State insurance regulators often stress the need to shop around for a policy, since the only way to know you’re getting the best deal is to get prices from a number of insurers. The Insurance Information Institute¹ recommends that consumers get quotes from at least three carriers. But there are many factors to consider when making a car insurance quote comparison.

First, it's recommended that shoppers maintain consistency through the process. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners² recommends that shoppers comparing auto insurance make sure to ask for the same coverage limits and give the same information to insurers when getting price estimates. This is important because it allows for an apples-to-apples comparison of policies. After you fill out an AutoInsurance.com quote form, you can get back a set of prices from a handful of quality insurers. All of them will conveniently be based on the same information and will be for the same coverage, so the only thing left to do is compare companies.

When comparing companies, your initial inclination may be to go with the lowest-priced insurer, but state insurance regulators stress that there are important factors to compare beyond price. Two of those factors are the financial strength of the company and its customer-service track record.

Most major insurers have relatively solid financial footing, but some are stronger than others. Checking up on an insurer's rating with a rating agency like A.M. Best can give consumers an idea of how financially solid a company is and peace of mind when purchasing a policy.

One way to make a comparison of customer-service records is to simply ask other drivers about their experiences with their own insurers. If you want to go beyond that, a more scientific method is to search consumer-complaint records made available by state insurance departments. They can make it easy to for you to compare which companies had the fewest customer complaints filed against them.

So keep the following in mind when comparing coverage providers:

• Price: The price of a carrier is among the biggest concerns of shoppers, especially during tough economic times. The important thing to remember is to compare the same coverage — as they say, "apples to apples" — and keep in mind the extras such as towing and rental coverage, as well as details like deductible levels and liability limits.
• Strength: The financial strength is a good indicator of the stability of a company. Due to the highly publicized recent financial failure of major carriers, more people find this to be a factor of increasing importance.
• Service: Good customer service is an important factor. In the event of a claim, policyholders should get fair treatment after doing their part, which is paying their premium. Servicing a policy should also be hassle free and without delay. Some consumers prefer to pay a little more to get satisfactory service, while others are OK with a more hands-off company as long as the premium's low.