One of the dirty little secrets of the auto insurance world is that there are two types of customers; savvy ones who pay rates considerably below the norm, and those who get a quote from just one company and end up paying way more than they need to.

If you’ve been casually following the news about the auto insurance industry over the past few years, you could be forgiven for believing that rates have skyrocketed and continue to climb.  The real story is that, as a result of relentless consumer and regulatory pressure on insurance companies, auto rates in many cases have actually dropped.  Of course, don’t expect your insurance company to let you know you could be getting coverage for less.

Of all the monthly expenses that can be reduced with some time and effort, auto insurance tops the list.  But, of course our time itself is worth money.  Often, we don’t take the time to research if we could be getting a better deal.  It’s a tradeoff between perhaps paying more and spending hours of our time getting quotes from multiple insurers.

But, here’s the kicker: When it comes to auto insurance, the savings to be had by doing a little comparison shopping can be huge – often hundreds, if not thousands of dollars!  

More importantly, new online services now make it remarkably quick and easy to get multiple competitive quotes, so that you can easily find the lowest quote for you.

One of the best of these free new services is called Bankrate Insurance, which is remarkably fast and easy to use.  Just input your information on their website and they will provide up to four of the lowest rate quotes from top-tier insurance companies for you to compare.  Most people are amazed by the huge differences between the quotes and their current coverage.

Bottom line: It makes it simple to find significant savings fast.  And, contrary to what many people believe – it’s easy and cost-free to change insurance carriers anytime.  Consumers are never locked into a policy for any period of time.

So, if you think that saving hundreds of dollars immediately with minimal effort is a smart move, check out Bankrate Insurance.