There are a ton of options when it comes to purchasing car insurance. We all see the countless ads for the big guys that have been around for a long time like State Farm, Allstate and Farmers. Then there are the companies advertising a quote in 30 seconds online. With so many ads and so many options how do you choose? Well, we’re going to shed some light on buying car insurance online vs an agent.
Buying Car Insurance Online
This has turned into a hybrid model. Most of the time the buying process isn’t truly 100% online. There are sites such as Policy Genius, Insurify and Jerry that market their instant online rating platforms. Yes, these are competitors of ours, but hey, we have nothing to hide! We want to bring real value to our customers. So, if you want to get a quote from us, you can do so here.
It’s likely you’ll still need to speak with someone
While some of these agencies do offer some online estimates, it’s still likely that you’ll need to speak with one of their agents to either finalize the purchase of the policy or answer any questions you may have. This is a good thing for 2 reasons:
- You have a licensed agent double checking that you have a good policy that protects you.
- Not all insurance carriers give instant quotes. So you’re possibly missing out on getting the best possible quote.
So, let’s explain #2 in a little more detail. Let’s say you go on an insurance website and they have 15 insurance companies they represent for auto insurance. However, only 5 of these companies have instant quoting capabilities. So, they can show you those 5 quotes instantly but they may have to wait an hour to get the other 10 complete. If you’re only interested in instant rates you’ve eliminated two-thirds of the other carriers competing for your business. Unless for some reason you have to purchase instantly, it’s in your best interest to just wait until all the quotes have come in.
I know most of us don’t want to give out our contact information for fear of being spammed but in this situation, if you’re truly serious about getting the best accurate car insurance quotes, make sure you give your info so they can reach you when the rest of the quotes are populated.
Buying Car Insurance Through an Agent
A more traditional approach would be calling an agent based on a referral from someone you know or getting an ad in the mail. The benefit here is that you can put a face and a name to the person you’re working with. If they were referred to you by someone you trust, even better! This human connection and trust go a long way.
But wait……the lines are blurring
Just because you purchase car insurance online doesn’t mean that you don’t have an agent. And, just because you have an agent doesn’t mean they don’t have online quoting capabilities. Fortunately, there is a lot of new technology in the insurance world that is utilized by both the new online only model and traditional agents alike.
So who wins?
At the end of the day, you get to choose the way you want to buy insurance. Some people love the online capabilities of making changes to their policies, getting ID cards and checking their billing status. Others don’t want the burden of having to keep track of yet another password and login. They’d rather just shoot off an email, text or even call when they want a quote or policy servicing. So, in the battle of buying car insurance online vs an agent, our winner is a hybrid model that offers the best of both worlds.
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