California Auto Insurance Company Video

Here’s a video I got from YouTube with a Transformer theme about choosing the best auto insurance company. It’s pretty cool looking, and makes me want to see that movie even more. Even better, it reminds me of something I’ve been wanting to blog about: how to choose the best California auto insurance company. Here in Cali, just like everywhere else, we spend a lot of time getting car insurance quotes and checking out discounts and perks. Now, I’m a big proponent of getting quotes and discounts, but what we often forget is that we have to consider more than just what the company offers when we go to a California auto insurance company, but also have to investigate the company itself. It’s like when you see one of those ads that say, “Make $5,000!! working from home!! Only 30 minutes a day!!” We automatically think, “Yeah, right”. Why should our auto insurance be any different?

The first thing that I want to address in what I intend to make a few blog posts about getting the best California auto insurance company, is that you need to make use of what the California department of insurance website gives you. I’m on their website right now, and under the consumer section they have plenty fo resources.

• Is this California auto insurance company even licensed?

Licensing is the first place to start if you’re going with a local California auto insurance company. Obviously, if you’re getting insured with Progressive or something, checking if they’re licensed by the California department of insurance can be pretty silly. However, there are plenty of local California car insurance companies that offer great rates and services, but if you want to include them in your considerations, you should double check to see if they’re licensed first.

The California DOI has a very easy way of doing this. All you have to do is type in the name of the company and search. If that’s a little too hard for you, you can make yourself nauseous by scrolling through the list of licensed companies (which is what I did…arrrrgghh).

Check? Moving on.

• Is this California auto insurance company well liked?

That may not sound like something that the department of insurance would measure, but it sure is, with a little spin. All (or most, but California is part of the most) state departments of insurance have information about the complain ratios of every licensed California auto insurance company. Normally they track the number of complaints per 1000 customers, and looking into it and comparing the complaint ratios betweent the companies that you’re considering can help you decide which has the best claims and customer service.

Don’t think that just because the company is a big, national one that it’s automatically going to do well in this department. I’ve had some bad experiences and good ones with bigger companies, but I’m also very satisfied with the rates and services I get from my local California auto insurance company, and you might feel the same after looking at the complaint ratios of the companies on your list. Every company needs to be investigated before you take out a policy with them, no matter how many customers they have.

• Influences?

So, should your findings from the California Department of Insurance website be the deal breakers on your list of every California car insurance company that has so far passed your test? Not exactly. Everything needs to be weighed individually, and each aspect given its own consideration. However, if you have the cheapest car insurance rates with one company, but it also has a 200 out of every 1000 complaint ratio, then maybe that should send you searching again.