With the widespread of broadband Internet during the last decade, more and more venues have an online presence. In 2011 we can do most of our shopping online – from ordering pizza to renting a new apartment – and such is the case with car insurance as well. In no particular order, here are the benefits of buying car insurance online as opposed to drawing a contract in an offline venue.
Price
Online companies have lower overheads related to rent, sales personnel, show rooms or utilities. They can afford to function in one central office and sell everywhere in the country, without the need to have brick and mortar stores in each and every major city. Moreover, advertising costs in the online world are substantially lower than what a company would have to pay offline to get the same exposure. The cost savings are huge, and this can translate into substantially lower prices for their products.
Availability
Traditional brick and mortar stores have regular opening hours like any other business. There are hardly any insurance shops open after 7pm, so if your schedule doesn't allow you to leave work until late in the evening you are more or less in a tight spot. When buying an insurance policy online, the time and day of the week are no longer a restriction – you can shop from the comfort of your home or office at any time of day or night, seven days a week.
Moreover, all insurers are literally at a few mouse clicks away. If you are to shop around for the best deal offline then you would have to drive around from one store to another and spend hours in traffic. When shopping online, you can easily compare packages offered by various companies in no time – everything is right in front of your eyes.
Instant quotes
You can save lots of time with shopping online because the quotes you get are instant. You simply have to fill in some forms and you get a response immediately. This saves you the hassle of driving around from one store to another or calling each company in the phonebook and waiting for a follow-up.
Comprehensive information
Most offline insurers won't go into a lot of detail on the various packages available. If you aren't familiar with the insurance jargon and don't know exactly how much insurance you truly need you may even be talked into buying coverage you don't need if you're dealing with a pushy and unscrupulous agent. When shopping online, on the other hand, you can take your time to research every little bit of information at your own pace and make an educated decision. Most insurance companies have a solid knowledge-base section on their website where they explain everything you need to know but, if that's not enough, you can always access other online resources and dig for further information.
- Purchasing Car Insurance in 2012
- What Does Car Insurance Cover?
- Benefits of Buying Car Insurance Online
- Where to Get a Car Insurance Quote
- Steps to Get Cheap Car Insurance
- How Car Insurance Works
- Cheapest States to be Insured In
- No Fault vs. Full Tort vs. Limited Tort
- Reasons Why Car Insurance Premiums Increase
- Ticket Effects on Car Insurance Rates
- Consequences of Driving without Insurance
- Car Insurance for under 5000 Mile a Year
- Cheapest Cities for Car Insurance
- Finding you Claim After an Accident
- High Auto Insurance Rates in California