The 3-step guide to shopping for car insurance and maximizing your coverage

Car insurance is a requirement for anyone on the road. But, it’s often a large expense. According to Bankrate, the average cost of full-coverage car insurance across the U.S. is $2,014 per year.

There are a handful of factors that influence the amount you’ll pay for coverage, also called your premium: things like your driving record, the number of miles you drive per year, where you live and even your credit score. When pricing your policy, insurance companies weigh these factors differently — sometimes resulting in one insurance company offering you a very different price than another insurance company.

To get you started, CNBC Select narrowed down some of the best car insurance providers on the market. Geico takes the top choice overall for car insurance coverage, offering some of the cheapest premiums for minimum and comprehensive coverage. State Farm ranks close behind for earning impressive marks from J.D. Power for customer satisfaction.

Now that you have two top providers in mind, it's time to shop around for any others that may be a good fit. Here's a step-by-step guide to shopping for car insurance so you can save money on your auto coverage.

To get started shopping for auto insurance, you’ll need some information from your car and your driver’s license, along with personal details. 

A few things to have on hand as you start the process of shopping include: 

• Your driver’s license
• Your vehicle’s VIN number (generally found at the bottom of your windshield on the driver’s side)
• Your car’s mileage, make, model and year

It might also be helpful to have information on your previous car insurance policy if you had one. This will allow you to match your new policy to the coverage you currently carry and compare how the new quotes stack up.

In order to compare quotes, you’ll need to get several different options from a variety of insurers. Generally, you’ll want to get three or four quotes to start.

To get started finding quotes, do your homework on the companies you’re considering. Looking at financial strength ratings from AM Best and customer satisfaction data from J.D. Power is helpful when evaluating insurers. We’ve done some of that work for you already by considering these factors (and more) in the process of recommending some of the top products in the space in our rankings of the best car insurance providers.

Consider also car insurance companies that offer discounts. One of our top picks, Farmers, offers 23 different discounts on car insurance, including discounts for bundling home and auto insurance, automatic payments, paying on time and insuring multiple cars.

It's also worth getting quotes from insurance companies ranked highly for specific drivers. For example, teens and their families may want to consider one of our top picks for young adult drivers, including Auto-Owners, which we rated best for customer satisfaction. Similarly, those who are high-risk drivers with a DUI on their record might want to consider Progressive, which was a top pick for that category. Senior drivers may want to get quotes from Geico, our best overall pick for this age group.

As you collect quotes, make sure that you’re choosing the same amount of coverage, or more than, as you're currently carrying. You’ll also want to check that the deductible, or the amount you’ll pay out of pocket if you need to file a claim, is the same on your quote as it is on your current policy.

After you’ve compiled several quotes, you’ll want to look beyond the premium to find the best deal.

Ideally, you’ll want to look at the different types of coverage and the limits of coverage available. Make sure that the deductible is an amount that you could comfortably afford if you need to file a claim.

Then, consider the premium amount. Whichever policy offers you the premium that best fits your budget and that offers the most coverage is the best policy.

When you take the time to shop around for car insurance, you can find the most coverage at an affordable price. Get several quotes and compare them, looking at the price, deductible and coverage types and limits to find the best car insurance policy for you and your family.

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