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How do l choose an insurance company?
There are many
insurance companies, so choosing between them can be a challenge. Here
are the main points to keep in mind when selecting an insurance company:
- Licensing
Not every company is licensed to operate in each state. As a general
rule, you should buy from a company licensed in your state, because
then can you rely on your state insurance department to help if there’s
a problem. To find out which companies are licensed in your state,
contact the state insurance department.
- Price
Many companies sell insurance policies and prices vary greatly from one
to another, so it really pays to shop around. Get at least three price
quotes from companies, agents and from the Internet. Your state insurance department
may publish a guide that shows what insurers charge for different
policies in various parts of your state.
- Financial Solidity
You buy insurance to protect you financially and provide peace of mind.
Select a company that is likely to be financially sound for many years,
by using ratings from independent rating agencies.
- Service
Your insurance company and its representatives should answer your
questions and handle your claims fairly, efficiently and quickly. You
can get a feel for whether this is the case by talking to other
customers who have used a particular company or agent. You may also
want to check a national claims database to see what complaint
information it has on a company. Also, your state insurance department
will be able to tell you if the insurance company you are considering
doing business with had many consumer complaints about its service
relative to the number of policies it sold.
- Comfort
You should feel comfortable with your insurance purchase, whether you
buy it from a local agent, directly from the company over the phone, or
over the Internet. Make sure that the agent or company will be easy to
reach if you have a question or need to file a claim.
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