Discount Auto Insurance - Is It Worth The Risk

Today's household budgets are strained by many factors. Rising costs for food, clothing and gasoline cause the household budget to appear to shrink as each day goes past. The consumer is constantly looking for fresh methods to stretch their budget without going without necessities. One attractive area to save money in the annual household budget appears to be insurance costs. Advertisements on television make the availability of discount auto insurance a method of saving. The question is, is discount auto insurance obtained on line worth the monetary savings?

There are three basic types of auto insurance, Liability, Collision and Comprehensive. These three types are defined as follows. Liability is coverage for damage done by your vehicle. Collision is coverage for damage done to your vehicle. Comprehensive is coverage for fire and theft damage. If you lease or have your vehicle financed, either through a bank or finance company, the bank or finance company will require you to have all three, which is considered "full coverage". If you own your vehicle outright, most states will require you to carry liability insurance only. However if your vehicle is involved in an accident you may have to carry the burden of repairing your vehicle if you do not have full coverage. There are numerous other types of coverage that are available to the insurance purchaser.

The traditional method of purchasing auto insurance was either through a local agent or broker. The difference between an agent and a broker is that the agent works directly for a specific insurance company. A broker can represent several companies in the coverage that they offer. These agents and brokers are paid by the insurance companies for the policies that they write and renew. In many cases discounts can be obtained from these agents and brokers for combining policies with a specific company. An example of this is the combination of insurance for the home and for the auto. The agent or broker works to develop the best policy for the individual. A relationship is formed which insures that the insurance company will pay the agent or broker when the policy is renewed with the agent or broker.

When you were looking around to change companies it often required numerous lengthy telephone calls to various agents who repeatedly asked the same questions. This was both time consuming and in many cases frustrating. In many cases, it was difficult for the person buying the insurance to compare details of the policies. There are few people in this world who have, when making a claim for either warrantee service or insurance, not been told, "You're not covered for that it's in the fine print".

The Internet provided insurance companies a vast opportunity. This opportunity was to be able to offer discount auto insurance to a larger market. This larger market provided a broader base for the insurance companies to spread the risk factor over. Additionally, in addition to spreading out the risk factor, the insurance companies, by offering coverage directly to the consumer could eliminate the need to pay commissions to agents or brokers. These two factors allowed the insurance companies to offer discount auto insurance to the general populace.

All insurance policies are unique and while offer the same coverage may have differences. These differences often called exclusions allow the insurance company to specify what they will not cover in case of an accident. In many cases these exclusions are included as "fine print" which the purchaser may or may not read. A consumer may in evaluating an auto insurance policy can potentially miss an exclusion that could potentially cost them money in the long run.

There are several factors that the consumer should be aware of when purchasing discount automobile insurance on line. The first and foremost is that a nationally recognized company should provide the insurance. A nationally recognized company may provide a higher quote than ABC Insurance, however the nationally recognized company may in fact provide better coverage than ABC Insurance. The coverage offered not only includes the policy but the customer service that the insurance company offers. Many small discount insurance providers have minimal customer service facilities. Claims are often handled by an extensive exchange of telephone calls, letters and or e-mail. In today's mobile society a person who lives in Georgia may have difficulty in making a claim in North Dakota when that person was there on vacation and was involved in an accident.

Costs are constantly rising often outpacing gains in income. Discount auto insurance is available from many suppliers. When purchasing any discount auto insurance without the aid and assistance of an insurance professional it is required that the consumer carefully evaluate both the policy and the company that is issuing the policy. If the company that is issuing the discount auto insurance is not familiar to the consumer it is recommended that the consumer contact the Better Business Bureau to familiarize themselves with that company. Should the consumer doubt their ability to determine which policy and or company is the right one for them, an insurance professional should be consulted. In many cases the insurance professional can offer comparable rates to the discount auto insurance available on line, which insures that the consumer gets the best coverage for their money.