I am middle aged and I really thought that there would not be much difference if I compared the prices of various companies on a policy. I figured after all these years with no accidents, uneventful credit and a simple life that it would be pretty much the same wherever I went for rates. Then a guy at my husband's work place kept nagging him we could get better rates --ata relative of his --of course.

Finally just to be fair I compared the rates of six different companies. I was astounded how much they varied. For a simple policy on an older car in good shape the rates varied ny hundreds of dollars. It was amazing. Now since everyone's particular data id different --for instance younger people pay higher rates as do people over sixty five I can't predict if your rates will be lower at a different company, but if you haven't comparison shopped in several years you may be very surprised.

Here's how my rates compared:

Nationwide: $658 a year (but she had great customer service and offered ways to lower it).

Travelers: $694 a year.

Allstate: $488 a year

State Farm Mutual: $510 a year from Internet site, $770 a year from local Agent

Progressive: $456 (one year paid in full) $530 if paid in monthly installments

GEICO: $304 a year (off WEB)

What a price range! Obviously, it pays to shop around. If you want to check quickly this site offers multiple quotes from entering one set of data:

NET QUOTE.com

Or you can go individually to each WEB site and hand enter your data separately for each company. Here is a list for you of several major companies. In my experience WEB quotes often seemed lower than local quotes from an agent. I'd recommend getting the WEB quote, and then having the WEB site refer you to a local Agent for personal coverage.

www.geico.com

www.statefarm.com

www.nationwide.com

www.allstate.com

www.travelers.com

www.progressive.com