When I went to buy car insurance for the first time, I bought it from the company that my dad did.  I mean, I had been on his policy, he liked it, and it was from a family friend.  So it was obvious that my wife and I would get on the policy with the same company.

It wasn’t until that company stopped selling car insurance—and shifted it to another company, that I actually looked for a better deal.

In case you need an insurance explanation, the basic idea of insurance is that you pay a small monthly amount to protect you should an accident happen.  The amount that you pay can differ wildly from company to company, and that’s just some of the factors.

You can get discounts for classes you take, schools that you’ve attended, or by turning 25.  You can pay more for any infraction from scuffing someone else’s paint job to getting into an accident or having a moving violation.

And many of these things can stay on your record and effect your rate for years at a time.

However, if you take advantage of the Internet, you will find that there are many places that offer you free insurance comparisons—where you can shop for the best deal.  There you can walk through the different coverage amounts, how much of deductible you want to have, and then see what it would cost before “signing the dotted line.”

The problem is, if you don’t look, you’ll probably end up on the same policy, paying many hundred dollars a month more than you have to.  And in this economy, you’d be wise to save every dollar you can.