When you need to purchase home insurance, auto insurance, or any other type of policy, you have many decisions to make. Which policies are right for you? How much insurance do you need? Which company will provide you with what you need? Finding the right company is perhaps the most time-consuming part of your task, but understanding how to wade through your options and narrow them down can speed up the process.
1. Research Each Company Thoroughly
The best thing you can do before choosing an insurance company is to research each one you’re interested in thoroughly. You may think you know everything you need to know about Progressive Insurance, for example, but do you really? Start by looking at a company’s overall history. In addition to how long the company’s been in operation and which states it serves, you should determine if their mission, values, and the actions of company leadership align with your own values. Community involvement, which products and services the company provides, and its financial strength are all important as well.
Next, look at the insurance provider’s ratings, reports, and surveys. Industry rankings, consumer reports, and focus surveys are good ways to determine a company’s overall health and how satisfied current and previous clients are with claim payouts and general customer service.
2. Read Online Reviews
Sometimes, articles and even survey results can be biased, depending on who wrote the article or conducted the surveys. Another good way to determine whether an insurance company will be a good fit for you is to read online reviews. Pay special attention to any negative reviews that you find. What are the reviews referring to? It may be a specific policy, a person they communicated with, or trouble with making a claim.
Consider whether the review paints the company as a whole in a negative light or whether it seemed like a singular experience. It’s also a good idea to see whether the company responded to the review, determine if the customer felt the problem was fixed, and even to bring up the negative information you found when talking to a company representative. How they respond may give you an indication of how much merit the review had in the first place.
3. Find Out if the Company Provides Discounts
Many insurance agencies offer their customers discounts for a wide range of reasons. If you are looking for home insurance, you may receive discounts for owning a new or renovated home, using specialized construction materials, or installing protective devices. If you’re looking for auto insurance, you may see a drop in price for insuring multiple cars at once, insuring a driver who is a good student, or owning a car that has anti-lock brakes. If you need home insurance, auto insurance, or other insurance policies, you may even receive a discount for purchasing multiple policies from the same company.
Finding the right insurance company will take time, but thorough research, reading plenty of online reviews, and understanding which agency will give you the most for your money is essential. Once you narrow down your search, making a choice will be much easier.
