Can you really save money by shopping for auto insurance online? From the sound of this real world example from the gnome-o-sphere, you sure can …

Gnomie Terry wrote:

I went shopping for auto insurance on line about a year ago. My wife was involved in three auto accidents during the previous three years. Our auto insurance had steadily risen, as you might imagine. Then we moved from to a new state. Upon notifying our insurance company, I was unpleasantly surprised to find that they did not provide coverage in my new state, and that they were terminating the auto insurance policy in sixty days.

With little time and no local connections, I decided to shop online. I found it very easy to get quotes from a variety of companies quickly on line. I only queried companies that I had heard of previously. Safeco provided one of the lower rate quotations. I ‘googled’ them to see what others had to say about them. Then I called to speak to a representative and explore the effect of various coverages and deductibles. During that conversation, I ended up with a different set of coverages and deductibles which further reduced costs.

After six months, the policy cost was reduced due to one of the accidents in our profile moving out of the penalty window. That happened again at the annual renewal. The downside of this, if you can call it that, is that I have no experience with claims processing which is what having an insurance policy is ultimately all about. The upside, is that the policy reduced my insurance costs by hundreds of dollars up front and the cost has been reduced twice during the first year of coverage.

Auto insurance represents one of the single largest financial obligations, after housing expenses. A little bit of legwork can go a long way. You’ll do well to start your research online the next time you’re looking for a new auto insurance policy …

Related: Tips for getting a better deal on your auto insurance

[tags]auto insurance[/tags]