There are a number of ways to obtain cheap auto insurance quotes when you need affordable auto insurance coverage quickly. The funny thing is, the need to get cheap vehicle insurance hasn’t changed for over 300 years… although back in the 1700’s, folks were looking for carriage insurance rather than car insurance.

Since the dawn of the insurance industry in the middle 1700’s, insurance companies like the Philadelphia Contributionship were represented by a few select licensed salesmen know as insurance agents. These insurance agents maintained offices in and around the City of Philadelphia and its suburbs.

The Philadelphia Contributionship was started by one of the founding fathers, Benjamin Franklin. The company was originally called the Franklin Fire Insurance Company.  The Philadelphia Contributionship was founded 24 years before the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1752. At that time, you only had two insurance company choices to insure your home and your other private personal property.

Of course, you had The Philadelphia contributionship, the other insurance company was known as the Green Tree. If you wanted to obtain an insurance quote, stopping in a local insurance agency to speak to an agent was your only option.

The second way to obtain the cheapest insurance quotes came over 100 years later. By then, cars had been invented, so there were now two ways to obtain cheap auto insurance quotes, one by visiting your local insurance agency, and the other by opening your local telephone directory (a.k.a. phone book) and making a phone call. Talk about high-tech!

In 1870, Travelers Insurance Company wrote what they now refer to as the first auto insurance policy, in this case for a steam-powered motor vehicle. Of course we all know Alexander Graham Bell invented and patented the first consumer telephone. Not as well know is his next invention. In 1877, Mr. Bell founded the first public telephone company. A few years later, The Bell Telephone Company distributed the first telephone book in Boston, Massachusetts.

Then and now; the fastest way to receive cheap auto insurance quotes is by using the telephone. Contrary to popular belief here in the 21st Century, the most effective way of shopping for cheap auto insurance quotes is, even still, not accomplished on the internet.

Sure, if you want to bind an auto insurance policy in a pinch on the internet, you may be trading the best quotes for convenience.

On the other hand; if you want the cheapest auto insurance quotes – spending 10 to 15 minutes on the phone is a better investment of your time.

Think about this for a moment: If you have a problem driving record like an accident or two, moving violation tickets, or your policy was recently cancelled, are you going to trust an impersonal online form with that information? Is that form going to be sympathetic to your needs? Talking to an auto insurance agent and discussing exactly what your situation is will help you obtain the best auto insurance quotes and ultimately buy the cheapest auto insurance policy to best fits your particular needs.