With the availability of a numerous auto insurance companies, it becomes very difficult indeed to select a policy that fits both our costs and budget. Apart from various policies, both the local and national companies compete to offer the best services. Hence you must be smart enough to research properly, gather information regarding each company before you purchase a policy. You must ensure that the company must be able to meet any future claims at any situation along with quality service.
It is so uncomfortable to imagine in an accident. Similarly, you must determine the expectations on your auto carriers at such situations. At the situation, it is impossible to choosing between what your carrier can provide; hence it is best to know of that entire processes well before in hand. If you had already met an accident, you can know all dealings, but if not, it is hard. If you are able to understand what each package provides and the limits of each one, you can avoid the stress instead of worrying about future. Only by experiencing one, you can know better, and choose the best suitable one.
List all your requirements that the carrier must meet in such cases. The two top things in the list must be customer reviews and the ability to pay for claim. You can compare all the companies either comparing your current one and others for switching or before purchasing a policy. The best thing is to do is to go through online reviews. These reviews by the existing customers give a more honest opinion than visiting the company directly. Besides reviews, ratings are also available online. Anonymous surveys gather the customer’s opinions and experiences and rate companies accordingly. jdpower.com is one of the sites which rates companies based on the overall experience, pricing, policy offerings, customer servicing and billing and payment. They rate by using five stars (max). A company with five stars indicates the best one. Likewise, you can predict your experience.
Another way to classify the carriers is to look into their financial stability. It is a measure of the company’s ability to pay out any claims. It could be terrible if your carrier cannot pay for your claim when you are in need of it. Sites like ambest.com, standardandpoors.com, weissratings.com, bbb.org, etc rate companies based on their financial stability. By visiting one of these sites, you can gain more insight of the companies and this helps in your comparison.
A.M. Best (ambest.com) provides “an objective role in the insurance industry towards the prevention and exposure of insurer insolvency.” Their evaluation is the best and the customers can rest in peace while shopping for a policy. They place companies in two categories namely Secure (A++ to B+) and Vulnerable (B through S). Standard and Poor’s ( standardandpoors.com ) has been “reviewing the financial strength of insurance companies since 1971. It is one of the world’s largest insurance rating organizations.” They have analyzed over 3000 companies worldwide. Their reports are free. Their ratings based on creditworthiness start with Triple A (best) and goes down.
Weiss Ratings (weissratings.com) “records the financial safety of about 2,400 U.S. property and casualty insurance companies.” They rank companies totally unbiased. Their system is simple with ratings A (Excellent) to E (Very Weak). Better Business Bureau (bbb.org) available in each state keeps the claims filed against companies rendering poor services. These filings are accessible online or you can call consumers who filed to check. In bbb.org, enter your zip code and search by company to look for filings against them and also know if the company is accredited under BBB.
Though inaccessible by all, the Department of Insurance of most states records and files all complaints against the insurance companies. Anyone with a negative experience can report against the certain company which will be filed. You can call the Department directly to enquire about the company or visit their site or search as “Texas Department of Insurance Complaints” ensuring your home state name.
In addition to this research, you can speak to trusted people and enquire yourself their opinions, experiences and recommendations. By gathering information from several people, you can come to a conclusion yourself. Due to the availability of many auto insurance companies, you need to take time in selecting the best one. Though time-consuming, it is worth the time.
