By Peter Crump
Choosing the right auto insurance company is very important since they will be the one to help you settle any auto related mishaps in the future. Auto insurance companies follow a basic set of benefits which they provide their policyholders. They only differ in the premiums. There are auto insurance companies that offer exorbitant insurance premiums and there are also those that offer affordable premiums. But just how can you know that the auto insurance company you have chosen is a reliable company?
A reliable auto insurance company is one that has a good reputation of paying or settling claims in the fastest time possible and pays the correct amount of claims. To check on your chosen auto insurance company you may visit your state's department of insurance web site. You may not be aware of this but every state has its own department of insurance. Nowadays, most of these departments have their own web sites which display consumer complaint ratios of all insurance companies that sell in their state. These ratios will tell you just how many complaints each of the listed car insurance received per one thousand claims filed.
The complaint ratio will provide you with a gauge on which car insurance to choose. Likewise, out of the list of your chosen car insurance you may be able to also get the company that offers the lowest premium quotes. But make sure that your chosen car insurance company has one of the least ratios of complaint. The car insurance that ranks on both lists should merit your strongest consideration.
The next step is to find out which body shops are recommended by your chosen car insurance. Take note of the locations of their accredited body shops. See if there is an accredited shop that is in your area. If they have one in your area so much the better but you still have to check on the auto body shop to see if it has all the necessary auto repair equipment and machines that can effectively answer any auto repair that you may be requiring in the future.
After checking on the auto body shop and you need to ask them about the insurance company that accredits them. They will either give you a positive feedback or a negative one. Lucky for you if it's a positive remark since this will mean that you have finally found the auto insurance that you want. However it is not yet the end of your search since there are still other factors you have to look into.
Additional information on the auto insurance company that you are considering may be found on the J.D. Power and Associates website. This organization is known to collect data from individual policyholders nationwide and asks these same policyholders to rate their auto insurance company according to coverage options, price, claims handling, satisfaction with representatives, including the overall experience that they have with their respective auto insurance companies.
Another factor for you to look into before you finally settle and pay your very first premium is the financial strength rating of the auto insurance company that you are considering. You may take a look at the A.M. Best and the Standard & Poor's ratings. These two companies are known for publishing financial strength ratings of all insurance companies. The financial strength of an auto insurance company will determine its capacity to pay or to settle claims. Auto insurance companies that reflect a very low financial strength ratio would mean they do not have the capabilities of settling claims and therefore should not be chosen.
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