Southern California Auto Insurance – What You Need Now and Savings on the Horizon
As with most states, California auto insurance law requires all motorists to carry 3 fundamental liability components.
Bodily Injury Liability (i.e. BIL) of $ 15,000 per person
Total Bodily Injury Liability of $ 30,000 per accident
Property Damage Liability (i.e. PDL) of $ 15,000 / accident
Your insurance agent calls this 15k/30k/15k.
To limit your coverage to these minimums, would be looking for trouble. Multi-car accidents and ambulance chasing lawyers commonly drive the cost of an auto accident to several hundred thousand dollars. If you’re at fault & you’ve stuck to the minimums, you and your estate, are now liable for the shortfall. Now you must re-mortgage your house, forfeit your savings & probably even more…sound good?
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 extra dollars here is money well spent.
Thus far, we have discussed only liability insurance which doesn’t cover your injuries and damages to your car. The remainder of what we will discuss is not mandatory under California law.
First, let’s think about you. Personal Injury Protection (PIP) covers you and your passengers for injury and/or accidental death. I suggest PIP coverage of no less than $ 100,000.
Next, your vehicle. To most people, having both collision and comprehensive insurance is known as full coverage.
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 are liable for a nominated “deductible” amount…and the insurance company pays the remainder.
Comprehensive insurance protects your vehicle against theft & vandalism and damages from fire & smoke, animal impact and Mother Nature.
Another important coverage is protection against uninsured or underinsured drivers. It’s not your fault, but he won’t pay. Here’s where your uninsured/underinsured driver coverage comes to the rescue.
Auto insurance in Southern California may offer “Pay-per-mile”.
California’s Insurance Commission has tabled a proposal allowing insurance companies to charge consumers based on actual miles driven. Similar to purchasing prepaid minutes for a mobile phone…the consumer would pay up-front for a fixed number of miles to be driven in a limited period of time. A monitor fixed to the vehicle will allow insurers to observe car usage & charge accordingly.
Consumer advocate groups are backing the plan because paying for miles traveled, instead of an insurer’s estimate, will provide savings for low mileage drivers.
And possibly more important, it will serve as an incentive for drivers to stay off the road. Environmentalists say this type of auto insurance in La Mesa and other California cities will encourage motorists to drive less…meaning lower fuel consumption, reduced pollution & less congestion on the road.
The plan looks good to me.
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