To find a good Richland agent, we recommend you do an initial search on the web instead of calling around. You need a good agent, but also the best possible rates.
Because you have many companies and agents to choose from, it is hard for the average consumer to find the best car insurance company.
Car Insurance through a local Richland agent
Insurance agents can help determine the best coverages and help submit paperwork. The biggest benefit of getting online price quotes is you may find better rates but still work with a licensed agent.
After completing this form (opens in new window), the quote information is submitted to participating agents in Richland who will battle to get your business. You don’t have to even leave your home since price quotes are sent to the email address you provide. How’s that for easy! You can find the lowest rates without the usual hassles of price shopping.
Selecting an insurance agent needs to be determined by more than just the premium amount. These questions are important to ask:
- If your car is in the repair shop, do you have coverage for a rental car?
- Which members of your family are coverage by the policy?
- Do they make recommendations based only on price?
- If your car is totalled, how to they determine the replacement cost?
- Is vehicle mileage a factor when determining depreciation for repairs?
- Do they receive special compensation for putting your coverage with one company over another?
- Do they review policy coverages at every renewal?
Richland insurance agents come in two flavors
When finding a local agent, you need to know there are two different types of agents that you can select. Insurance agencies in Richland are either independent (non-captive) or captive.
Captive Agents
These agents can only place business with one company and examples are AAA, Allstate, State Farm, Farmers Insurance or Liberty Mutual. These agents are unable to compare other company’s rates so keep that in mind. They are usually quite knowledgeable on their products and sales techniques which helps them sell insurance even at higher premiums.
Below is a short list of captive insurance agents in Richland that can give you price quotes.
State Farm Insurance – 1301 George Washington Way # B – Richland, WA 99354 – (509) 946-7629
Farmers Insurance Group – 1601 Columbia Park Trl # 202 – Richland, WA 99352 – (509) 735-5289
Allstate Insurance – 1950 Keene Rd # O – Richland, WA 99352 – (509) 628-3570
Independent Agents
These agents are not required to write business for one company so they have the ability to put coverage with any number of different companies depending on which coverage is best. To transfer your coverage to a different company, they simply move the coverage in-house and that require little work on your part. When comparing rates, we recommend you get quotes from several independent insurance agents to get the best comparison.
Below is a list of independent insurance agents in Richland willing to provide rate quotes.
Jim Ostrander Insurance – 1901 George Washington Way # C – Richland, WA 99354 – (509) 946-9625
Ingram Insurance – 1045 Jadwin Ave # A – Richland, WA 99352 – (509) 946-7164
To view a full list of Richland insurance agents, visit this site.
Upon getting answers to your satisfaction to your questions and an acceptable price quote, most likely you have located an insurance agent that can insure your vehicles.
Alternatives to buying locally
Insurance agents are a valuable resource, but you also have the option of buying Washington car insurance direct online. A few companies, such as State Farm, Allstate and Farmers, who have local agents in Richland also let you buy a policy online, so that should be considered if you prefer to buy online.
If you’re apprehensive about not getting proper coverage when buying car insurance direct, don’t sweat it. Online companies give you access to trained agents for getting the best coverage.
Does buying online save money? It’s difficult to say for sure because of the fact that insurance companies use many factors that determine the price you pay. It’s often assumed that buying online saves money because there is no agent involvement. In many cases, it’s expensive to advertise and that impacts the rates consumers pay.
If you have the time, the only way to find out if agents have better prices than online companies is making fair comparisons of each of their rates. Lots of times people will get different prices from online quotes as they do from local agents for the exact same company. But it’s impossible to know whether the best rates are online or from an agent until you actually compare rates from both ways.
One last thing about your coverage
When you buy insurance online, it’s a bad idea to reduce needed coverages to save money. Too many times, drivers have reduced full coverage only to regret at claim time that they should have had better coverage. The ultimate goal is to find the BEST coverage at a price you can afford, not the least amount of coverage.
Insureds who switch companies do it for a number of reasons such as poor customer service, high rates after DUI convictions, delays in paying claims or extreme rates for teen drivers. Whatever your reason, finding a new company is not as difficult as it may seem.
Additional detailed information can be found at the Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner website. Washington drivers can read consumer alerts, report car insurance fraud, file complaints about a company, and find disaster information.
Other useful links include this online resource for free quotes in Washington and this page of insurance agents in Richland.
