Is it cheaper to purchase car insurance online?

The truth is that sometimes you can get an online car insurance quote and it will be cheaper than a quote that you will receive if you contact an insurance company directly. This doesn’t automatically mean that your insurance rates will be cheaper since you are only in the quote comparison stage of shopping.

How do you get cheaper car insurance quotes? Sometimes, if you call an insurance agent by phone, they just won’t have the deals available that you can find online. Often there are online-only offers, and other times there are deals that an insurance company makes with a promoter that allows you to get lower initial rates that will increase after your first policy expires.

The problem is that it just takes too much time to get quotes that are direct from an agent and quotes online.

Although you should do your due diligence in order to find the best price, you don’t want to spend hours or even days comparing rates from the same company! Simply put, using the online approach often yields better results.

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Where is the best place to get online quotes?

You have a couple of options when it comes to getting quotes online. The first option is to make a list of all of the licensed insurance companies in your area and then visit each of their websites and fill out a quote form. You can find a list of company ratings at JD Power’s website.

As you can imagine, there are a couple of problems with this option. The first problem is that filling out forms for even a few companies is going to take some time.

The other problem is that you are going to have to provide information that will allow each insurance company to contact you, and they WILL contact you!

In some cases they will stick with email contacts, sending your information and reminding you that you haven’t acted on your quote. In most cases, however, you will receive emails as well as phone calls as the companies attempt to get your business.

The second option is to use a free quote tool, much like the one found on this page. The benefit to this is that you don’t have to search for companies that sell insurance in your area.

What’s more, you don’t have to keep track of the quotes — everything is presented to you side by side, all on one web page.

Why is my online quote different from my final price from the insurance company?

This is the one downside to using a free quote tool. What makes it so fast and easy to use also makes it not quite perfect in some cases when it comes time get your quote.

You see, because these types of quote tools don’t require your VIN number, your Social Security number, and other pertinent personal information, the quote you are given is based strictly on the answers that you provide in terms of your driving.

Read more: Is it a bad idea to give your Social Security number when shopping for car insurance?

However, once you make a final choice, the insurance company is going to delve a little deeper and, if for some reason you were dishonest or you simply left something out of your application, then your quote is going to be different.

In some cases, you may end up with a lower final price, though most people usually forget about a ticket or a little fender bender, and it increases their rates.

Overall, however, your quote should be darn close to what you get from the insurance company. In some cases, the quote and your final price will be exactly the same. It just depends on your individual situation

What if I choose a company and then get a better online quote later?

The good news about car insurance is that even though you are technically signing a contract, it is one that you can legally break. The trick is knowing when it is the right time to change your car insurance.

Many people don’t realize that base car insurance rates fluctuate every single day.

You can learn more about rate fluctuations from the Insurance Information Institute. However, that doesn’t mean if you see a change in rates of $1 or $2 that you should make a policy switch! Instead, you should wait until the savings are significant enough to warrant a change.

You also need to keep in mind that, even though you can change companies as often as you want, this doesn’t necessarily mean that you should. Insurance companies offer loyalty discounts, and you could save more by sticking around. What’s more, if you switch too many times, then insurance companies aren’t going to give you a preferred rate.

The best way to save money on car insurance is to compare quotes from multiple companies before signing a contract.

To find the lowest car insurance rates, enter your ZIP code below to compare multiple quotes right now for FREE!

Read more: How to Purchase the Right Car Insurance Quote Online