Auto Quote Help

How to Get an Auto Quote Online

So you’ve decided to find out how much car insurance can cost you. Maybe you aren’t happy with you current rates. Maybe you are looking to get your first policy. And maybe you just really REALLY like getting insurance quotes (we don’t judge). All that matters is that you are here now, so we want to make this process as quick and painless as possible.

Of course, often the quickest and most painless way is to talk right to a person, so if at any point you get confused, frustrated or unhappy, or if you would just prefer to talk to a friendly professional right away, please call 1-800-361-0941.

The Basics

Ok, so before you get started on your quote you need to figure out exactly what the quote is for. That means knowing what vehicle(s) you are going to insure, and how many people (and drivers) are on the policy.

Tip: Make sure that if you are insuring a vehicle, your name is on the ownership.

After you decide this, we are going to ask for some information about the vehicle(s) and driver(s), so make sure you have the following information on hand:

The License of all drivers going to be on policy (so you can get license information)
When the drivers got licensed (this is tricky for more mature drivers, approximations are fine for the purposes of the quote)
Vehicle Ownership (give you its make, year etc.)

Remember that this quote is aimed at giving you an estimate, it’s not an actually policy! This means it’s ok to not answer things perfectly, you want to put the general idea into the quoting engine to give you a general idea of the price.

The Process

Here we will explain step by step how to get your quote done. If you are feeling confused/intimidated, we recommend leaving this guide open, while working through the quote on another tab.

Step 1: Starting the Quote

So the first thing you want to do is access our Auto Quote Engine, which you can access here or through the beautiful buttons that say Auto Quote on our homepage or to the right of this blog. Just click the button to be brought to a new screen.

Step 2: Welcome Page

Just input the necessary information, select the city nearest to you, and click the friendly blue “next” button, in the bottom righthand corner.

Step 3: Auto Insurance Estimate

A new window should open up, displaying the Auto Insurance Estimator.

If this screen didn’t show up, check your pop-up blocker settings and if you are using a up to date browser. If there is still a problem, we recommend calling us at 1-800-361-0941. This is just an introductory page, and you can simply click on “next”.

Step 4: Basic Information

This page just requires your postal code and the answers to two questions. The number of people on this policy means the number of drivers (people who will be regularly using your vehicle). This should include all licensed drivers in your household that don’t have the own insurance policy. The number of vehicles is simply the number of cars you wish to insure.

When you are finished putting in the information, click the next button.

Step 5: Driver Information

This page is where you input the information about the drivers on the policy, and this the most involved part of the quote. Most of this information should be readily available off the driver’s license you gathered earlier. Some of the questions, especially about the drivers history, may not be easy to answer. As we said earlier, the quote is only looking for general estimates, not specific numbers. However, later in the insurance process the company will access you drivers history so they will have perfect information about your record, so your actual policy may end up being hundreds, or even thousands of dollars more expensive than your quote if you omit important accidents or claims.

This step will repeat for every driver you wish to insure.

When you are finished inputting the information, click the next button.

Step 6: Ticket/Suspension/Claim/Accident Information

After inputting the driver information, you will be asked to clarify information about any suspensions/tickets/claims/accidents you’ve had. Answer the few questions to the best of your ability, and press next.

Tip: If you can’t remember a date, just input the year and set the month as January. This will hurt the accuracy of the quote, but will unlikely make a large difference.

When you are finished inputting the information, click the next button.

Step 7: Vehicle Information

At this screen, it will ask for the make and year of the vehicle(s) you wish to insure, which should be present on your ownership (or you may know this information off the top of your head). It also asks for the primary use, which can be confusing. It basically breaks down like this:

Pleasure and errands only: You do not do regular scheduled trips with your vehicle anywhere, you just use it when you need it
Commuting to work or transit: You regularly drive it somewhere. This includes work, a train station, but also schools if you are/have a driver who is a student.
Commuting and Business use: You use the vehicle as a part of business (routinely driving to a variety of offices or running errands as part of your job).
Commercial Use: You use the vehicle as your business, generally to do deliveries.

If you aren’t sure which one you fall under, think about them as a scale between how much you need to use your vehicle. If you don’t need it, it’s pleasure and errands only, while if you would lose your income without it, it’s probably commercial use.

Tip: If you put in commercial use you will be redirected to call us, as we are unable to process online quotes for commercial vehicles. Give us a ring at 1-800-361-0941 and we will be glad to help.

When you are finished inputting the information, click the next button.

Step 8: Vehicle Detail

This screen simply asks for more information about your vehicle, and then asks you to select the coverage you wish your vehicle to have. The number of kilometers driven annually can be a rough estimate, in my experience it can vary greatly, often between 10 and 30 thousand a year.

Deciding on what coverage you want is an entirely different story, as it requires an intimate understanding of your risk profile, and about what types of coverage you individually will need. A standardized package that is commonly sold resembles this:

Thirty Party Liability: Set to $2,000,000 (this protects you from lawsuits)
Optional Accident Benefits: Keep standard (this protects you from disability due to accident)
Collision Deductible: Set to $300 (covers your car in collisions)
Comprehensive: Set to $500 (covers your car from some damages not caused by collisions)
Endorsements:
- Check Loss of Use (Gives you a replacement vehicle)
- Check Non-owned Autos (Causes your policy to extend to rented vehicles)

When you are finished inputting the information, click the next button.

Step 9: Premium Display

This screen indicates the end of your quote! It shows you several options from which you can choose (you select them by clicking the little white circle underneath the total price), and allows you to either save the quote for later reference (press the save button at the very bottom) or submit the information so a broker will contact you!

Tip: Sometimes the insurance company won’t offer the exact coverages you’ve requested. This is represented by a red asterisk (*) following the premium total.

Step 10: Submit to Broker

So now you’ve finally decided to submit that quote! All that remains is to fill out this simple contact information sheet, and specify what time you’d like to be contacted. Use the question or comments box to outline any extra information you’d like to share, or to give feedback to us about the quoting process!

Step 11: Success!

Thank you for reading through this guide, and we hope we’ve helped you with your auto insurance search! Stay tuned to this blog for more useful articles, like common myths about car insurance, or future updates about the pitfalls of online quoting!