Is it Safe to Buy Car Insurance Online?
The Internet has become the preferred market place for more and more people to buy car insurance as they prefer shopping online to chasing insurance agents in the real world. But as a first time buyer you will have a number of doubts and misgivings.
When first buying online you may have doubts about the safety of your online transactions. Actually online transactions are quite secure these days with multiple levels of security and firewalls installed. Most well-know companies who have an online presence today have these security features installed. Also, the Internet has made comparison-shopping and getting multiple quotes for car insurance premiums a breeze.
If you have doubt about a certain online insurance company check up on their ratings and credentials with your State’s Insurance Commissioner’s website to see how good the company’s track record in terms of payments of claims etc.
You may wonder if these online companies are licensed to sell insurance online. To check this out, research your state’s Insurance Commissioner website which will provide you with information on this matter else just phone them up and ask about the company with which you want buy your insurance.
If you are dealing with the smaller insurance companies then make it a point to check their insurance ratings, credentials, payment track records etc, to be doubly sure that you are dealing with good companies. Also, some of these online insurance websites may be that of resellers.
Most online auto insurance companies will probably try to offer you the lowest rate as they know you can easily click to any other website to get your auto insurance. But try to provide identical information, as rates will vary depending on the information you provide about your car, your driving record and safety features etc. In addition, make sure that you are comparing equal levels of coverage, as the different offerings may be based upon different levels of coverage and protection. Also try to find out what is included under your policy such as roadside assistance, as not all companies provide this.
Also there is one more advantage that online auto insurance companies may offer, they represent multiple insurance carriers. So they are able to provide quotes from multiple insurance carriers, and help you to find the lowest cost provider.
When we fill in the form requesting for insurance quotes many of us are worried that our personal information might be misused. But actually when you stick to well-known and legitimate companies you are relatively risk free as most of these companies have security features and firewalls installed to prevent unauthorized access to your private information.
Read the website’s privacy policy to see what their intentions are with your information once you give it to them. Check if the websites where you fill in your personal information are using SSL Encryption. A lock at the bottom of the page indicates that they are using this technology and hackers can’t access the website. If for some reason you can see the lock, you can also check by ‘right clicking’ on the page, then select ‘properties’ at the bottom of the menu, you’ll then see a dialog box, there you need to check the ‘address’ field and make sure the URL contains https: the (s) means it’s secure.
Most of the insurance provider themselves operates the online web site. But in rare cases the web site may be lead generation method for other outside insurance companies. These web sites will then sell your sales lead to an outside auto insurance company who will then contact you. There is nothing wrong with this as long as your private details are kept confidential.
On the issue of claims processing even if you have bought your insurance online typically the claims processing will be handled over the phone the same way as when you buy it offline. You’ll be provided with phone numbers to use when filing a claim.
Sometimes you may be able to purchase online insurance much faster than through an agent if you provide all the details correctly. But again this depends on whether the website selling the insurance is run by the insurance carrier or just a reseller, and also on how the insurance company runs its business. There is no way you can actually know when your application will be approved short of asking the company.
For more details on any insurance company you can research the web for your state’s Insurance Commissioner’s Office website or just give them a call and they should be able to clarify most of your doubts.
2005 Car-knowledge.com
