Real Estate, Finance and Home Articles of Interest

To get online car insurance quotes ten years ago, you would have to call an agent who would send a quote to you via email. This process was an advance on having the agent send you a pile of papers through the mail, but it still required at least a telephone conversation and often a personal appointment with the agent.

Back then, the idea that insurance agents would abandon their main weapon in the competition for customers was preposterous. The majority of agents wouldn't even consider giving a quote to a prospect that wouldn't come in to the office for a proper meeting.

That has all changed. Relationship-focused agents are more and more being replaced by price-focused, highly automated website sales. This sea change to the Internet serves the young and urban, the groups that tend to prefer the web over all other media. As companies turn their attention more to web sales, older and less technologically sophisticated customers will be pushed to the web as their agents become less and less effective in comparison.

Online car insurance quotes have gained in popularity, though, as people continue to fill their days with more and more activities, and have become used to making major purchases without meeting a salesperson. Clients have become more aware of the terminology and options available to them, and have come to demand more self-service than ever before.

In this area, small insurance companies actually had a head start on the formerly major national carriers. When any customer could search for a free auto insurance quote online without any hassles or catches, they found real discounts and lesser companies were able to become major ones. Small companies gained national status and consumers made better deals before the industry leaders managed to catch up.

Now that the huge market leaders have caught up, every insurance company in the US seems to offer online car insurance quotes. Only now, there seem to be more of them than ever before. This is, of course, not a bad thing. Competition is in the consumer's best interest.

The discount car insurance industry has been changed forever by technology. Ten years ago, before promises of free quotes and huge savings become the norm, it was far more difficult to get quotes and take the time to compare them properly. There are many new competitors in the car insurance business, all seeking to make their mark through lower prices and/or better service when you need them.

Giving car insurance quotes to prospective customers used to be a huge leverage tool for agents. Before the advent of the Internet, agents required an appointment or commitment before even giving out a quote. But times have changed. Websites have replaced many agents. People are now used to making purchases and doing all kinds of business over the Internet without dealing with salespeople, and they demanded self-service in seeking online car insurance quotes as well. Small insurance companies snatched the opportunity to give visitors a free auto insurance quote with no strings attached. To find discount car insurance, you only need to spend a few minutes comparing online.