California Auto Insurance – What You Now Need and Savings Coming Up
As with most states, California state auto insurance law requires all drivers to carry three fundamental liability components.
Bodily Injury Liability (BIL) of $ 15,000 / person
Total Bodily Injury Liability (Total BIL) of $ 30,000 for each accident
Property Damage Liability (i.e. PDL) of $ 15,000 / accident
The insurance business knows this as 15k/30k/15k.
To limit your coverage to these minimums, would be looking for trouble. Multi-car collisions & legal fees commonly boost the cost of an automobile accident into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. If you’re at fault and you’ve gone with the minimums, you personally, are now on the hook for the shortfall. Now you must re-mortgage your house, forfeit your savings & probably even more…sound good?
Based on experience, I recommend a bare minimum of 100/300/100 and more if you’re on the road often…particularly in the numerous elite communities of Southern California. Spending a few more dollars here is value for money.
So far, we’ve discussed only liability coverage and that doesn’t apply to injuries to you and damages or loss of your vehicle. The rest of what we will talk about is not required by California statute.
First, let’s look after you. Personal Injury Protection (PIP) provides injury, death and disability coverage for you & your passengers. I recommend PIP coverage of no less than $ 100,000.
Next, your vehicle. To most people, full coverage means collision and comprehensive.
Collision insurance has a two-fold purpose; to cover the repair cost of your damaged vehicle or, if “totaled”, to make a monetary settlement. You must pay for a predetermined deductible, & the insurer pays for the rest.
Comprehensive covers your car for theft and vandalism and damages caused by fire, animal impact and acts of God.
Another important coverage is protection against uninsured or underinsured drivers. It’s not your fault, but he can’t pay…your uninsured driver coverage kicks in.
Southern California auto insurance may allow “pay by the mile” plan.
CA’s Insurance Commissioners have tabled a plan allowing insurance companies to charge based on actual miles driven. Just like buying prepaid minutes for your cell phone…you would pay in advance for a specified number of miles to be traveled in a fixed period of time. A monitoring device installed in the car will allow insurance companies to observe a driver’s car usage and charge accordingly.
Consumer protection groups are pushing for the proposal because paying for driven miles, as opposed to the insurance company’s projection, should allow cost savings for low mileage motorists.
And possibly more important, it will serve as an incentive for drivers to stay off the road. Environmentalists predict this type of car insurance in La Mesa will encourage consumers to drive less…meaning lower fuel usage, reduced pollution and less congestion on the road.
The program looks like a winner to me.
Related Stuff:
Metro Vacuum SK-1 Air Force Blaster Sidekick Compact & Portable Motorcycle DryerThoroughly dry your bike or sports car in just eight minutes with the Metropolitan Vacuum SK-1 Air Force Blaster Sidekick. This hand-held dryer blasts... Read More >
Project Gotham Racing 4Item #: N25544. Right from the starting line, Project Gotham Racing 4 creates an emotionally-charged racing experience, where you become attached to y... Read More >
Air Cooled VW Power BleederAir Cooled VW Power Bleeder works on most air cooled VWs, including bugs, buses, squarebacks, and fastbacks and models with 29 mm threaded fluid reservoir cap
Related posts:
- Cheap Auto Insurance California What You Need to Know Even if your car is not all that expensive, without an auto insurance quote you...
- Southern California Business Sells Online Mexican Auto Insurance The Mexican Insurance Store.com has been online selling Mexico Auto Insurance for 6 years, longer than almost anyone else in...
- Learning the Basics of Auto Insurance It can seem pretty overwhelming; there are a lot of things to think about when it comes to getting the...
- Liability Auto Insurance: The In’s and Out’s At first glance, you might think that liability car insurance is the most important aspect of insuring your car simply...
- Auto Insurance Laws – What You Should Know Do you know the proper auto insurance laws of your state? Do you know how much coverage you need? Or,...
