Considering Customer Satisfaction Rates When Looking at Car Insurance Quotes
Looking online for car insurance quotes is a great way to save money on premiums. As car insurance costs are a significant part of many motorists’ budgets, looking for a better deal simply makes sense. However, buyers should beware when looking at coverage online. While a low car insurance rate is certainly an important part of buying a policy, it’s also important to work with a reputable company that will provide adequate protection for you and your vehicle. Unfortunately, looking at coverage levels isn’t enough. Customer satisfaction rates are an important detail to consider while shopping.
Customer satisfaction rates (and better yet, actual written reviews) can let you know how a car insurance company will handle claims and other service issues, which will be important if you’re ever involved in an accident or other type of incident. Companies with high ratings generally have a good history of keeping well-run customer service departments and dealing with issues quickly. They tend to do whatever they can to keep satisfaction high, and this can include matching competitors’ rates, working with drivers to keep rates low after an accident or citation, and running easy to access websites with access to critical insurance documents.
You might wonder how accurate customer satisfaction surveys actually are. In many cases, it depends on who’s running them. You can’t really trust information coming directly from the company you’re buying insurance from, since they’ve got a vested interest in keeping their satisfaction rates high and may sometimes use dishonest methods to inflate the statistics. Do a Google search for the name of the company that you’re considering and read about other drivers’ experiences with that company. If you’re seeing a lot of negative press and customer service horror stories, it may be worth a few extra dollars a month to obtain your car insurance from a more trustworthy company. On the other hand, if you find consistently good reviews, you should certainly consider a switch.
Just because a company offers a low cost for car insurance coverage, don’t assume that they will come through on payouts, or that insurance agents will be easy to deal with. Researching the company that you’re buying insurance from is very important, and looking at customer satisfaction rates are a good first step. Be cautious and don’t wait until after you’ve signed up for a new car insurance policy to do some researching. Taking a look at a prospective insurer now can save you quite a bit of hassle down the road, and in the long term, you will be much happier with your coverage.
