More Car Insurance and Aggregator Websites Breaking Into Online Market

According to comScore, an industry leader in quantifying the digital world, the number of competitive insurance carriers and aggregator sites available to consumers via the Internet has grown significantly. In the last quarter of 2010, new sites made up 8 percent of the total number of new auto insurance quotes submitted online. This marks a new trend in how consumers are shopping for online auto insurance rates.

Established Insurance Carriers Continue to Dominate
For the past few years, consumers have been able to get online auto insurance rates and quotes from most of the established insurance carriers, with Progressive and GEICO, two of the largest companies, making up more than 50 percent of all online quotes. But with an increasing number of drivers shopping for competitive online auto insurance rates, the market is steadily opening up for smaller and new insurers. Even so, the established insurance carriers will most likely continue to dominate for the foreseeable future. However, direct writers such as Geico and Progressive remain unable to offer unbiased comparitive quotes to consumers.

Aggregator Sites Increasingly Popular
Aggregator sites—websites that generate leads and allow customers to compare online auto insurance rates and quotes—are rapidly becoming more popular. The reasons are threefold. First, consumers appreciate the convenience and efficiency of comparing online auto insurance rates. Second, there is a relatively large number of newcomers to the market. And third, existing sites are being acquisitioned by larger competitors and therefore attracting more customers searching for the best online auto insurance rates. The number of new auto insurance aggregator sites is expected to increase over the next few years to meet the demand for easy comparison shopping for online auto insurance rates.