BeerLover,
There is absolutely no reason at all why you cannot go directly to a major insurance carrier.
I realize that you have some reservations about purchasing a policy online, what I am suggesting here to you is to just shop and compare rates online.
This auto insurance business is extremely competitive and you have everything to gain and nothing to loose by obtaining some quotes online, there is no obligation to purchase a policy, and they are not asking you to provide them with any credit card information to provide you with a quote.
I first went to
http://www.progressive.com/ because they not only give you their rate, they also provide you with the rates of three other major competitors.........I think that is a pretty fair deal and in my case the quote they provided me on my vehicle was not the lowest of the three.
I printed the quote for my own reference and I then went to
http://www.my21st.com where I entered the same information and received a quote that I was very happy with, I printed that quote as well.
With my quote on hand I called the 800# that 21st Century Ins. provided me on their web page and I called them directly (no underwritter, no middle man) they asked me a few questions and confirmed that same rate quote I had just received online, I told them I would pay by check and they mailed me my policy.......................
The very same day that my check was received the policy went into effect, and I was able to go back into their web page to verify that indeed I had a policy with them exactly matching every detail of what they had mailed me.
I am quite comfortable with them and they have been very good about servicing my needs, I have been with them going on three years now.
It is important that you keep your policy that you now have current DO NOT let it lapse.................. you can try to call whoever the carrier is you now have directly, if it is a major carrier as you say then they should have a toll free # if you don't have the # call 800 directory assistance and get it.
I do not think there is much I haven't covered here, but if you have any other questions post back in here and we can discuss them.
I'm glad you started this thread, I think others may have even more to contribute here and we can all benefit from the new found knowledge.
BTW, we have three resident attorneys here at TSG and I hope they will help to add some light to this topic of auto insurance, as they would best know it from the claims end of the business.
Minimum Liability requirements vary from state to state so that "Policy Limits" is a term they are very familiar with.
Comprehensive and Collision coverage with a minimum of a $500 deductible is a standard pre-requisite from any lender or title holder, so that if you total the $30,000 vehicle that you just purchased they are not left holding the bag for the loan balance.
DS