by: Matt Clarkson

It's easy to see which company is least expensive, but when you need them to cover a claim, what kind of job will they do? To put it another way, which is the most reliable insurance company?

Here's some quick tips to help you choose the right insurance company for you.

1. Visit your state's department of insurance and check consumer complaint ratios and basic rate comparison surveys.

2. Get in touch with local body medical practitioners you trust and ask which insurance companies they recommend.

3. Consider contacting an insurance agent for additional information about a particular insurance company.

4. Check out the financial strength ratings for an insurance company by referring to the A.M. Best and Standard & Poor's ratings.

There's so much to think about when looking for the right insurance company; we've already found the best links below to help you get the right information fast.

The right information can go a long way when you're shopping for car insurance. You can shop for car insurance either online or face to face with a car insurance agent.

Some companies that sell car insurance policies online, as well as the companies that sell car insurance policies traditionally, can make independent decisions about the expenses they incur and the prices of their products. So you might not necessarily get the same quote with the one company either.

When you complete a quote make sure the car insurance company only collects information necessary to provide accurate car insurance quotes. And ensure the information is limited to people involved in processing this information for sales, customer service or claims service.

Also for coverage purposes, sometimes all family members of driving age who are residents of your household might need to be listed on your car insurance policy to protect both you and the insurer. So don't forget to ask and make sure everyone is either covered or excluded.

What is the car insurance definition of an accident?

Accidents include at-fault, not-at-fault, reported and unreported collisions that you, as the driver, were involved in. Not at fault occurrences in which your parked vehicle was damaged in a collision also are considered accidents.