Highest Rated Auto Insurance Companies

Finding the lowest price on car insurance might be your main goal, but you should also take ratings into consideration before you commit a new policy. Dealing with the highest rated auto insurance companies might cost a few more dollars, but it could prove to be a worthy investment in the long run.

What is a "rating"? All insurance companies are rated according to how financially solvent they are. If a disaster occurred and most of their customers had to put in claims, would they all be paid?

In certain geographic areas of the country like hurricane and tornado prone states (we all know about Katrina!), customers need to know their insurance company can and will pay for whatever damage their automobiles sustain, whether it's a cracked windshield or a total loss.

Even if you have a higher rated company (A or above - AA, AAA) and claims are paid after a disaster, the next concern for them and for you is: can they afford to stay in business? Paying off billions in claims all at once would put most companies under bankruptcy protection.

Companies aren't only rated on their financial solvency, they are also rated on the quality of their policies, the value of their customer service support, the speed of settling claims, and the value of their online presence (i. E., can you file a claim online 24/7?).

For this type of rating there's nothing like checking out online newsgroups. Simply type in "reviews for XYZ Insurance Company" and you'll be amazed at what you find. Take into consideration what you read, though. One bad customer experience does not a bad insurance company make. Read everything you can find and then make your own conclusions.

You can also get a lot of information on rating systems from insurance brokers. Brokers deal with multiple companies and are familiar with a lot of information that isn't necessarily readily available to public. That's not to infer that the companies don't want consumers to know, it's just that most consumers wouldn't know where to start looking for it. Brokers are happy to provide rating info on financial solvency as well as customer service ratings.

Is it possible to have an excellent financial rating but have poor scores for customer service and other areas? Absolutely. As with any type of company, the bigger ones can become too sure of themselves and even losing some customers due to poor customer service won't hurt them.

Take everything into consideration before deciding on which one to go with.