Consumers need to be aware of the options that they have when requesting auto insurance quotes. Some things to consider are who they are asking for a quote and how many companies they represent. What is the best place to get quotes, an insurance company, an agent, or an independent agency? What is the difference?

The auto insurance market has been divided into three sections. Consumers are able to request auto insurance quotes from insurance companies, insurance agents, and independent agencies. The most important thing that a consumer needs to understand is the separation between the three.

While getting auto insurance quotes from a direct insurance company you will find that they are only able to sell you their policy. The direct company is just that, a direct insurance company. By going to the insurance company for a quote consumers are bypassing the option of using an insurance agent. Depending on the company, you may or may not be able to purchase the same policy at the same rate with an agent. Some companies choose to work exclusively with the public, some exclusively with agents, and others do both.

There are a few types of agents as well, captive and independent. A captive represents one insurance carrier or family of insurance companies. Many times insurance companies that utilize captive agents will not sell policies directly to the public. They will refer all clients to an agent for any insurance inquiries. Traditionally a captive agent would only work with one insurance company. The dynamics of the insurance industry have recently changed and now many companies are grouped into a family of companies, thus giving the captive agent the ability to work with a few companies.

Independent agents are not exclusive. They work with many insurance companies. In some cases independent agents are able to sell insurance policies directly to the consumer at the same rate that would also be offered on a direct relationship. Although independent agents have companies that are available directly to the public they also many times work with insurance companies that exclusively write policies from independent agents. They essentially have access to companies that you can only get from an independent agent.

Although the three are quite different and options vary from company, captive agents, and independent agents there is no magic solution to the consumer. The rates will vary for each risk. With so many factors that determine the rates on an auto insurance policy it is recommended that the consumer request quotes from multiple sources and compare them.

Most of us believe Insurance is important – we insure our home, property, lives, cars etc. But many a times we don’t know which company or organization to invest with, because we don’t know what the technical jargon of the policies etc means. Property owners insurance, Auto Owners Insurance are all common terms but there is a difference between the kinds of benefits we get depending on of course the organization we deal with, the kind of a policy we opt for (different kinds of companies offer us different policies depending on the amount we pay and so on) and last but not the least and most importantly – what ‘kind’ of a company or organization are we dealing with. And by this we do not mean to say public owned companies will give you better benefits than private owned companies or vice versa.

What we mean to say when we talk of what kind is that whether you are dealing with a mutual company or a company owned by stockholders. Or in other words who are the stakeholders in this company – is it the policy holders or other normal shareholders we have in the regular stock companies. To make it simpler, we need to define the position we hold for ourselves in the company. For example, if we deal with a Bear River Mutual – that is we hold a policy with a Bear River mutual company, that means we will get all the surplus benefits earned by the company (which will be divided accordingly amongst all the policyholders) and if we deal with a normal stockiest company – the surplus earned will not come directly to us, it will rather go to the company reserve or maybe a part of it will be distributed amongst its shareholders (who will in this case be other people, and not the policy holder unless the policy holder externally purchases a share or shares in that particular stock).

Thus, we see that benefits are more with a mutual company. In case one has any problems or doubts regarding how much amount to invest where, what kind of a policy to opt for and so on, one can contact a Bear River Agent to help in telling you about the various options available and which one could be feasible as per your requirements and needs and financial capacities.