Buy Auto Insurance Online – Online Quotes For Car Insurance
Posted in Insurance on 06/24/2009 04:21 am by Matt HellstromThe web changed the way we shop for car insurance. We used to take a walk through the Yellow Pages. Sometimes an agent or broker would actually come to our home in hopes of lining us up for the full package of insurance products: life, automobile and home. But those days are long gone when it comes to vehicle insurance. Like electricity and water, vehicle insurance has become a regular commodity. Once the first broker put an Instant Quote feature for car insurance up on its website, the game was over. Now the majority of us get quotes on the internet, even if we don’t actually buy auto insurance.
Vehicle insurance companies, in fact, viewed a customer coming over from a competitor with suspicion and as a matter of policy would double check the new applicant’s vital info on the suspicion the person had some type of outstanding matter that was behind the switch. That perspective has changed.
These days, the underwriting process is made transparent as shoppers learn what are the triggers for actuarial insurance analysis. No longer needing days or weeks to learn your final rate, instant quotes have made the process of shopping for car insurance less onerous.
One of the nicest things about buying auto insurance online is the way it lets you compare rates for full coverage versus just getting liability. This is particularly significant for those who live in so-called ‘no fault’ insurance’ jurisdictions.
No-fault insurance, in its broad sense, describes an insurance policy that says the insurance company agrees to pay the policy holder’s losses regardless of who is at fault. Basically, a policyholder and any passengers in the policy holder’s vehicle are reimbursed for losses in a traffic accident by the policyholder’s insurer without reference to whose fault the accident was.
In the narrow sense of the term, and as the phrase ‘no-fault insurance’ is most commonly used, the term refers to a certain type of state or locally-mandated vehicle insurance law that is common in the US and Canada. This type of insurance is also called first-party coverage. Additionally, the policyholder and any passengers are limited or restricted in some way as regards their rights to sue for damages by other parties in the civil courts.
These kinds of insurance laws are meant to curtail the stresses placed on the civil court system by limiting the need to establish fault, which is all well and good. But they also mean you will take a hit on your insurance rates if you are in an accident that was not your fault in any way. If you are going to have your rates increased regardless, for any car over 5 years old, the collision and theft provisions become problematic. At this point, it behooves you to buy auto insurance online, not only for the convenience but the cost savings you can instantly review.