Once upon a time, shopping for auto insurance was a real pain. A hassle surpassed only by the process of moving and/or having to deal with traveling salesmen. Or your mother-in-law. Take your pick! Either way, the process of insurance shopping used to be much, much more trouble than it was worth, which is why so many people would go out, find a company they were happy with and stick with them for the rest of eternity. Needless to say, the Internet has changed a few things!

And now shopping smart and using all of the technology sitting at your fingertips can help you save 20% or more on your auto insurance rates.

If you're a relatively new driver who never got to enjoy the proecess of insurance shopping prior to the information age-you didn't miss much. When auto insurance agents first hit the road they were traveling agents who would come to your home and meet with you. You would then get the dubious privilege of spending a few hours sitting around talking about your options while they called in to the home office to see what they could offer you and what they couldn't-a process that repeated itself several times over before you were holding a signed auto insurance policy in your hand.

Because insurance shopping was such a hassle, drivers did as little of it as possible. They would go out, find an insurance company they were happy with after hours of negotiations, and that insurance carrier would likely be their insurer for the rest of their life. Company loyalty was as much a matter of convenience as excellent service (although they provided that too!). Most people just didn't have time to spend hours, days or even weeks hunting down an insurance carrier.

The Internet has changed all that quite a bit. Now most companies do business on the web, offering quotes within minutes (days at the longest) via a digital form. And there are specialized quote finder services on the web that allow you to fill out a singe form to get quotes from multiple carriers. The amount of time it takes to shop for auto insurance is literally exponentially shorter.

That's working smart.

It's a good thing that auto insurance shopping is easier than ever, because company loyalty just doesn't pay the way it used to. There are over 50 nationwide companies operating in the U.S., and every one of those companies is competing for the same limited number of customers. That means auto insurance rates are more competitive than they've ever been before, and they're always looking for ways to sweeten the pot and draw in even more drivers looking for their services. A study published not too long ago showed that 20% of drivers were paying too much for their auto insurance because they were doing business with the same company year after year instead of continuing to hunt around and taking advantage of new customer discounts.

With the Internet making auto insurance shopping easier than ever, isn't it time to start giving a little more consideration to your wallet?