Survey Results : In April, we surveyed approximately 15 car insurance sites looking to find the lowest rates online. If you are looking for cheap car insurance, we again found that esurance.com was consistently quoting the lowest price. However, we continue to read feedback from esurance customers online indicating that they ultimately are asked to pay a higher price than that quoted through the website. Customers report that following the initial quote and even during the policy period they are sometimes notified of rate increases due to incomplete paperwork, revised driving histories and similar issues

At this point, we do not know how pervasive the issue is because we have no basis to determine what percentage of customers this is occurring to. However, if you are simply looking for cheap car insurance and want the ability to print a policy immediately, then esurance.com is certainly worth getting a quote from... if only for the purpose of comparing quotes with other companies.

Cheap Car Insurance Alternatives: Because it is impossible to know for certain which insurer is going to give you the cheapest rates, we also recommend that you get quotes from one or two services such as Insureme.com or Hometown Qutoes.com. These services take your information and match you with multiple agents in order to compare multiple quotes. At both sites, you will generally be matched to about 5 different insurers and will be provided competitive quotes. In fact, on several occasions we have observed the cheapest quote originating from one of these sites during our survey. Usually this is on account of brokers affiliated with companies without a large online presence, but seeking to be a cost-leader in the industry.

Our Advice Summary : If price is paramount to you, we recommend that you submit your request to both esurance and to either Insureme.com or HometownQuotes.com. In doing so, you will not be exposed to an overwhelming number of follow-up contacts, yet will have an excellent chance of finding the cheapest car insurance quote without spending hours submitting to a large number of sites. You will find that with the 5 or 6 quotes you will receive, you will be within a few dollars of the lowest rate you would find after many more hours of searching.