Car Insurance Market
Getting your car insurance directly from an authorized insurance company is known as the Direct Car Insurance. It helps you to avoid going through any middlemen or agents who work independently.
This is a good example to prove the point. For example let us take you are suffering from some pain in the joints. There is a good option for you to go to either a general practitioner or to an orthopedic specialist. If you go to the general practitioner he may recommend certain medicines that would lessen your pain. But if you go to the orthopedic specialist, he will be able to diagnose the exact reason for this ailment, because he is a bone specialist. He might be able to provide the exact medicines and exercises that will help you to get better soon. Even though the general practitioner may be having the perfect idea about your actual condition, he might not be able to treat it.
Something similar happens when you choose a direct car insurance policy over an indirect car insurance policy. One may argue that it is far easier to get quotes and information on car insurance policies from multiple indirect sources, as there are plenty in the car insurance market. It may also be a better idea as these indirect car insurers offer a wide variety of services in order to keep their car insurance policies better than the rest.
But all of these options come with their own prices. Lot of people forget to remember that nobody including middlemen and independent agents and such indirect car insurers are not to help people for charity. They have their own commission out for their work. Even though it may seem that there are multiple services for such a good affordable price, you are still paying a lot. The independent car insurance agents are carving out their margin into the quote. You must remember the bigger these companies are, the bigger their hidden costs.
The direct car insurance agencies, on the other hand have their benefits. If you go at first to a direct car insurance company, you will directly be in touch with the car insurance provider itself. These direct car insurance providers are usually large companies which have in house services like emergency pick up vehicles, tie ups with official car service centers, legal advisors and such important services. What happens here is that these direct car insurance providers may not have to outsource their services to other car insurance agencies? Even if they do, they have clear and set procedures that are outlined. This removes the reasons for inordinate delays in providing emergency car services, settling claims and providing interim relief through rent a car services etc.
When you buy a policy from a direct car insurance agency you also save on costs. You can get cheaper car insurance with some very good facilities. Remember it is not the amount of services that you can get but whether those services can be used when you need them. You may even be able to work out cheaper premiums for flexible periodic payments as well when you go to direct car insurance agencies. And to top it off you may even get some free extra covers along with your standard cover as well. These come in handy and end up saving you some money at a later stage. For example you may get free extended territorial cover or the direct car insurance agency may offer extended legal liability to family members. These would be specific to the district of residence of course.
There are some direct car insurance agencies that also offer you a better premium if you insure more than one car with them. This really gets you a good reduction in your associated costs and it always helps if there is just one direct car insurance agency that has to be co-coordinated with at all times. There are quite a few cars insurance companies which provide direct car insurance and you may need to shop around a little before you actually make your decision. This will also give you adequate knowledge about what the direct car insurance agencies are offering in the car insurance market. So remember, going in for direct car insurance is in the larger picture more beneficial to your pocket!
Graham McKenzie is the content syndication coordinator for Carinsurancesa.co.za, a leading South African Car Insurance portal.
