Anecdotally, I've heard that Progressive (the largest insurer I know of that does this) has particularly poor service.
Being less costly to provide less service, it would make sense that they will often come up cheaper (with the exceptions being where different factors are considered in the models of different companies - for example only some ask where the vehicle is stored and I noticed large differences in mileage estimates to reach a price break when shopping around for insurance last year). Generally though - reinforcing in the customers mind the [I think mistaken] idea that price is the sole criteria to evaluate insurance on will help the Progressives of the world. Regards Brian -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of john hull Sent: Thursday, September 05, 2002 12:49 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: insurance quotes Howdy, It seems like I've seen advertisements for insurance companies who'll offer quotes from their competitors, even if their competitor's quotes are cheaper. I can think of two reasons why a firm would do this. First would be the warm-fuzzy model, where the company is banking on goodwill resulting from helping the consumer shop around. They can't be all bad if they help me out rather than just make a buck. The second would be the better-actuary model, where the firm is betting that its actuaries (& their models) are better than the competitors', so the firm believes that the competitors are actually making bad bets and will ultimately go out of business or adjust so that their prices go up. Do these sound reasonable, or do you think there is a better reason. If so, what? Curiously yours, jsh ===== "...for no one admits that he incurs an obligation to another merely because that other has done him no wrong." -Machiavelli, Discourses on Livy, Discourse 16. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Finance - Get real-time stock quotes http://finance.yahoo.com
