21st Century Insurance - False Advertising?

I saw a commercial for a company called 21st Century Insurance that got my attention, and wanted to write a quick post about it.

In the commercial, a guy in a hard-hat tries to parallel-park a car and ends up causing damage to both of the surrounding vehicles.  The voiceover then says that every insurance company will cover this the same, so the only thing that’s important is who has the best price.  This, to me, borders on false advertising, because every company doesn’t cover accidents the same.

Yes, price is important when purchasing an auto insurance policy, but there are difference is quality and coverages from company to company.  Some companies are very quick to send a claims adjuster to assess the damage and write you a check, while others can take forever just to talk to you.  Some companies will only pay to replace your stuff with ‘after-market parts,’ and some will not pay to cover anything that’s been modified.  For example, if you’ve had a new paint job on your car and a bumper is damaged, some companies will not pay to replace that damaged bumper. 

So, for a company to say that basically, every company’s the same so you might as well go with the best price you can find, is a false statement.  It’s like their saying in the commercial, ‘we suck, but our prices are good, so use us.’  On top of that, they don’t even have very good prices.

Anyway, it just stood out to me as an interesting and flawed marketing plan that could possibly trick people into going with a sub-standard company.  I would recommend that you do your research, quote your insurance around, and get the best value for the money and coverages.  Do your homework, and don’t be sucked in by the “name your own price”, “every company’s the same” kind of advertising.  Talk to your friends, family, people who are in the business, and see what they say about a company, coverages, what you need and don’t need, etc…