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 three fundamental liability components.
Bodily Injury Liability (BIL) of $ 15,000 / person
Total Bodily Injury Liability of $ 30,000 per accident
Property Damage Liability or PDL of $ 15,000 per accident
The insurance industry refers to this as 15/30/15.
To limit your coverage to these minimums, would be looking for trouble. Multiple car accidents and ambulance chasers (i.e. lawyers) can drive the cost of a car accident to six figures and well beyond. If you are at fault and you have gone with the minimums, you personally, must cover the shortfall. Now you must re-mortgage your house, forfeit your savings & probably even more…sound good?
From experience, I recommend no less than 100k/300k/100k and more, if you are on the road frequently…particularly in the abundant elite communities of Californ-i-a. A few extra dollars spent 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 rest of what we will talk about is not required by California statute.
First, let's think about you. Personal Injury Protection (PIP) pays for injury to you and your passengers no matter who was at fault. I suggest PIP coverage of no less than $ 100,000.
Next, your vehicle. To most of us, full coverage means having both collision and comprehensive.
There are two purposes of collision insurance; to cover the cost of damages to your vehicle or, if your car is a total write-off, to provide a cash settlement. You will pay for a pre-specified deductible amount and your insurer will pay for the balance.
Comprehensive covers your ride for vandalism, theft and damages due to fire, animals and acts of God.
Another essential coverage is protection from uninsured drivers. The accident is not your fault, but the guilty party can’t pay. Your uninsured driver coverage kicks in here.
{Auto insurance Southern California} proposes “Pay-Per-Mile”.
California’s Insurance Board has put forth a proposal to allow insurers to charge consumers based on miles traveled. Similar to buying prepaid cell phone minutes…consumers would pay upfront for a specified number of miles to be driven over a limited period of time. A device installed in the automobile will allow the insurance company to monitor a car's mileage and charge appropriately.
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 more importantly to some, the program will provide an incentive for motorists to stay away from 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 usage, reduced pollution & less road congestion.
The plan looks good to me.
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