On the Web:

California Department of Insurance  California provides information to assist consumers, aid in the licensing of insurance agents or brokers, and serve as a source of information on the laws that regulate the insurance industry. Learn how to shop for insurance, check your insurance company's profile, see if your broker is licensed, etc.  The "Compare Premiums/Rates" feature is extremely helpful in determining which policy to buy.  Also provides a lot of information on insurance fraud.

Independent Insurance Agents of America  IIAA, a consumer advocacy organization, provides information on consumer issues and government affairs as well as current news. Also provides links to other insurance related sites and to state associations.

Insurance Web  Insurance estimates for all types of insurance;  articles and information on various types of insurance and topics of concern like tire safety; and a research center with information on insurance terms, FAQs, and claim filing among other topics. Tools include insurance analyzers, estimators, and quizzes.

Insure.com  Insure.com describes itself as a privately-owned, independent news organization that does not sell insurance. Consumer information on issues from auto theft to renters' coverage. Includes a variety of calculators to determine the cost of all types of insurance and even the crash test rating of your car. State insurance gateway leads consumers to appropriate information for their state and type of insurance. Of special interest to Californians is the information on earthquake and wildfire coverage.  Lots of good information. 

Insuremarket  InsureMarket provides real-time quotes, information, connection with agents, and quote comparison and purchase policies from the nation's leading insurance companies. Features an insurance planner and "Life Events Advisor." A well–organized and informational site.

QuickQuote  Quotes on premiums for over a thousand term life policies and annuities. Both an agency and a technology company, QuickQuote is "licensed in all states in the continental U.S. and has been appointed by more than 35 of the nation’s top insurance carriers to represent their insurance products. All carriers represented in QuickQuote’s database must be at least "A-rated" by the A.M. Best Rating Service." It also develops online services for the insurance industry. One excellent feature is the "Top Insurance Carriers" section that lists companies with ratings by Standard & Poor's, Moody's, and A.M. Best and gives a capsule description of the company and its product.

Company Ratings:

A.M. Best Insurance Information Source   Comprehensive, quality data covering all aspects of the insurance industry.  A.M. Best is well-known for its print directories that provide information and ratings of insurance companies and it claims to be the first company in the world to report on the financial condition of insurance companies.  Information includes Ratings & Analysis, News Publications, and Insurance Resources.  Retrieving ratings on companies requires signing up but there is no charge.  However, the information available free online is not as  complete as that in the print or full electronic version of the product.

Weiss Ratings, Inc.  Weiss is another well-known insurance rating firm.  Weiss claims "Unlike other rating agencies, we accept no compensation from the companies we rate. Nor do we give the companies the opportunity to preview the ratings or suppress their publication if they’re unfavorable, as most other rating agencies do. We are totally independent and unbiased."  The fee for obtaining an online rating for one of the 15,000 financial institutions, including banks and thrifts, insurance companies, HMOs, and brokerage firms is presently $7.95. Free information on the site includes News Headlines and News Releases.

• Best's Insurance Reports: Life-Health and Property-Casualty
  One of the best known manuals for U.S. and Canadian companies. For each company it gives a brief history, management, assets and liabilities, investment data, Best's rating, etc. Best rating criteria are thoroughly explained and are often quoted in articles about insurance companies.
   
• Weiss Ratings' Guide to Life, Health And Annuity Insurers and Property and Casualty Insurers
  Weiss provides ratings similar to Best's (see below) but company information is briefer. Weiss ratings are clear and easy to understand. Companies are reviewed and updated frequently and the rating volumes published quarterly which makes them more current than Best's. Weiss also claims to take no money from insurance companies, unlike Best's and Moody's. Generally, Weiss information is easier to read, if not as complete, that that in Best's or Moody's.

• Business & Company Resource Center
  An extensive business, company & industry database that provides information on individual companies as well as articles on the insurance industry.
   
• Health & Wellness Resource Center
  Although this is primarily a health database, try searching under "health insurance" for full text articles and citations on insurance.
   
• Infotrac OneFile
  Try searching on "health insurance" to view articles and related subject headings on this very broad topic.
   
• Newsbank
  Find newspaper articles on the insurance industry. Consists of two databases: America’s Newspapers, which indexes the full text of the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Christian Science Monitor, Orange County Register, San Diego Union-Tribune, USA Today, the Washington Post, and the San Francisco Chronicle from roughly 1985 to the present; and Noticias en Español, which provides full text articles in Spanish.

Suggested subject headings: Insurance, Automobile Insurance, Insurance Agents, Insurance Brokers, Business Insurance, Earthquake Insurance, Insurance Industry (for articles on insurance companies in general), or the name of the specific insurance company for which you need information.

Try a keyword search for "insurance companies rating" to retrieve articles like "Checking Insurance Companies" by Consumer Reports, or, search the name of a specific company for ratings, i.e. "State Farm insurance rating."

Some of the journals indexed by InfoTrac OneFile include: Best's Review Life-Health Insurance and Best's Review Property-Casualty; Business Insurance; Insurance Review; Standard & Poor's Industry Surveys: Insurance; Statistical Bulletin-Metropolitan Life Insurance Company; and Insurance Review.

Go to the Library's databases