Insurance Made Easy - best Web sites for buying insurance

Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine, Oct, 2000 by Kimberly Lankford, Justin Wiser

INTERNET | We found the BEST SITES for auto, life and health.

IF YOU COULD LINE UP identical insurance policies a glass display case and dangle a price tag from each one, you'd uncover the insurance industry's dirty little secret: Some companies charge two to three times more than their competitors for the exact same coverage. Buyers sign up for overpriced policies all the time simply because they don't know about the other choices.

That's where the Web comes in. Theoretically, you can answer a few questions, click your mouse and instantly see accurate quotes culled from vast databases containing hundreds of companies--all without having to speak with an agent. And, in theory, you can use the Internet's vast array of calculators to help you figure out how much insurance you need.

But high-tech insurance shopping can quickly turn into a nightmare. For one thing, you could spend weeks visiting all the sites that promise to offer the best deal--but usually don't. Because insurance is subject to patch-work of individual state regulations, you'll find a limited menu of policies in some states. What's more, you may get instantaneous quotes and you may not. And you'll usually pay the same price as if you called an agent.

It's not unusual to end up with inaccurate quotes, long waits, few companies to compare (or none at all, after wasting your time filling out excruciatingly detailed forms), and a never-ending stream of e-mail and calls from insurance agents.

Discouraged? That's why we went through the mind-numbing experience of exploring the sites, requesting quotes for different families in different parts of the U.S., and checking to see how accurate those quotes were. (For more on how we shopped and the prices we were quoted, go to www.kiplinger.com) We name the top sites, plus runners-up.

And we let you know to put aside your mouse and pick up your phone. With homeowners insurance, for example, you're better off calling an independent agent (see www.iiaa.org for leads).

AUTO INSURANCE Be prepared: You'll reply to a boatload of questions before getting any quotes

WE FILLED OUT quote forms at more than a dozen sites for a variety of hypothetical people in a variety of places: a 30-year-old single woman with a 1997 Jaguar XK8 coupe, in Ohio and California; a 40- and 41-year-old couple who drive a 1999 Volvo S70 and a 1997 Toyota Corolla, in Maryland and California; and the same family with a 16-year-old son.

We quickly need a problem: The company offered the lowest quotes for one family offered some of the highest for the others. And the site with the lowest quote also produced the highest quote for the same family. The leaders change if you live in a different city, have a different car, or have a record of accidents and tickets. And the number of quotes you can get varies a lot from state to state.

The two major on-line marketplaces, QuickenInsurance and InsWeb, give you the greatest number of accurate quotes in the least amount of time. But be prepared: You can't get accurate auto-insurance quotes without answering a boatload of questions.

QuickenInsurance makes it as painless as possible. After spending about 15 minutes typing in information about your cars, your driving record and the amount of coverage you want--helped by excellent "advice" buttons, which explain how each variable can affect your rate--you'll get immediate quotes from up to five insurance companies.

One of the best things about QuickenInsurance is the accuracy of its quotes. Its information comes directly from the insurance companies, so you'll get the price you were quoted, as long as everything about your motor-vehicle and claims records checks out. Click on the "compare details" button for a table that shows how each insurer stacks up in terms of claims-processing time, financial-strength ratings, which discounts are include in your quote and other details. It's easy to fiddle around with different variations to see how much your rates will change if you raise your deductible or increase your liability coverage.

You remain anonymous until you apply for a policy, which can also do online. Several companies even activate your coverage immediately if you submit your credit card number.

QuickenInsurance's biggest weakness is the limited number of companies it quotes. In some states, you'll go through the entire process and get prices from only one.

So if you still have energy left and want more quotes, you should also go to InsWeb and see how many companies it offers in your area (click on the "quoting companies in your state" link at the bottom of the state page). In some states, InsWeb came up with almost the same results as QuickenInsurance did. But in others, such as California, it included immediate quotes from 12 companies and e-mailed a 13th within minutes.(InsWeb insurance quotes are offered through many partner Web sites, including Kiplinger.com)

The biggest annoyance with InsWeb is the lack of anonymity. After you spend about a half-hour filling out all the forms, you must type in your name, address and phone number before you're allowed to see any quotes. And you can't buy a policy online--an agent will contact you.