To get background on an insurance company the first step you may want to take is looking at the company's own website. Most companies have an "about us" section that details their history, mission and noteworthy accomplishments.

Of course since any company will want to shed themselves in a good light you should also check with other companies that are not affiliated with them to get more reliable information on that company. Word of mouth is good, if friends or family have used them and can give you feedback. Next there are companies which give an objective look into businesses.

One such way to check into an insurance company is to look at their 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.

The A.M. Best rating is expressed as a letter grade from A++ (the highest) to D. Some companies may be assigned ratings of E (indicating regulatory action regarding the company's solvency), F (in liquidation) and S (suspended). You normally would only want to choose an insurance company that has at least a B+ rating.

The Standard and Poor's ratings range from AAA (the highest) to CC. Additionally, some companies receive ratings of R (under regulatory supervision) or NR, which stands for Not Rated. The letter grades might be modified by a plus or minus mark. You will probably want a company with at least a BBB rating.

When researching car insurance companies don't forget to go to a great state source of knowledge, your state's insurance regulator. Most states' insurance regulatory agencies 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.

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