Three Tips For Avoiding Online Car Insurance Quote Scams
Everybody wants to find cheap car insurance, but this type of frugality can come back to bite you if you aren't careful. The online world is full of scams, and the insurance industry is no exception. A common online insurance scam is one in which website charges a fee for finding inexpensive insurance. These companies typically send you to another insurance company that they are not authorized to provide quotes for, leaving the customer to go through the whole process again. Other scam sites actually offer insurance at extremely low prices, but add a ridiculous number of stipulations in small print (with the assumption that the customer will fail to read the fine print) and leave the customer vulnerable in the case of an accident.
It is easy to fall prey to an online insurance scam. The following three tips will help you avoid getting scammed by an insurance website.
If it looks too good to be true, it probably is
Be wary of any website that claims to offer car insurance at a greatly reduced price. Even if the site is not a complete scam, there's a good chance that the cheap car insurance will not provide quality coverage. It is better to have a slightly higher monthly rate and good coverage in an accident than to save a few dollars a month and then owe thousands later.
Do your research ahead of time
It is important to have some idea what types of quotes other insurers are providing. This means that you have to do your research ahead of time, and not just with the "cheap" companies. Find out which insurers your friends, family and coworkers have, and then look those companies up online to see what kinds of rates they typically quote. If you have a ballpark estimate of what type of quote a typical insurance company will make, you'll be better prepared to identify the companies that are making unrealistic promises.
Never pay a website to provide quotes from other insurers
Having to pay a company to get an insurance quote is a sure sign of a scam. This type of website will promise to find you really cheap car insurance, while simply leading you to an unaffiliated outside site. You should never have to pay a fee to receive an insurance quote.
In general, avoiding a car insurance scam is a lot like avoiding any scam. In these types of situation, a little research can go a long way. It pays to find out which companies are legitimate and which ones are scamming you out of your hard-earned money.
