I’ve decided to buy insurance online, But which site should I use? | Buying Auto Insurance

Countless numbers of people are now making the move to online insurance shopping in order to save time and money. But with so many ads and websites, how do you know which one to go to?
I took a look at five websites that offer insurance: Progressive.com, Insurance.com, Esurance.com, Insweb.com, and NetQuote.com. Here are my thoughts, for each one, on whether or not they will save you time and money and offer good service should you need to make a claim. After all, that’s why we buy insurance, isn’t it?

Insurance.com
Insurance.com is an insurance broker. You enter the requested information, and they obtain quotes for you from various insurance companies. Similar to Priceline.com, you won’t know who the insurers are until you get your quotes.
I found Insurance.com difficult to navigate. Their home page gives you too much information all at once and they don’t hide the fact that all they want to do is sell, sell, sell you insurance of all different kinds. This site needlessly asks for more personal information than any of the other sites I looked at. As a result, it took a lot longer to obtain any quotes.
A word to the wise about shopping for insurance and anything else online: Read the privacy policy. This tells you whether or not your personal information is protected, used, sold, etc. Insurance.com has different privacy policies for different types of insurance.
Unfortunately, Insurance.com did not provide me with much of a savings over what I pay now. Furthermore, not one mention is made of customer service following the sale—service, of course, will depend on which carrier you wind up with. Go to More Info on Insurance.com for a more detailed review.

NetQuote.com
NetQuote.com is a little different from the other online brokers in that they work with a group of insurance agents to whom they give your contact information. Then the agents contact you by phone or e-mail. NetQuote appears to be set up to assist agents in finding customers. The benefit is that you get quotes from several agents and have a “person” to talk to.
As with Insurance.com, there is no mention of service after the sale. The one positive is that if you’ve never purchased insurance before, you’ll have numerous agents to speak to and ask questions. Read their privacy policy even though it is several pages long.
Go to More Info on NetQuote.com for a more detailed review.

Progressive.com
Progressive Insurance sells insurance via brokers, but their website, Progressive.com, will sell it directly to you over the Internet. They distract you on their very busy home page with a scrolling list of rate comparisons. Unlike some of the other sites, they do state their privacy policy clearly and it’s a must read, especially if you’re insuring a commercial vehicle.
Progressive.com brags about offering quotes in about eight minutes. Plan on about a half hour-- they ask a lot of questions. You will get comparisons to other companies when you finally get your quotes.
It is clear that Progressive has integrity. Their rate comparisons show that Progressive is not always the lowest. Still, there were some technical problems on their site, so it leaves me speculating on whether their rates are accurate. On the claims side, Progressive has the brand recognition and is known within the industry for having good service. I was not tremendously impressed with the website, but their integrity and service still make me want to give them a chance.
Go to More Info on Progressive.com for a more detailed review.

Insweb.com
Insweb.com is an online insurance broker in the same mold as Insurance.com. The difference is that their site is very user friendly and they only ask questions necessary to obtain quotes without asking too much. Unlike some other sites, they don’t find a need to boast about their speed; they just quickly provide quotes (in about 8 minutes) from several highly rated insurance companies without a hard sell approach. I received quotes from nine companies, many of which would save me hundreds of dollars over my present carrier. I received one follow-up phone call from Insweb to go over the best quote and to ask me if I had any questions. There is also some very useful information on the site about how to assess the amount of insurance you need.
Go to More Info on Insweb.com for a more detailed review.

Esurance.com
Esurance.com was probably the easiest to use of the five I looked at. It is not an insurance broker. It is a highly rated insurance company that sells directly to you over the Internet. If you are new to buying insurance, you will especially appreciate their 24/7 customer service both online and by phone. They will give you a quote very quickly (I got mine in 9 minutes), and the prices were not bad at all. They also provide you with rate comparisons for a few other insurance companies. They do appear to exaggerate a bit on how much they’ll save you, but they will save you some money.
Esurance.com, like Insweb, has a wealth of information on their site to educate you about insurance. They take pride in their claims handling and their auto repair program, which aims to get you back on the road fast. The only thing I didn’t care for on the site is their cartoon character advertising. Don’t bother clicking on it. Otherwise, this is a good site for insurance shopping.

Go to More Info on Esurance.com for a more detailed review.
This should steer you in the right direction and get you started shopping for insurance online. Once you read a bit about what you’re looking for, and get your quotes, you’ll be able to make an informed decision and get a good deal for quality service. That’s the goal.