Mar/100
Auto Insurance in Southern California – What You Need Now & Savings Coming Up
As with most states, California auto insurance law requires all drivers to carry 3 fundamental liability components.
Bodily Injury Liability (BIL) of $ 15,000 per person injured
Total Bodily Injury Liability (Total BIL) of $ 30,000 for each accident
Property Damage Liability or PDL of $ 15,000 per accident
The insurance industry refers to this as 15/30/15.
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’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?
On the basis of experience, I recommend a minimum of 100k/300k/100k…more if you’re on the road often, particularly in the up-market communities of California. Spending a few extra bucks here is money well spent.
So far, we’ve discussed only liability coverage and that doesn’t apply to injuries to you and damages or loss of your vehicle. What we will discuss from here on is not mandated by law in California.
First, let’s look after you. Personal Injury Protection (PIP) covers you and your passengers for injury and/or accidental death. I recommend 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.
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 insurance protects your vehicle against theft & vandalism and damages from fire & smoke, animal impact and Mother Nature.
Another valuable coverage — protection from uninsured 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”.
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 mileage monitor will be installed in the vehicle, and insurance companies will charge on the basis of miles driven.
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 predict this type of car insurance in La Mesa will encourage motorists to drive less…meaning lower fuel usage, reduced pollution and less road congestion.
The plan looks like an all around winner to me.
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