by Tim Thompson
Rogue health insurance websites are set up to capture personal information from people trying to get instant quotes, and then the websites sell that information to agents. In the results from 2 Google searches for "Pregnancy Health Insurance" and "Maternity Insurance Plans," almost 50% of the top 20 results were rogue websites. There are plenty of legitimate health insurance websites to choose from, but you need to be able to distinguish the good from the bad. When you click the "Get Quote" button on rogue websites, you are essentially telling them, "Please have 5-10 medical insurance agents call me for the next 8 weeks to sell me a policy," and "Please sell my email address to other list services and health insurance agents so I can receive their emails." I'll show you how to recognize these websites before they deceive you.
About 10 years ago, I left the corporate world to start my own business. I needed to set up health insurance for my family so I went online and searched for San Diego Medical Insurance. I figured the top links should be the best ones to visit so I did. I read a little bit of information on the first website, and it said I would receive instant San Diego health insurance quotes by filling out the website's quote request form, so I filled out the form. When I hit the "Get Quote" button I was sent to a page that told me I would be contacted by 5-8 agents that would provide me with quotes. About 20 seconds later my phone started ringing, and for the next 2 months I received daily phone calls from agents wanting to sell me health insurance. The email barrage was even worse because it didn't stop and I eventually had to get a new email address (this was before spam filtering).
Since then I've learned the telltale signs of fake quote websites and how to recognize them quickly. Here is the list of red flags to watch for:
1. The website has Google Ads for insurance - No legitimate California health insurance broker would allow ads for competitive websites to be displayed. 2. The website contains a link for "Agents" or "Brokers" - This typically means the site is going to sell your information to the agents/brokers that sign up to use the website's service. Scan through ALL the links, top, bottom, and sides of the pages. 3. Quickly scan the privacy policy, especially the first few paragraphs, to see if they are going to provide your information to third parties - If so, they plan to sell your information to agents or email list services. 4. In California, check to see that the website displays an insurance license number (many times this is placed at the bottom of the page) - If not it could be a rogue website or a national company that might not know the specific details of the California health insurance market. 5. Look for something similar to the following wording "this website provides a free service and is not an insurer or agent/broker" - this means it is a marketing website that will sell your information to agents or refer you to a national broker for a referral commission.
If you haven't seen any red flags yet, so you entered your zip code and clicked the button to get a San Diego Medical Insurance quote, you still have to watch out for 3 more red flags on the quote request form:
6. Check the Disclaimer at the bottom of the quote request page to see if the website is going to have agents call you. 7. The quote request form requires your home address - This is not necessary to provide a quote, but will result in you getting junk in your mail box. 8. The form asks for the best time to contact you - this definitely means that agents will be calling you.
If you find any of the above red flags you should close the page; your information won't be saved as long as you don't hit the final "Submit" button on the quote request form page.
Rogue San Diego health insurance websites are pretty common on the internet, and tend to show up in longer keyword searches. To avoid becoming a phone and email spam victim you need to be careful to ensure you are working with a legitimate San Diego Medical Insurance website. The signs to look for are Google Insurance Ads, Agent/Broker links, no insurance license, bad privacy policies, the disclaimer, or text that says the website is not an insurer or a broker. Following these precautions will help you keep your personal information safe.
About 10 years ago, I left the corporate world to start my own business. I needed to set up health insurance for my family so I went online and searched for San Diego Medical Insurance. I figured the top links should be the best ones to visit so I did. I read a little bit of information on the first website, and it said I would receive instant San Diego health insurance quotes by filling out the website's quote request form, so I filled out the form. When I hit the "Get Quote" button I was sent to a page that told me I would be contacted by 5-8 agents that would provide me with quotes. About 20 seconds later my phone started ringing, and for the next 2 months I received daily phone calls from agents wanting to sell me health insurance. The email barrage was even worse because it didn't stop and I eventually had to get a new email address (this was before spam filtering).
Since then I've learned the telltale signs of fake quote websites and how to recognize them quickly. Here is the list of red flags to watch for:
1. The website has Google Ads for insurance - No legitimate California health insurance broker would allow ads for competitive websites to be displayed. 2. The website contains a link for "Agents" or "Brokers" - This typically means the site is going to sell your information to the agents/brokers that sign up to use the website's service. Scan through ALL the links, top, bottom, and sides of the pages. 3. Quickly scan the privacy policy, especially the first few paragraphs, to see if they are going to provide your information to third parties - If so, they plan to sell your information to agents or email list services. 4. In California, check to see that the website displays an insurance license number (many times this is placed at the bottom of the page) - If not it could be a rogue website or a national company that might not know the specific details of the California health insurance market. 5. Look for something similar to the following wording "this website provides a free service and is not an insurer or agent/broker" - this means it is a marketing website that will sell your information to agents or refer you to a national broker for a referral commission.
If you haven't seen any red flags yet, so you entered your zip code and clicked the button to get a San Diego Medical Insurance quote, you still have to watch out for 3 more red flags on the quote request form:
6. Check the Disclaimer at the bottom of the quote request page to see if the website is going to have agents call you. 7. The quote request form requires your home address - This is not necessary to provide a quote, but will result in you getting junk in your mail box. 8. The form asks for the best time to contact you - this definitely means that agents will be calling you.
If you find any of the above red flags you should close the page; your information won't be saved as long as you don't hit the final "Submit" button on the quote request form page.
Rogue San Diego health insurance websites are pretty common on the internet, and tend to show up in longer keyword searches. To avoid becoming a phone and email spam victim you need to be careful to ensure you are working with a legitimate San Diego Medical Insurance website. The signs to look for are Google Insurance Ads, Agent/Broker links, no insurance license, bad privacy policies, the disclaimer, or text that says the website is not an insurer or a broker. Following these precautions will help you keep your personal information safe.
About the Author:
Tim T is an author writing about the medical insurance industry. Make San Diego Medical Insurance easy, visit SPF Insurance. You'll find the information and tools you need, and instant San Diego Medical Insurance quotes.. Also published at San Diego Medical Insurance Quotes - Avoid Rogue Websites.
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