It's great to be a girl -- at least when it comes to buying auto insurance. Men pay about $15,000 more for auto insurance over their lifetimes than women do, according to CoverHound.com. But the differences can be even more dramatic, depending on age, location, and other variables.

For instance, an 18-year-old male living in Nevada would pay an average of $6,268 a year to insure his sedan if he had the misfortune to grow up there. That's 51 percent higher than what his twin sister would pay, who would fork out just $4,152 to insure an identical car, according to a CoverHound analysis.

New comparative car insurance shopping platform CoverHound, which saw its public launch this week at the Finovate conference, is trying to make comparison shopping easier by “enabling consumers to compare and buy policies from top national brands” in the U.S. The company offers an online comparison tool, supported by its own full-service independent insurance agency.

Founder and CEO Basil Enan says his company is trying to eliminate the “messy and opaque nature” of shopping for car insurance. “We want to show everyone that we have the best rates; there is no transparent marketplace for insurance shopping.”

CoverHound announced the public launch of its comparative shopping platform for car insurance. CoverHound is a first-of-its-kind service harnessing the power of a web-based platform and a national full-service independent insurance agency to identify the best car insurance rates available for consumers.

CoverHound is reordering auto insurance comparison shopping by changing the way consumers find and buy policies. CoverHound already has thousands of users and is available to more than 80 percent of the U.S. population in 30 states, with the rest soon to follow.

Amidst this push for growth in the Internet sector, a new class of tech startups has sprung up aiming to help Americans on Main Street. These small but growing businesses set their sights on assisting users with difficult daily realities like getting out debt and finding the best insurance rates

CoverHound presents competing insurance rates from the major brands, which users can then go ahead and purchase. Insurance shopping has been relatively scattered and confusing for Americans in the past.

CoverHound announced the addition of GMAC Insurance to its platform. The introduction of GMAC Insurance further expands CoverHound’s offering to consumers, as the company continues to provide instant, accurate and actionable quotes to insurance shoppers.

“We’re extremely excited to bring GMAC Insurance onto our platform. CoverHound is dedicated to helping consumers find and buy the best insurance policy.” said Basil Enan, CoverHound Founder and CEO.

Startups often conjure up images of ping pong tables frequented by scruffy developers in black jeans and Marxian t-shirts. Insurance companies are perceived to be much less hip, staffed by folks with side parts behind big wooden desks inside industrially-lit offices. But a recent trend has seen the proliferation of startups in Silicon Valley starting to shake up the insurance world.

We scoured the landscape and found the five most interesting new companies in the space, and highlighted why each is so promising.

CoverHound today announced the naming of Keith Moore to its board of directors. Moore is currently the Chief Marketing Officer at AcademixDirect, Inc., after prior roles as General Manager at LendingTree and IAC, and Senior Vice President of the 2008 IAC spinoff Tree.com.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Keith to the team. He’s an insurance industry veteran and an efficient brand marketing expert who will be a valuable asset as we seek to make the CoverHound brand synonymous with finding the right coverage at the right price,” said Basil Enan, CoverHound Founder and CEO.

CoverHound, a venture-backed San Francisco-based startup, announced today that it has established CoverHound Insurance Solutions (CIS), a national full-service independent agency that will help power its flagship comparison product launching in January. CoverHound’s new service will give consumers instant, accurate and actionable rates from leading car insurance carriers.

CoverHound adds to momentum with key hires. Welcome Josh, Keith and Jeff!

One year after launching, car insurance comparison service raises $750k from San Francisco-based venture firm to accelerate growth and expand team.