Friday, January 22, 2010

Buy Auto Insurance Online - Online Quotes For Car Insurance

By Matt Hellstrom

The web changed the way we shop for car insurance. We used to take a walk through the Yellow Pages. Sometimes an agent or broker would actually come to our home in hopes of lining us up for the full package of insurance products: life, automobile and home. But those days are long gone when it comes to vehicle insurance. Like electricity and water, vehicle insurance has become a regular commodity. Once the first broker put an Instant Quote feature for car insurance up on its website, the game was over. Now the majority of us get quotes on the internet, even if we don't actually buy auto insurance.

Vehicle insurance companies, in fact, viewed a customer coming over from a competitor with suspicion and as a matter of policy would double check the new applicant's vital info on the suspicion the person had some type of outstanding matter that was behind the switch. That perspective has changed.

Thanks to online instant quotes, it is no longer the case that the average shopper is subjected to arbitrary review. The mystery has gone out of the actuarial process and along with it, the barriers to get the best rates for your particular needs and circumstances.

There comes a point in the lifetime of a vehicle when it is not worth repairing after an accident. In jurisdictions where the state mandates no-fault insurance, once this point is reached, there is no real financial reason to maintain full coverage. Simple liability (assuming a good driving record) can be quite a cost saver.

This is particularly the case when we are talking about drivers who reside in jurisdiction that have no-fault insurance legislation. No-fault insurance means if you are in an accident, your insurance company pays for damages you received, but not for the damages you caused - the other guys insurance company is on the hook for those.

Even for good drivers, no-fault can mean that your rates are going to go up if you are in an accident no matter what. As of this writing, in North America this includes 12 states (California, Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey, Hawaii, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Dakota and Utah) as well as the Canadian provinces of Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

Under the no-fault scenario, carrying collision insurance becomes a money losing proposition as the car ages. That is to say, why make a claim that is going to up your insurance rates for at least seven years? The damage would have be extensive to justify the claim. The nice thing about instant quotes online is that you can find out when your car has crossed that threshold age-wise. Using this feature, you can make a determination as to the best rates when you buy auto insurance online.