Saturday, December 26, 2009

Auto Insurance in California

Auto Insurance in California for more visit insurance.ca.gov California Department of Insurance This California auto insurance company comparison chart is meant as a guide only.
Be sure and get several quotes, before buying auto insurance. There are many bogus marketing claims.
Auto Insurance in California
21st Century Insurance Company (AIG)
Woodland Hills, CA
1-800-870-8212
874
1999
Merged with AIG auto insurance

AAA - American Automobile Association
Refuse to say - no "About"
none
1998
Must enter ZIP
14
Allstate
Northbrook, IL
1-866-621-6900
995
1997
#1 in negative comments
13,900

California State Automobile Association
San Francisco, CA
none
1996
Must enter ZIP

Eastwood Insurance
Anaheim Hills, CA
1-800-468-LESS
1999
Nor. Cal.

Esurance (White Mountains Insurance Group)
San Francisco, CA
(Bermuda)
1-800-378-7262
2000
65

Farmer's Insurance Group (Zurich Financial Services)
Los Angeles, CA
none
1,079
1997
Must enter ZIP
544

Geico (Berkshire Hathaway)
Chevy Chase, MD
1-800-861-8380
358
1997
Many TV ads
1,130

Mercury General Corp.
1,099
Uses many names


California Automobile Insurance Company
No website

Mercury Insurance Company
Los Angeles, CA (PDF)
1-800-956-3728
1998
8

Mercury Casualty Company
Los Angeles, CA
1-800-431-6654
no website

Nationwide Auto Insurance
Columbus, OH (contact)
1-877-669-6877
222
1997
"A few days"
315

Progressive Auto Insurance
Mayfield Village, OH
1-800-776-4737
454
1998
1,990

Safeco Insurance
Seattle, WA
1-800-903-0679
191
2007
446

State Farm Auto Insurance
Bloomington, IL
none
1,370
Must enter ZIP
1,980

The General Auto Insurance (General Automobile Insurance Services)
Nashville, TN
1-866-519-7422
1998
Many TV ads

Allstate seems to be the worst, regarding negative comments on the web.
Progressive and State Farm also have many negative comments.

California Auto Insurance Quote Information
(for online quote comparison purposes, liability-only for simplification)
Form Info Required

Quote Info
Entered
Low income neighborhoods pay much more

Expect to be spammed senseless
Expensive neighborhoods pay much less

Young drivers pay much more - more accidents
Male drivers pay much more - more wild
Single drivers pay much more
Experienced drivers pay far less
Accident drivers pay more, esp. if young
Drivers with traffic tickets pay more
Homeowners pay much less - more responsible

SUV drivers pay more than compact drivers
Models with high accident rates pay more
High mileage drivers pay more
"Paid for" results in paying less

In almost EVERY case, you must give ALL your personal information FIRST, or you cannot proceed. This is unfortunate, because at any point, if you don't like the subsequent questions (some are too personal), and decide to stop, they ALREADY have your personal information, so that they can spam you senseless with emails and phone calls.

That's why I don't do this, except with a throwaway email address, and false information. I refuse to become their relentlessly targeted pigeon, before I have reviewed all my other alternatives. I prefer the "soft" sell.


Disclaimer:
Many web pages claim a "List of California Auto Insurance Companies", yet not a single one actually has a list.
That's why I made this summary page - an actual list of the top California Auto Insurance Companies.
The above data was summarized from each company website listed above.
The author is not perfect, and errors can occur.
This California auto insurance company comparison chart is meant as a guide only.
Be sure and get several quotes, before buying auto insurance. There are many bogus marketing claims.

My personal thought: An innovative company might want to supply a "Quick Estimate Quote", which DOES NOT REQUIRE an email address. They would get A LOT MORE inquiries if they did this. Many, many folks are tired of email spam. If the quote is in the ball park, an interested driver could then, and only then, supply the personal information for a formal quote. If they lowball the initial quote, everyone will know about it soon enough, and develop a "bad taste" in their mouth about the company. BOTH PARTIES could benefit from such an arrangement. (It will never happen though, due to the "hook 'em and bombard 'em" mentality of the marketers). Personal privacy on the web and freedom from spam have become huge issues.

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