Reader question:

How do I choose the right Florida auto insurance company?

Lucy

Great question, Lucy.

Americans are tempted to believe that the best Florida auto insurance company is the one that provides them with the lowest quote. This is a good standard to go by, but it is not always true, and should not be the only criteria that you base your choice of a Florida auto insurance company on. Things such as the recommendations from repair shops and the legitimacy of the Florida auto insurance company should play a part in your final decision.

• Check out the Florida Department of Insurance website.

Most people never bother to even make note of the existence of a Florida Department of Insurance, but it is there, and it is a wealth of information. The main thing that you want to check first off if you are looking at a local Florida auto insurance company is whether or not this company is legit. To do this, you simply go to the list of license auto insurance companies on the Department of Insurance website. If your Florida auto insurance company is there, then you have a problem.

That first step isn’t necessary if you are choosing a larger company that operates nationally, such as AllState. However, even big companies with flashy commercials have their problems, so you do need to look them up on the website under the complaints section. The Florida Department of Insurance has a very helpful section of its website which compares the ratios of complaints between companies. Sometimes a company is not listed, but if you look it up on the website for another state, the ratio there might give you an idea as to how it would operate as a Florida auto insurance company.

• Find out if your Florida auto insurance company is a bad egg.

The best people to talk to about a Florida auto insurance company are those who experience its service up front and often. While you can get some great information from friends and relatives about their own Florida car insurance company, the best place to go is to a repair shop that you trust.

Repair shops encounter car insurance companies all the time, so they know which ones treat them well and which ones give them the run around and try to get out of paying their claim. They also hear the complaints from the policy holders who bring their vehicles to them to be fixed. While the negative opinion of a repair shop on a particular Florida auto insurance company shouldn’t be a deal breaker, it should weigh in among the other criteria.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.