Do you know that over 20% of Americans believe they may be paying too much for their auto insurance-and that most of them are right? High quality, low cost auto insurance is one of the few essentials dominating today's auto industry, and it's something that many people are missing out on because insurance companies are too busy trying to drum up new business to take care of their current customers-or to help make sure their drivers have the well rounded coverage they deserve.

Is your auto insurance company toeing the line?

How High Are Your Auto Insurance Rates?

Let's start by taking a look at your auto insurance rates. Companies often offer new customers the opportunity for some great savings via new customer discounts. Those car insurance discounts lure them in and entice them to hand over their business. Once they get there, however, savings aren't as readily available. And over time, drivers that have stuck with the same company for a while end up paying more for their car insurance than the newcomers-and that can create some serious friction.

Has your auto insurance company been dropping your auto insurance rates as a reward for your loyalty, or are you losing to new drivers that haven't signed a policy yet?

The next question is, how much are you saving as a result of your auto insurance discounts? There are literally hundreds of ways you could be saving on your insurance. For example, did you know that you can save 10% or more just by installing a fuel switch that makes your car harder to steal? Or that engineers and teachers traditionally pay less for their insurance because they're statistically less likely to get in an accident?

How about the fact that you could save 10-20% on your insurance just by cutting out your morning commute? These are all things your auto insurance agents should be telling you about, but many don't because they either don't know better or they're not looking out for your best interests. Whichever the case may be, the last thing you want to do is end up paying too much money for practically nothing.

How Good is Your Coverage?

The other thing your auto insurance agent should tell you is that a bare minimum of auto insurance probably isn't enough. See, every state has its own requirements when it comes to your coverage-what's known as minimum coverage levels. In most states that means carrying a certain amount of liability insurance on your car. Others might extend that liability requirement to cover uninsured motorist accidents, and others may adhere to a no-fault policy. Whatever the case, the state's going to tell you that you have to carry insurance. What they don't tell you is that when it comes to your auto insurance just enough usually isn't enough.

Experts recommend that all drivers carry a minimum of $100,000-300,000 in liability insurance, as well as enough comprehensive and collision insurance to reimburse you for the loss of your car if it happens to be totaled in an accident. And with an estimated 10% of drivers driving without insurance by 2010 you never want to be caught on the road without uninsured motorist insurance.

Is your auto insurance company looking out for you, or are they just looking out for number one?