Comparing car insurance rates in Downers Grove can be a lot of work since you have many choices and finding the best Illinois auto insurance agent is not as easy as just making a phone call. There is a good chance you’re looking for a professional agent, but you also want to find affordable coverage.
With insurance companies like American Family, Allstate, State Farm and Farmers having local Downers Grove offices, it can be hard to know which will have the cheapest rates and the best coverage. To begin, it’s easy to use online quoting to get a list of insurance agencies to choose from.
Price shop online but buy from a local Downers Grove agent
Insurance agents can help determine the best coverages and help submit paperwork. One of the great benefits of comparing rates online is that you can obtain the best rates but also keep your business local. Supporting local agencies is important particularly in Downers Grove.
To find an agent, once you fill out this simple form, your information gets sent to local insurance agents in Downers Grove who will give you bids to get your business. You don’t have to leave your house since price quotes are sent to your email. How cool is that?!
Captive or Independent: There is a difference
If you’re trying to find a local agent, you must know there are a couple different agency structures from which to choose. Insurance agencies in Downers Grove can either be captive or independent. Either one can do a good job, but it’s worth learning the differences since it can impact your selection of an agent.
Independent Agents (or Brokers)
These agents are not required to write business for one company but instead can place your coverage with multiple insurance companies enabling the ability to shop coverage around. To transfer your coverage to a different company, they simply move the coverage in-house and that require little work on your part. When shopping rates, it’s a good idea to contact several independent insurance agents for maximum quote selection. Many write coverage with smaller companies which may provide better rates.
Listed below are Downers Grove independent agents that can give you competitive price quotes.
- Franklin Limited Agency – 6912 Main St # 211 – Downers Grove, IL 60516 – (630) 960-2588
- F P Zimardo Agency – 4919 Main St – Downers Grove, IL 60515 – (630) 964-6070
- Downers Grove Insurance – 6900 Main St # 208 – Downers Grove, IL 60516 – (630) 963-5707
- Brunnette Insurance – 4919 Main St – Downers Grove, IL 60515 – (630) 690-2005
Agency Captives
Captive agents work for only one company like Allstate, AAA, Liberty Mutual and State Farm. They generally cannot give you multiple price quotes so they have no alternatives for high prices. Captive agents are trained well on their company’s products which helps them sell insurance even at higher premiums. Consumers often choose to use a captive agent primarily because of the prominence of the brand and the convenience of having all coverages with one company.
The following are captive agencies in Downers Grove that can give you rate quotes.
- Farmers Insurance Group – 1431 Opus Pl # 622 – Downers Grove, IL 60515 – (630) 852-5501
- Allstate Insurance – 3540 Seven Bridges Dr # 120 – Downers Grove, IL 60517 – (630) 322-9712
- American Family Insurance – 1616 Ogden Ave – Downers Grove, IL 60515 – (630) 241-3355
For a complete listing of Downers Grove captive agencies, visit this site.
Choosing an insurance agent shouldn’t rely on just a cheap price. These are valid questions to ask:
- Are claims handled at the agent’s location?
- Will your rates increase after a single accident?
- Is the agency involved in supporting local community causes?
- Did they already check your driving record and credit reports?
- Are you getting all the discounts the company offers?
- If they are an independent agency, which companies do they recommend?
- Do they carry Errors and Omissions coverage?
Upon getting reasonable responses to your questions and locked in a price quote, you may have just found an auto insurance agent that can adequately provide car insurance.
Also keep in mind buying direct
Auto insurance agents are important, but Illinois car insurance can also be bought directly from online companies. Even companies, such as Farmers Insurance and State Farm, who sell through the agent channel also give you the ability to buy direct online, so keep that in mind if you don’t want to take the time to contact agents.
If you’re worried about not having an insurance agent’s advice, this is normal but is quickly overcome. Online insurance companies provide options for answering any questions you have. Also available are live help and 24/7 access to clarify any questions you may have.
The best approach to find out who has the best deal, local agents or online insurance companies, is to make apples-to-apples comparisons of both. Even though it sounds odd, people frequently get different pricing from exactly the same company from their agents and their website. It’s not possible to know whether online or agents have the lower rates until after comparing identical coverage quotes each way.
Does car insurance cost less online? It’s hard to say exactly because of the fact that insurance companies use many factors that influence how your policy is priced. It’s a common assumption that buying car insurance online prevents the agent from taking a cut. But the fact is, marketing their products costs a lot of money and this drives up their premium costs.
More Illinois car insurance information
More information is available on the Illinois Department of Insurance website located here. Visitors are able to get help finding coverage, file complaints about a company, and file complaints about an insurance agent or broker.
Additional helpful sites include QuoteClickInsure.com and this link which helps you find a Downers Grove agent.
In Summary
When trying to cut insurance costs, it’s very important that you do not buy lower coverage limits just to save a few bucks. There have been many situations where someone dropped liability coverage limits and discovered at claim time that it was a big error on their part. Your strategy should be to purchase plenty of coverage at a price you can afford while not skimping on critical coverages.
Insureds change insurance companies for a number of reasons such as extreme rates for teen drivers, not issuing a premium refund, questionable increases in premium and poor customer service. Regardless of your reason for switching companies, choosing a new insurance company is actually quite simple.
