Buying Car Insurance Online is Increasingly Common

Buying car insurance online is increasingly common – more than 2 million people did it last year. Insurers have been improving their sites and, in many cases have made buying a car insurance policy a truly paperless transaction.

At the same time, industry surveys continue to find that most people prefer to deal with an insurance agent or other “real person” before they buy a policy. So if you want to do just about all of your car insurance shopping online, and then actually purchase the policy offline, you’re in good company.

You’re also like many consumers if you don’t want to get bogged down completing online auto insurance quoting forms and having to remember the date of that last fender-bender, your car’s vehicle identification number (VIN) and the liability limits of your current car policy.

The nice thing is, you don’t have to. Many insurance websites use databases to streamline the quote process. It is increasingly common for you to be able to enter your name and address and have the insurer’s web site instantly provide details on your cars and your driving record. That makes getting a quote easy.

There are three types of online car insurance quotes:

1) A single quote from an insurer’s web site.

2) Lead-generation sites that gather your quoting information and pass it on to multiple insurance agents and companies that pay them for leads. You will get multiple quotes from this process but you’ll get them from e-mails and phone calls from agents and company representative (and, yes, they will try to sell you a policy in the process).

3) Quotes from multiple insurers through an online quoting engine.

Single Quotes

Single quotes are quotes from individual insurers. Many insurer websites generate quotes quickly but, remember, you’re only getting a quote from one company. Progressive will provide quotes from two or three other big car insurers so you can compare rates, and has aggressively advertised this capability. The Esurance site allows you to quickly change the coverage terms on a single screen and then recalculate your premium – a nice touch.

Lead Generation Sites

There are lots of lead-generating sites. InsuranceLeads, InsWeb and NetQuote arethree that market their service widely. InsuranceLeadshas experienced phenomenal success and growth and is considered one of the best lead-generating sights. InsureMe is an agent-based quoting site that was acquired earlier this year by Bankrate.

Because there are many smaller car insurance companies that sell policies in just one or a few states, you might consider Googling for local lead-generation sites – just enter your state’s name and “car insurance rates” and you’ll see plenty of choices. Be prepared to be called and e-mailed by agents.

Online Quoting Engines

Online quoting engines allow you to enter your information, then participating insurance companies contact you with their quotes. You can easily obtain comparative quotes from four to six car insurers, depending on the state where you live.

These quoting engines are excellent comparison shopping tools. Don’t be surprised if you see wide disparities in quotes for what are essentially identical products. The sites provide quotes before requiring you to interact with their participating insurance companies, so you can get the information you want without someone trying to sell you a policy. Also, they will store your quotes, allowing you to come back periodically and quickly refresh the pricing information.

How to save money on your auto insurance

Car insurances prices are increasing on the back of the credit crunch and are hitting drivers hard at a time when many can’t afford the extra expense. Unfortunately, more and more people are simply not getting auto insurance. This is foolish, and can result in financial ruin if an accident occurs.

However, there are ten simple ways to reduce the price of your auto insurance which moneysupermarket.com have come up with based on their vast experience with car insurance firms:

1. Work on a having a good driving history-Insurance companies are taking a risk on your driving habits. As such, if you have a good driving track record, then chances of you getting in a road accident (and ergo chances of the insurance company needing to make a payout) are slim. So, the better you drive the cheaper your insurance.
2. Cut down your mileage- Reducing the number of miles you travel will also reduce the price of your insurance. However, don’t go over the mileage you state as this will render your policy void if you have an accident after you pass the limit.
3. Know your credit score- Your credit score is one of the things an insurer takes into consideration when figuring out the auto insurance quote to give you. If your credit score is bad, this means your finances are not good, which means you’re a big risk for the insurance company, which in turn means you get a high car insurance rate. What a lot of people don’t realize is that there are often mistakes in one’s credit score! The best thing to do here is for you to know your credit score NOW and fix any erroneous entries by getting in touch with credit report companies to get these mistakes out and thus improve your credit score. In the end, a good credit score means cheaper insurance.
4. buy online- most auto insurance firms offer cheaper deals online than they in store or over the phone due to reduced admin costs.
5. Shop around- It’s easy to simply accept an offer from your current insurer. However, moneysupermarket.com believes that shopping around and getting quotes from different insurers can save the average driver $326 a year.
6. Read online reviews- The only danger with shopping around is that you don’t know what the customer service will be like from the new insurer. Therefore try visiting AutoInsuranceReviewer.com (AIR). AIR is third-party site where thousands of people just like you sign up and post their own personal reviews of car insurance providers they’ve dealt with.
7. Haggle for a deal- Nowadays, there are plenty of discounts that can be had on car insurance but they won’t simply be given to you. So go ahead and ask! More often than not if you inform them that you have been offered cheaper elsewhere but would prefer the level of service offer by them, they will lower their prices.
8. Take higher deductibles- If you can afford it, opt to pay a higher deductible (the amount you need to pay the auto insurance company before they pay any claims) than normal. It may be steep at the start but this means paying lower monthly premiums too, which in the long run means more savings for you. However, it is a risk as it will mean you are more at risk if you do have an accident.
9. Park safely- Where you car is parked during the day and at night will influence the amount you pay, and if your insurers are told your car is parked on a driveway or in a garage, they are inclined to reduce the price of your policy. However, if your car is damaged when parked on the road outside your house when you have stated on your policy that you park in a garage, expect to have problems when making a claim.
10. Fit an alarm- Fitting an approved alarm and/or immobiliser is another great way of reducing your insurance price as it reduces the chance of your car being stolen.

When leasing a car is better than buying

I would like to start this article with a famous quote from oil baron Paul Getty "if it appreciates, buy it. If it depreciates, lease it". Many would say that is money management 101 or simply think it is common sense. So why buy a new car when you can lease it.

Mr. Getty's saying is a perfect fit for fleet managers and business owners alike who are building or renewing their fleets. In this article I'll point out key benefits to why leasing can be a real money saver from a business perspective.

When you buy a new car, be it privately or for a business, the minute you drive it off the forecourt it starts to depreciate, in other words you are loosing money the moment you drive your new car out of the garage you bought it from. This brings another subject into play, car depreciation, but that is content for another article.

Even though I won't discuss car depreciation in detail here, that is something you have to take for granted when leasing or contract hiring a car or a whole fleet. I recommend German cars as they depreciate far less than other brands. More on this later.

First of all let us understand the concepts of car leasing. The concepts of leasing a car are fairly simply, yet many business owners and fleet managers are often sceptical about it. First of all car leasing is not renting as many people mistakenly believe.

That said, leasing is a financial method, similar to a loan. When you lease a car you will be paying a set amount a month to purchase a new vehicle, but this vehicle won't be yours. At this point you might be asking yourself, what is the point in all this, paying for something that won't be mine?

If you asked yourself this question, I have to agree with you to a certain extent, but there other benefits that make car leasing more attractive than buying a new car. First, monthly payments are on average 30% to 60% cheaper than the ordinary car loan and there isn't the need for a huge upfront deposit. In general the majority of car leasing companies will only ask for a deposit of 3 monthly payments.

Second, you can renew your fleet every 2 to 4 years depending on your leasing contract. Not to mention that road taxes are usually included in the lease price and as they are brand new vehicles, warranty covers most of the maintenance costs.

Third, as afore mentioned maintenance costs are little to none specially because when you lease you will always have new car in hand and you do not need to worry about it breaking down unless it is a manufacturers problem. In those cases maintenance is also free of charge.

Fourth, no used car hassles, Lease and eliminate the headaches of trying to sell used cars. With leasing you simply return it to the leasing company and choose a new one. Imagine renewing your whole fleet of vehicles by simply ringing your leasing company and scheduling it, no hassles, no time off work hopping from dealer to dealer after the best deals.

As you can see there are countless benefits that make car leasing better than buying from a business standpoint. A recent study revealed that 20% to 25% of all new cars, trucks, SUVs, and vans are leased. In the premium segment numbers are even higher, approximately 75% of luxury cars purchased in the UK are leased.

Determining the lease price of a car

To determine the lease price of a given car, a series of factors are to be considered. First we have the initial purchase price, it is brand new, millage and condition are disregarded, if it is a used car these three factors are brought into the equation.

But the two most important factors that will influence your monthly payments are residual value and depreciation. Residual value is an estimate of the value a given vehicle will have when it reaches the end of the lease.

As afore mentioned depreciation has a great influence in the final price of your monthly payments. In short, it refers to the reduction in the car's value caused by age. Brand and model are closely related to depreciation, as some brand depreciate less than others.

Reason why I recommend German cars is their depreciation factor is way better than other brands like some Asian brands like KIA and Hyundai. For instance, you can lease an Audi for less than £240 a month, way less than what you will pay a loan on the same car.
(ArticlesBase SC #3108552)