If you are shopping around for auto insurance, whether it's your first time, or it's because you're getting a new car, or it's just because you think you can get a better rate, getting auto insurance quotes online is the only way to shop. In possibly no other common transaction is the value of the Internet more pronounced. Customer loyalty has been shattered in the car insurance business, thanks to transparency of the World Wide Web.
Many accuse the insurance industry with a litany of failures in responding to customer needs. Loyalty bonuses, common in many businesses, simply are not out there in the car and home insurance field, and they should be. The problem of insurance skimmers, that is, companies that specialize in low rates for older drivers, continues to give actuarial statisticians fits. Given this failing, many insurance companies find themselves needing to adjust to the new mode of delivering auto insurance quotes online.
The insurance companies have to balance off the income they lose in giving group rates to older drivers. That's the way business works. And in this case, business working means rates for high-risk young males and new drivers have soared in part thanks to the Internet. It is no longer uncommon for young drivers to drive without collision coverage even in an almost new car, or to drive with no insurance at all. It is one of those unintended consequence of new technologies.
But higher rates for young drivers aside, shopping for car insurance online is an eye-opening experience. Before the internet, consumers had to spend hours going through the phone book, punching their way through a voice menu only to wind up most times leaving their name and number on some agent or broker's answering machine. And of course there was the time spent handling the call backs, keeping track of the quotes, doing call backs, and on and on and on.
Surveys of those who do shop for car insurance online consistently rank "Convenience" as the number one reason people shop on the internet for car insurance. They love the ability to get an instant quote without having to trade voice mails, or even speak with anyone.
When you are at an online car insurance site, a dialog box will ask you all the right questions - the questions you didn't know you should have been asking. Typically these include; number of years driving, make and model of car, place of residence, whether or not the vehicle is used to commute to work, moving violations within the past X-amount of years, etc.
Playing with the answers is a fine way of learning what other factors are taken into account when determining your rate. Who knew that where you live is a significant issue? And what about that speeding ticket? How much is that costing you? For this reason, using the internet to obtain auto insurance quotes online has skyrocketed.
Many accuse the insurance industry with a litany of failures in responding to customer needs. Loyalty bonuses, common in many businesses, simply are not out there in the car and home insurance field, and they should be. The problem of insurance skimmers, that is, companies that specialize in low rates for older drivers, continues to give actuarial statisticians fits. Given this failing, many insurance companies find themselves needing to adjust to the new mode of delivering auto insurance quotes online.
The insurance companies have to balance off the income they lose in giving group rates to older drivers. That's the way business works. And in this case, business working means rates for high-risk young males and new drivers have soared in part thanks to the Internet. It is no longer uncommon for young drivers to drive without collision coverage even in an almost new car, or to drive with no insurance at all. It is one of those unintended consequence of new technologies.
But higher rates for young drivers aside, shopping for car insurance online is an eye-opening experience. Before the internet, consumers had to spend hours going through the phone book, punching their way through a voice menu only to wind up most times leaving their name and number on some agent or broker's answering machine. And of course there was the time spent handling the call backs, keeping track of the quotes, doing call backs, and on and on and on.
Surveys of those who do shop for car insurance online consistently rank "Convenience" as the number one reason people shop on the internet for car insurance. They love the ability to get an instant quote without having to trade voice mails, or even speak with anyone.
When you are at an online car insurance site, a dialog box will ask you all the right questions - the questions you didn't know you should have been asking. Typically these include; number of years driving, make and model of car, place of residence, whether or not the vehicle is used to commute to work, moving violations within the past X-amount of years, etc.
Playing with the answers is a fine way of learning what other factors are taken into account when determining your rate. Who knew that where you live is a significant issue? And what about that speeding ticket? How much is that costing you? For this reason, using the internet to obtain auto insurance quotes online has skyrocketed.
