Decide if you want to buy online or through an agent
You can probably buy insurance more cheaply online than you can through an agent. Insurance companies save money by selling on line and most will pass this savings on to you. However, you are also giving up the personal service that an agent can provide. Are you comfortable determining your own limits and deductibles or would you prefer someone to help you sort it out. There’s no right or wrong answer. You can do your own research and make your own decisions if that comes easily to you or select an agent that will help you make sure you have all your bases covered. The more complex your insurance needs are, the more likely it is that you will find an agent’s help valuable in setting up a good insurance program. For example, if you have special exposures (an insurance term for things that might cause a loss) like a day care in your home or if you use your personal vehicle to carry people or property for a fee, it would be wise to talk with an insurance agent to be sure that you are covered. If your agent says that something is covered make a note of the date, time and person that told you that or ask them to send you a memo for your file. Agents are only human and sometimes they make mistakes. but if you can show an insurance company that your agent promised coverage, they may cover the claim even if the agent was mistaken. If not, you may have the option of making a claim against the agent’s Errors and Omissions coverage if you received incorrect information.
Get referrals from friends and family
Talk to your friends and family. Find out where they buy their insurance. Have they had any claims? Were they happy with the claims service? Why or why not? When you are buying insurance, you are buying the company’s promise to make payment to reimburse you for damage to your property or protect you from claims that people make against you. Having your house damaged in a tornado or being involved in an automobile accident is stressful enough. You want to know that your insurance company will handle your claim quickly, correctly, and courteously.
Check with the Department of Insurance
Go to http://www.naic.org/state_web_map.htm if you’re not sure how to find your state’s Department of Insurance website.They have a link to the websites for all 50 states. You can find a lot of information here including general insurance information and market conduct examinations. These examinations are performed on a periodic basis. The regulators examine a company’s underwriting, policy cancellation, and claims handling information to be sure that the company is conducting business fairly and honoring the promises that it makes to policy holders. Maybe reading all these reports isn’t your thing, and I understand that. But if a company has a poor claims handling record, isn’t it better to discover that before you buy your insurance than after you have a claim?
Check Financial Ratings
Once you’ve made sure that the company you’re considering has been doing a good job with their underwriting and claims handling you’ll want to be sure that they’ll have the resources to continue to pay claims fairly in the future. Ask for the AM Best, Moody’s or Standard & Poor’s ratings or obtain this information online. You want a company with a high financial rating that will be around to take care of you if you have to make a claim.