Shopping around for a good neighbor? Hoping to be in good hands? Choosing the best auto insurance isn’t always so easy — even for a caveman.

If you’re placing thousands of dollars into your auto insurance company’s hands because of a couple of traffic tickets, an accident or a questionable credit rating, the time to shop your policy against others may be now.

The first step is figuring out the amount of coverage you need.

In addition to uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage, Kansas requires minimum auto insurance of $25,000 of bodily injury liability for one person, $50,000 bodily injury liability for all people and $10,000 property damage liability.

However, “the state minimum is way outdated,” says Rochelle Tramp of Rochelle Tramp Insurance Agency, 4311 W Sixth St.

Tramp says to go beyond the minimum, because $25,000 of protection can disappear quickly if you cause an accident and the other party needs a helicopter ambulance ride to the hospital.

“After the limits are exhausted, they will come after you,” Tramp says.

Web sites such as Netquote.com allow you to obtain a list of comparative quotes. The form takes about 15 minutes to complete.

It’s OK to ask for discounts. Harry Thomason, insurance agent at American Family, 2420 S. Iowa, says you can get discounts for having more than one vehicle insured, for having a good driving record, for being a certain age (typically 50 and above), for having both your home and vehicle insured, and for being a student with at least a 3.0 GPA.

Philip Reed, senior consumer advice editor at Edmunds.com, offers some tips on finding the most reliable auto insurance company:

• Visit the Kansas Insurance Department Web site, www.ksinsurance.org. It publishes an annual “Consumer Complaint Ratio Report” for all of the insurance companies that sell policies in Kansas. The complaint ratio shows the number of closed complaints for every $1 million of premiums the company sold in Kansas during that calendar year. The lower the ratio, the lower the number of complaints.

• Find out which companies would be recommended by body shops. You can compare the consumer complaint ratios with what the body shop managers say.

• Check out the financial strength ratings for the companies that interest you. Refer to the A.M. Best and Standard & Poor’s ratings. Both companies publish financial strength ratings for all insurance companies — these “measure” an insurance company’s ability to pay out a claim.

“It doesn’t do any good to have insurance if you have a claim and there’s no money to pay it,” Thomason says. He says the company’s financial strength is the first thing you should consider.

• Consider working with an insurance agent as opposed to directly with a company. Reed says, according to experts, consumers who sign on with agents generally have an advantage during the claims process.

Throughout the past year, Tramp has noticed more people in Lawrence shopping around for auto insurance. She speculates that it’s because of the slow economy and that “people are trying to save a buck here and there.”

She says most people are just looking for lower premiums, which she warns against.

“The lowest premium may not get you the best service,” Tramp says. “Sometimes you get what you pay for.”