The most active, most purchased and most used Insurance policies are probably those which are taken for one's own motor vehicles - either because it is a mandatory requirement by law in most countries or even because it really is a very important document to offset financial losses arising due to road accidents.

For most Insurance companies, Auto Insurance provides the very crucial cash flow to run the company. Since it is mostly mandated by law that every vehicle owner must at least take out a 'third party insurance cover' - wherein the cover is taken to cover the cost incurred if the owner's car damages other car or even another person on the road, if not the more expensive but also exhaustive 'Auto Insurance' cover, this class of insurance is important to insurance companies, to the individuals who take out a car Insurance and also to the law keeping bodies of different countries.

The purchasing modalities have now been made very easy by most insurance companies by making ti possible to purchase these Car Insurance policies online, by making the websites capable of providing car insurance quotes, accept credit cards online and other such facilities making the sites entirely e-commerce enabled thereby easing the purchase process of these car insurance policies easier for most people and even faster. The premiums for these policies really depend on each country's jurisdiction and the way they thought would be appropriate. Mostly it is done on the age of the driver, type of the vehicle, the engine horse power and other such criteria. There are even systems like GPS-based systems, OBDII - based system to determine the appropriate premium for each class of vehicle owners.

The claim amount is subject to the insurer determining the claimable amount as a percentage of the actual sum Insured, depending on the seriousness of the damage caused to the vehicle. In case of an accident involving a third party, it usually involves the police too and hence the claiming process becomes a little troublesome and is routed through the police itself.

For most Insurance companies, while it is an important contributor for cash-flow, it is also the most claim prone and marginally profit making portfolio. Nevertheless, it is something no one can do without and hence everyone gets on with and thereby forms a meaty chunk of any Insurance company's business portfolio. Since most of these policies are almost the same and in a particular country, they might all have the same thing to proffer, the insurance companies have now thought of automatic renewal of the car insurance online and even offer cashless repairs, free towing and much more to compete with each other. However, the customer can only benefit from such wars and is always a welcome business move.