Maybe you have a few tickets, accidents or claims on your driving record. Maybe you are recently licensed. Maybe you have not had car insurance for over 30 days. Maybe you have a child or spouse in your household with a poor driving record, uninsured accident, license suspension, DUI, or reckless driving offense. There are many situations where insurance companies may classify you as a “bad” risk, and cancel your auto insurance, or refuse to insure you.

You may get frustrated trying to find an insurance company or agent willing to insure you. There are insurance companies and agents willing to insure you, but most of them won’t actively contact you to get your business.

Ads on the Internet, such as the one below, stating agents from multiple insurance companies will contact you with price quotes, are not a good way to shop, if you, or a driver in your household, has a bad driving record, or certain driving offenses. You will complete the online form, but because of the bad driving record, you will be referred to other insurance company websites to enter your information again.

For example, if you have a DUI, and you complete an online form, no agent is likely to contact you.

I have blogged before about which insurance companies you should consider when you have a hard time qualifying for auto insurance. In this blog post I want to expand on how to shop for car insurance to avoid wasting your time.

Allstate, American Family, Farmers, Geico, Progressive, Esurance, The General, Infinity, 21st Century, & Unitrin Direct, if they are available in your state, can insure most drivers, even with bad driving records or inexperienced drivers. Go to their websites, by clicking the ads on this blog post and my website, to get car insurance quotes.

Contact local agents, too, but ONLY agents advertising they insure drivers with bad driving records or no insurance.

You would think insurance agents working on commission would love customers with bad driving records and big insurance premiums. But insurance agents are also compensated — and penalized — based on the claims of their customers. Insurance companies provide financial incentives to their agents to focus on insuring customers with a low risk of claims, so many agents do not want the business of “high risk” drivers.

I, myself, was declined by an independent insurance agent, to have my West American auto insurance policy transferred into his office, when I first moved to Portland, Oregon from New Jersey. I had a continuous insurance history and a clean driving record, but I was new to the area without a job, and the agent did not want to take the risk of insuring me, as a driver getting used to unfamiliar roads.

This is an extreme case, because he was an independent insurance agent, like some independent insurance agents, selling mostly business insurance, and selling personal insurance very selectively. Had this agent insured me, and I had a large auto insurance claim, which IS more likely on unfamiliar roads when you are new to an area, it may have cost him a sizable bonus.

However, some independent insurance agents specialize in nonstandard auto insurance for high risk drivers. You can find them on the Internet and locally in your phone book. You can recognize them because they advertise about filing SR 22s — what many states require for drivers caught driving uninsured, or having alcohol or drug related driving offenses — and ads stating something like, “Accidents? Tickets? No insurance? No problem!”

There are many small nonstandard auto insurance companies selling through independent insurance agents to high risk drivers. Sometimes, these insurance companies have attractive rates, but their claims & customer service can be atrocious. Agents specializing in nonstandard auto insurance often don’t provide much in the way of service, either.

When you are considered a high risk driver, car insurance can be very expensive, so most people go with the best price or lowest down payment. It is worth your time to shop your car insurance with the companies willing to quote you, because although you have a less than perfect driving record, you will still find big differences in the prices you are quoted, so you CAN save a lot of money by shopping.

However, when you are classified as a high risk driver, insurance agents and insurance companies often treat you as second class citizen, and they act as if they are doing you a favor by quoting your insurance.

For example, say you are just licensed, living on your own, and buying your first car, and you contact an insurance agent specializing in nonstandard auto insurance, it is not unusual for the agent to quote you the minimum state required coverage, and $1,000 deductibles for Comprehensive & Collision — even if you have an older car without a car loan, and don’t need Comprehensive or Collision — without discussing the coverage with you.

You could be in an accident, and have to pay the other driver for the amount not covered by your insurance (or have your wages garnished to pay it), when you could have had enough coverage for a few dollars more, or even less than you pay, if you did not need the Comprehensive & Collision on your car.

So, here is how you should shop for auto insurance, if you or a family member is considered a high risk driver:

1. Use my website & blog to determine the type of coverage, and how much coverage you need. When you shop, have each insurance company quote you the same level of coverage.

2. Shop online, or by the phone, directly with the insurance companies and nonstandard auto insurance agencies. Don’t waste your time going in person to an agency to find out they can’t insure you, or worse: they take 30 minutes of your time quoting you a price or down payment that is too expensive.

3. Ask about the down payment. The insurance company with the lowest price may ask for too large of a down payment. Also, if you have to pay in cash, you most likely won’t be able to buy online, and you will have to choose an insurance company with a local agent you can visit to pay.

4. Consider service as well as price. Buying direct from the insurance company, or through a nonstandard auto insurance agency can be a major hassle if you have a claim. Check the complaint record for each insurance company quoting you on my website (see the link earlier in this blog post). If you want a local agent, try to find an agent, representing the insurance company quoting you, whom does NOT specialize in high risk drivers. If the agent sells mainly standard auto insurance, the agent is more likely to provide a higher level of service.

Here is a link to my blog post showing you the insurance companies you should consider when you are a “High risk” driver.

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