An introduction to auto insurance quotes
“Many of us take better care of our automobiles than we do of our bodies…yet auto has replaceable parts” – B.J. Palmer

What are auto insurance quotes?

• Auto insurance is also called car insurance, vehicle insurance, or motor insurance.
• Auto insurance, as the word suggests, is insurance for automobiles such as motorcycles, trucks, cars, and other road vehicles.
• It provides financial protection from damages due to road accidents, theft, vandalism, natural disasters, weather, and collision with parked or immovable objects.

Why should one have auto insurance?

• Most states in the country require a vehicle owner to have auto insurance (states such as New Hampshire and Mississippi offer different options when it comes to auto insurance).

What is an insurance quote?

• It is an estimate of the rate that your insurance provider may charge.
• It is subject to change based on the information provided by you at the time of the quote.
• It is always advisable to be more forthcoming with the information given to the insurance quote provider.

How can you get an insurance quote?

• You can call an insurance agent and provide the necessary information.

What sort of information should be provided to get auto insurance quotes?
The following information has to be provided for auto insurance quotes:

• The zip code
• The make and model of the vehicle
• The driving history of the vehicle, including the miles driven per day
• Car history
• Details of car ownership
• Whether the car is used for personal or business purposes
• Number of cars owned
• The number of people who will be driving the car
• If the car has salvage title
• Insurance history
• Current insurance company
• The expiry date of the current policy
• Birth date
• Gender
• Marital status
• Social Security Number
• Whether you own a house
• Profession
• Driving violations, if any

What are the factors that affect the time taken to get auto insurance quotes?

• The number of drivers and vehicles that you have will affect the time taken to get auto insurance quotes.
• The time taken by the insurance agent to calculate the costs before returning the phone call in case you had called an agent matters too.
• Your computing skills if you choose to get a quote online will, naturally, determine how soon you can get your quote.
• The number of questions that you may have about the information given to you about the auto insurance quote also determines the time taken at arriving at a quote.

What are the disadvantages of insurance quotes?

• The quotes given by different companies often vary.
• This variation is regardless of whether the policies being compared are alike.

How do you overcome these disadvantages?

• You should compare quotes with at least four or five different insurance providers.
• Use the help of websites that instantly allow you to compare quotes from many auto insurance companies.

What are the different types of auto quote comparison sites?

• Quote comparison sites are companies that provide quotes. They do not sell their information to other insurance carriers.
• Lead generation sites, on the other hand, sell your information to their advertising insurance companies.
• Quote comparison sites are of two types, either real-time insurance quote sites or estimated quote sites.
• Estimated quotes are generated from historic data, whereas real-time quotes use current and more accurate information.

What are the different car insurance comparison sites with real-time quotes?

• Compare.com
• Insurify

What are the different car insurance comparison sites with estimated quotes?

• The Zebra
• Nerdwallet

What are the different Lead generation sites?

• Net Quote
• DMV.org
• ValuePenguin
• Everquote
• QuoteWizard
• SmartFinancial
• InsuranceQuotes

When should you compare car insurance policies?

• You should compare auto insurance policies every six months to a year; in other word, you should do it every time your current policy is due for renewal.
• If your needs have changed, you might want to review your existing policy and shop for what you currently require.