saving, make your way on over to the site today. As you learn about your different options, do make sure that you don’t just focus on the quoted rates. While price certainly is an important factor when it comes to automobile insurance, keep in mind that the level of coverage and protection you are getting is equally, if not more so, important as well. A good price won’t do you any good if it doesn’t come with adequate protection.

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How Long Does it Take to Get a Car Insurance Quote Online?

December 28th, 2011 — 9:15am

If you are like most people, then you recognize that your time is valuable, and you probably have precious little of it already. You, of course, don’t want to waste a large amount of that time getting car insurance rates online. Unfortunately, however, there are a lot of sites and insurance agencies out there that make what should be a quick and painless process requiring only a few minutes of your time a long and seemingly never ending process. The easiest way to avoid the hassle and to get your car insurance quote in mere minutes of your time is to use the instant Get Quote form on our site.

Don't wait forever on your rate quote... you may turn to rust!

Don't wait forever on your rate quote... you may turn to rust!

Some sites out there will make you think you are going through the rate quote process quickly. The most common way to do this is by luring you in with a simple box that asks for only your zip code. Once you hit submit, however, you are redirected to a very long form that takes quite a bit of your time to fill out and that asks for sensitive and personal information. Don’t let those sites fool you. Not only are they incredibly time consuming, but they can also be dangerous and may use your information for inappropriate or unapproved purposes.

Some sites out there operate in a different way, but one that still wastes your valuable time. They will ask you to fill out a form, but instead of providing you with the promised rate quote, will ask you to contact the agency directly or will explain that a representative from the agency will contact you. This usually means you should expect a high pressure sales call that will be hard to walk away from, and that is likely to end up with you purchasing expensive insurance products that you don’t really need.

Don’t let any of these scenarios happen to you!

Avoid all of those other sites and make the smart choice with Free Car Insurance Quotes Online. All you really have to do is enter your zip code in the convenient box, and then wait a few seconds while software generates insurance agencies offering free rate quotes in your general area. There are no sneaky forms to fill out, and the server is fully secured for your protection. Once your search results fill the screen, all you have to do is click the “get quote” button next to the agencies that you are interested in.

So, when you choose that site, you can have your rate quotes in just a few minutes of your time. What could be easier or more convenient than that? Remember that your life is already quite busy and hectic, so the last thing you’ll want to do is waste time that doesn’t have to be wasted. Make the choice to value your own time, and to get your insurance rate quotes delivered to you as quickly and as thoroughly as is possible.

Check out our other commonly asked questions about car insurance

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Top Benefits of Getting a Free Car Insurance Quote Online

December 26th, 2011 — 7:49am
Hot rod is off to the races!

Feel like a hot rod when you save money.

If you are in the market for automobile insurance, then you probably already know that doing some shopping around and comparing different rate quotes is the smartest way to go about this. Shopping around allows you to see what kind of coverage and price range you can get at different agencies, and allows you to make the smartest possible choices for your insurance needs and your budgets. However, a lot of agencies aren’t willing to provide you with a quote online, and instead make you contact the agency directly or wait for an agent to contact you. In reality, when you’re doing a lot of shopping, it’s best to avoid agencies like that and to stick with the ones that offer their free rate quotes online.

First of all, having to actually speak with a representative from an insurance agency takes up quite a bit of your time. With wait time included and being put on hold, you can easily spend up to half an hour or longer doing something that would have been instantaneous if you had just done it online. Your time is too valuable to waste, and you need an agency that respects and understands that.

What’s more is that it is all too easy to get sucked into making a purchase you don’t really feel comfortable with or know all that much about, or to end up buying insurance products you don’t really need over the phone. That’s because fast talking salesmen masquerading as helpful insurance agents are all too good at covertly using high pressure sales techniques on you and suckering you into buying something that you don’t really need at all. With an online quote, you are free to think about and make your own decision with no input from anyone else who might not have your best interests at heart.

Keep in mind, too, that a lot of the information you provide when requesting a free insurance rate quote is personal and sensitive. Putting this information into a secure online form is a lot safer than telling it to some stranger over the phone or even in person, someone who might not even be all that legitimate. Don’t put yourself at risk, choose the safer way to get a quote by going online and using a secured rate quote form to input your information.

Obviously, choosing to get your insurance rate quote online is the smart choice. It’s safe, quick, and free, and you’ll never be under any kind of obligation to buy. Just make sure that you never give out your credit card information unless you are ready to make a purchase, and that you only choose to get insurance rate quotes directly from the agency’s website or from legitimate, safe third party sites. Do your part to keep yourself protected, and you can fully enjoy all of the benefits of choosing to get your free insurance rate quotes provided online.

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