Everything you need to know about car insurance. Comparison of different insurance policies and vendors. Best insurance for you car does not means most expensive car insurance in the whole world.

Car insurance
My car insurance has doubled over the past few years: The company says the state has allowed it to raise the rate. I'm fed up with the high cost of insurance. Where can I find information to help me choose a new carrier?
--Via the Internet
As with any other consumer good or service, it's a good idea to shop around when contemplating a new insurance carrier. To get free, competitive quotes, check out online services at www.insweb.com or www.insure one.com. The forms take about 15 minutes to complete, and it'll be well worth the effort if you save hundreds of dollars in the process. When you use these sites, you may not get instant quotes. Some companies may contact you directly via a sales representative.
As you enlist competitive quotes, Edmunds.com, a consumer automotive site, advises you to take note of the following:
* Keep coverage rates the same so that the old and new information are comparable.
* Locate an 800 number for answers to questions not found online.
* Ask about the company's payment policy.
* Find out what discounts pertain to you.
Prior to making a final decision, contact your state's department of insurance to get the consumer complaint ratio and ask local auto body shops for recommendations. Before you drop your current coverage, call your insurance carrier for details because you don't want to have any lapses in your coverage.
--Tanisha A. Sykes
Mail your consumer empowerment questions to Ask Your Advocate, BLACK ENTERPRISE 130 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10011 or send an e-mail to sykest@blackenterprise.com.
COPYRIGHT 2004 Earl G. Graves Publishing Co., Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group

Rest Insured - buying car insurance - Brief Article - Buyers Guide
Keeping the brakes on car insurance costs
As inevitable as the sunset but a lot less welcome, auto insurance bills keep coming in. As you review your coverage for the coming year, you're probably considering buying cheaper insurance. But this can come back to bite you if the insurance company isn't reputable, offers poor service, or refuses to honor your claims, says Jeanne Salvatore of the Insurance Information Institute.
Although auto insurance is an expense that has no ROI unless you're in an accident, taking a chance with insurance could cost you if you have to make a claim.
And while you're at it, do you need that commercial van, or would a smaller vehicle do? The bigger the vehicle, the higher the annual insurance bill.
Following are a few things to think about before your next renewal:
(1) Put your car in your company's name to benefit from a business insurance rate, usually lower than a personal policy.
(2) Shop around to compare prices.
(3) Check out your insurance company's ranking. Some state departments of insurance offer this service.
(4) Before you buy a car, know its insurance costs. Sports cars, SUVs and imports carry the highest rates.
(5) Take advantage of opportunities for discounts: a good driving record, safety equipment, antitheft devices, more than one car under the same policy, low annual mileage, and combined commercial auto and business policies.
(6) If your car is worth under $1,000, forget theft insurance. If your car is more than five years old, drop collision and comprehensive coverage.
Jill Amadio has reported on the automotive industry for 23 years as an editor and consultant.
COPYRIGHT 2000 Entrepreneur Media, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group
Who's better at selling insurance?
00:00 am 10/03/05
JASON STEINjstein@madison.com
Is the gecko grabbing greenbacks from local auto insurers like American Family and General Casualty?
Avoiding old-fashioned agents in favor of the Internet and eclectic TV ads with a break-dancing gecko, car insurer Geico has seen impressive sales growth in recent years. Other car insurers like Progressive are also blitzing consumers with ads, promising that lower prices might be a phone call or mouse click away.
Experts say it's a simmering threat for insurers like American Family Insurance Group, which has relied on agents to become one of Madison's biggest employers, with some 3,700 workers, and the leading provider of car insurance in the state. American Family executives see a bright future, saying they're strengthening their exclusive agents to help them thrive in an increasingly cutthroat market.
Consumer trackers like J.D. Power and Associates see more shoppers turning to the Internet for information and price quotes on car policies.
"The share sold through the Web is growing, with most of the growth happening in the last two years," said Jeremy Bowler, senior director of J.D. Power's insurance practice, who sees the changes as both gradual and inevitable. "Over time, I dare say that the paradigm will continue to shift and ultimately we will all be electronically served."
The biggest share of car insurance customers - 54 percent - still go to an agent to get a price quote, according to a J.D. Power survey released last month. But that number was down 5 percentage points this year, while methods that skip agents - like the Internet, direct mail and phone calls straight to carriers - were up.
The share of consumers going directly to companies' Web sites doubled and reached 26 percent, with younger customers accounting for much of the trend, Bowler said.
A spokeswoman for Geico at its headquarters in Washington, D.C., declined to speak about her company's strategies. But Brian Sullivan, editor of the weekly newsletter Auto Insurance Report, sees "no indication" that direct sellers like Geico won't continue growing faster than traditional car insurers, whose ranks include the industry's biggest players, like Illinois insurers State Farm and Allstate.
"The reason is because there's a whole group of people whose needs are fairly basic who should buy direct instead of from agents," Sullivan said, giving the example of young drivers who don't need much insurance. "The $8 billion question is: How many of these people are there?"
To be sure, American Family faces no immediate threat - the company's profits more than tripled to $564.4 million last year. But Sullivan's question is still key for the insurer, which gets about 61 percent of its $6 billion in property and health insurance premiums from car policies sold through company agents, spokesman Ken Muth said.
But the Internet doesn't cause any angst for Oregon agent Diane Sliter, who's sold for American Family for almost two decades. Sliter has second- and third-generation family customers, and within 24 hours of the recent Stoughton tornado, her office was calling them to see who had damage.
"I do try to be here for my customers and go the extra step for servicing," said Sliter, who relies on good value and a personal touch to keep clients. "If these people are just looking for dollars and cents, I'm not going to be the cheapest."
American Family executives say they use their Web site to send leads to agents like Sliter.
"We feel that our (agent) model will be as strong in the future as it has been in the past," said Jack Salzwedel, who holds the new job of executive vice president for sales and marketing at American Family.
Salzwedel said the Internet can't easily sell more complicated products like homeowner's insurance, meaning customers may find it harder to get discounts for having home and car policies with the same company. Younger Internet customers may return to agents as they get older, buy a house or boat, and find they need more help sorting through a trickier process, he said.
Anne Smith, a spokeswoman for General Casualty Insurance Cos., which sells through independent agents, echoed Salzwedel's comments. Smith added that her company relies less on auto insurance, with only 24 percent of its business in car policies. General Casualty and its parent have 740 employees at its Sun Prairie headquarters.
Sullivan also sees a future for agents who can prove their value to customers. "The question isn't 'Will this put American Family and General Casualty out of business?' The question is 'The market is definitely changing, how are these companies responding to it?'"
American Family is the first insurer to sign on for a new J.D. Power program to test how well agents serve customers and then give recognition to agents like Sliter who provide strong service, Bowler said.
"American Family's agent force as a rule is a very capable force," he said. "They wanted to be on the cutting edge."
Serving customers well is crucial to competing with other traditional agent-driven insurers like State Farm, who for now are still the biggest threat for a company like American Family, Bowler said.