Variations in auto insurance quotes

After putting local Washington auto insurance companies and agents to a test, obtaining dozens of auto insurance quotes, it is clear that shopping for new auto insurance right away is probbaly a good idea.

"It is a huge difference," said Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler. "(It's a) huge variation, a lot more than I anticipated."

Even Washington's insurance commissioner was surprised by what we discovered about auto insurance.

KIRO 7 Consumer Investigators put together a comprehensive study with the help Eric Olsen.

Eric drives a '97 Jeep and has a spotless driving record. He got quotes from the five largest insurance companies in Washington

Quotes are all over the map. A Farmers agent wants $1,219 for a six-month policy while Pemco charges $570 -- less than half Farmers' price.

That's in Seattle. If you move to Issaquah, Pemco will only charge you only $380.

And we found more puzzling information: You can get wildly different quotes from the same company depending on what agent you talk to.

One Farmers agent gave Eric a quote of $763. Another Farmers agent quoted him $949 -- same driver, same address, same insurance companies, different quotes.

Eric called back to ask why the prices were so different.

"The agent that had given me the lower rate also factored in the fact I would be buying renters insurance in addition to my car insurance and you get a discount on your insurance when you buy both of those," he said.

However, the agent didn't mention any of that when Eric called for the quote.

"My guess is the insurance company, if they knew their agents were giving those kind of variations in quotes, would want to talk about doing some remedial training so everyone operated with the same set of rules," Kreidler said.

Something else in our survey really caught our eye. One Pemco agent wouldn't give Eric any quote at all.

While he has a spotless driving record, someone he lived with three years ago did not. Insurance companies have developed special technology to analyze nearly everything about your past.

You might call it guilt by association -- and it's all legal.

"You know, I have some real problems with that kind of use of information technology," Kreidler said. "I've gone to the legislature and asked for changes in law in order to try and bring out some limits. I want to go back and ask for more because quite frankly the insurance companies are asking for things that are private information, they don't relate to whether you are going to file a claim."

Some insurance companies only accept clients who are low risk. They tend to have the lowest rates. The companies that take bigger risks have more clients and usually higher rates.

One thing is for sure: it really pays to shop around for rates. Not only does it pay to get quotes from different insurance companies, sometimes it can pay to check different agents within the same company.