When researching car insurance companies you can start out by contacting your state's insurance regulatory body (typically called the Department of Insurance). Most DOIs publish consumer complaint ratios for the insurance companies licensed to sell policies in that state. These ratios can tell you how many complaints an auto insurance company has received per 1,000 claims filed.

They may also have information on cancellation rates, etc. Many insurance regulators’ websites have consumer guides that are helpful to those purchasing insurance, especially buying auto insurance for the first time.

Next you can check an insurance company's J.D. Powers rating. J.D. Power and Associates collects data from individual policyholders nationwide and rates them according to coverage options, price, claims handling, satisfaction with company representatives and the overall experience.

You also can look at A.M. Best and Standard and Poor’s ratings. Both companies publish financial strength ratings for all insurance companies. These companies measure an insurance company's ability to pay out a claim. It does not measure customer service though. Learn more about researching insurance companies in our article section.

One of our criteria, before listing a carrier is to make sure they are a positive, customer service focused car insurance carrier. CarInsurance.com offers many national carriers and some local carriers so that we can give consumers more choice when they purchase car insurance. If you would like to do comparison shopping for auto insurance with us, click here for an insurance quote.

For more information on buying car insurance read some of the articles in our Learning Center such as:

How Much Car Insurance Should You Buy

Types of Auto Insurance Explained

Auto Insurance for Young Drivers