California Auto Insurance - What You Now Need and Savings Coming Up
As with most states, California state auto insurance law requires all motorists to carry 3 fundamental liability components.
Bodily Injury Liability (BIL) of $ 15,000 / person
Total Bodily Injury Liability of $ 30,000 / accident
Property Damage Liability or PDL of $ 15,000 per accident
The insurance business knows this as 15k/30k/15k.
But please understand that to rely on this coverage alone, would be asking for trouble. Multi-car collisions & legal fees commonly boost the cost of an automobile accident into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. If you are at fault and you have gone with the minimums, you personally, must cover the shortfall. So, you must sell your house, empty your bank account and probably alot more…how does that sound?
Based on experience, I strongly suggest a bare minimum of 100/300/100 and more if you’re often on the road…particularly in the many elite communities of the Golden State. Spending a few more dollars here is value for money.
Until now, we’ve talked about liability coverage only. That doesn’t cover injuries to you and/or damages to or loss of your automobile. 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.
The purpose of collision insurance is two-fold; to cover the cost of the repair to your damaged vehicle or if “totaled” to make a cash settlement. You must pay for a predetermined deductible, & the insurer pays for the rest.
Comprehensive protects your auto for theft and vandalism and damages caused by Mother Nature, animal impact and fire.
Another valuable coverage — protection from uninsured drivers. It’s not your fault, but he can’t pay…your uninsured driver coverage kicks in.
Auto insurance in Southern California may allow “pay by the mile” plan.
California’s Insurance Board has put forth a proposal to allow insurers to charge consumers based on miles traveled. 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 say this type of car insurance in La Mesa will encourage motorists to drive less…leading to lower fuel consumption, reduced pollution and less congestion on the road.
The plan looks good to me.
February 8, 2010 1:09 pm 
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