Finding good car insurance in San Francisco can be challenging since you have many choices and finding the best California insurance agency is not as easy as just driving to the closest agent’s office. Consumers need a friendly agent, and also decent rates too.
Having so many different company options, it can be hard to locate the most cost effective company.
There’s no such thing as the perfect policy
When it comes to choosing adequate coverage, there really is not a perfect coverage plan. Coverage needs to be tailored to your specific needs.
For instance, these questions can aid in determining whether or not you may require specific advice.
- Can I drive in Mexico and have coverage?
- Does my liability insurance cover pulling a trailer or camper?
- Am I covered by my employer’s commercial auto policy when driving my personal car for business?
- I have good health insurance, so how much medical payments coverage do I need?
- Is my business laptop covered if it gets stolen from my vehicle?
- Can I get a multi-policy discount for packaging my home and auto coverage?
- What is the difference between comprehensive and collision coverage?
- Should I drop comprehensive coverage on older vehicles?
- Why am I required to buy high-risk coverage?
If you can’t answer these questions, you may need to chat with an agent.
Shop online but buy locally
Good agents can help determine the best coverages and help file insurance claims. The best thing about comparing insurance prices online is you may find better rates and still choose a local agent.
Once you complete this simple form, your insurance data is submitted to local insurance agents who will return price quotes for your business. There is no need to drive around due to the fact that quote results will go immediately to your email address. How’s that for easy! You can find the lowest rates and an insurance agent to talk to.
Picking an insurance agent needs to be determined by more than just the price. Ask your prospective agent these questions:
- Do they have adequate Errors and Ommissions coverage? This protects you if they make a mistake.
- Are they properly licensed to sell insurance in California?
- Do they feel the quoted coverages are adequate?
- Do you have coverage for a rental car if your vehicle is in the repair shop?
- Do they review policy coverages at every renewal?
Do you need an independent or captive insurance agent?
When searching for an insurance agent, there are a couple of different types of agents that you can select. Agents are either independent (non-captive) or captive.
Captive Agents
Captive agencies have only one company to place business with and some examples include AAA, Allstate, State Farm, Farmers Insurance or Liberty Mutual. They are unable to give you multiple price quotes so always compare other rates. They are usually quite knowledgeable on the products they sell and that can be a competitive advantage. Consumers sometimes choose to use a captive agent mostly because of the prominence of the brand and strong financial ratings.
Listed below is a list of captive insurance agents in San Francisco who can help you get rate quotes.
- Allstate Insurance – 220 Sansome St # 1330 – San Francisco, CA 94104 – (415) 983-0355
- State Farm Insurance – 1315 23rd Ave # 211 – San Francisco, CA 94122 – (415) 665-5118
- Farmers Insurance Group – 1434 Taraval St – San Francisco, CA 94116 – (415) 664-5222
Independent Agents (or Brokers)
These agents do not work for one specific company but instead can place your coverage amongst many companies depending on which coverage is best. If your agent finds better pricing, the business is moved internally and you don’t have to find a new agent. When comparison shopping, it’s a good idea to include price quotes from several independent insurance agents to ensure the widest selection of prices. Most have the option of insuring with smaller regional carriers which may provide better rates.
Listed below is a list of independent insurance agents in San Francisco that can give you comparison quotes.
- Leisure Werden and Terry Agency – 120 Montgomery St # 950 – San Francisco, CA 94104 – (415) 788-5858
- Sam Levin Agency – 3216 Geary Blvd # B – San Francisco, CA 94118 – (415) 387-7727
- MIF Insurance – 1375 Sutter St # 100 – San Francisco, CA 94109 – (415) 247-1610
- Rubicon Insurance Svc – 100 Bush St – San Francisco, CA 94104 – (415) 274-3333
- Jeffrey Lee Agency – 436 Clement St – San Francisco, CA 94118 – (415) 752-1121
To view a full list of insurance agents in San Francisco, visit this link.
Once you have answers to your satisfaction to all your questions and a low price estimate, you’ve probably found an insurance agent that will service your policy.
Do online insurance companies have better rates?
Car insurance agents serve a purpose, but California consumers also have the option to buy direct from companies online. Some companies who employ agents also let you buy online, so keep that in mind to possibly find a better rate.
If you’re apprehensive about not receiving proper advice, this is expected but don’t let that bother you. Insurance companies have customer service departments to answer any questions you may have.
If you have the time, the only way to find out if the best rates are online or from local agents is to compare price quotes from both. It’s fairly common that you receive different coverage costs when comparing quotes online and from an agent from the exact same provider.
Can buying online lower your premiums? It’s hard to say exactly since there are many things which can adversely affect your policy premium. It’s a logical assumption that shopping direct cuts out the middleman. But the fact is, marketing expenses are significant so there may not be significant savings.
More detailed California car insurance information can be found at the California Department of Insurance website. Consumers can view a list of available companies, get help finding coverage, find disaster information, and learn about insurance regulations.
What is YOUR best insurance company?
Consumers switch companies for a number of reasons such as not issuing a premium refund, delays in responding to claim requests, policy non-renewal or denial of a claim. It doesn’t matter what your reason, switching companies can be easy and end up saving you some money.
When shopping online for car insurance, it’s very important that you do not buy lower coverage limits just to save a few bucks. There are too many instances where consumers will sacrifice full coverage only to regret that saving that couple of dollars actually costed them tens of thousands. The ultimate goal is to find the BEST coverage at the best price, not the least amount of coverage.
