No body disagrees with the idea that having homeowners\’ insurance is a great idea. What is a good homeowners\’ insurance policy is a whole different matter though. Because not all homeowners\’ insurance policies were created equal and because not all homeowners need and/or want the same coverage.

That means that you never get the first home insurance policy that drives by. Instead, you shop for them and compare them. The fast and easy way is to go online.

If you go to the sites of individual captive insurance agents, it\’s going to take a while as you get one quote at a time. (Captive insurance agents being those agents who represent one insurance company.)

Much faster are site that aggregate quotes. But they have one drawback: they aggregate from major insurance companies only. Some of the insurance companies you have not heard of or hear rarely are better and in better financial position than some of the major ones.

A third option is to go to sites owned by independent insurance agencies. Those agencies work with many insurance companies and so, they have access to many insurance plans, some of them from major insurance companies and lesser known ones, some only from lesser known ones, some only from major ones.

So, the fastest would be the sites that aggregate quotes but they\’re not for everybody.

No matter what route you choose, the final point is to get a bunch of homeowners\’ insurance quotes and what the policies cover, then do a side-by-side comparison, weed out the ones you don\’t like. Then, make a note about what you like and don\’t like about the offers, about questions to which you want further answers.

Once you have your finalists, you check them out further. Your state has a department that deals with insurance companies and a website where you can check them out. Because it\’s not enough that an insurance company has a policy you like at a price you like. You also want to make sure it actually delivers (you want the ones with the fewest complaints).

You also want one that\’s not about to go belly up. You can either to your public library and find insurer ratings books – AM Best Insurance Rankings series, for instance or find them online (AM Best Insurance Rankings is at http://www3.ambest.com/captive/default.asp ). Your State\’s insurance department web site will also have links to some of them. They will also have links to complaints ratios for insurance companies.

To find your State\’s insurance department, visit http://www.consumeraction.gov/insurance.shtml (they give you physical address, web site address, phone number). If you go to your State\’s website, look for the tab called \’Reports\’ and look at the last Complaint Ratios report.

So, speed is good, however, you need an insurer that is going to be around should you need to make a claim and in a position to pay. You need an insurer that has good customer service. And you need an insurer that gives you the kind of insurance that you need. Quality of insurance is always more important than price.

Author Bio: Find yourself Googling \’homeowners insurance Chicago\’ or some such term? According to Dan M. Kennedy, most people are concerned about the cost of insurance when they should be about having enough coverage. He suggests you worry first about what is covered. If you want to get your Chicago home insurance from a free insurance agent try www.swias.com.

Category: Finances
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