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).
• Auto insurance enables you to pay for the expenses that could arise as a result of owning an automobile.
• It gives a sense of security to the insurance holder.
• It is a measure that provides safety to your car.

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. You can expect the agent to call you back with a quote.
• You can get an insurance quote online based on the information you provide. In order to get an accurate quote online, you will have to provide a lot of detailed 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.