Southern California Car Insurance – What You Now Need and Savings Proposed
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 per person injured
Total Bodily Injury Liability (Total BIL) of $ 30,000 per 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. 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?
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 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. The remainder of what we will discuss is not mandatory under California law.
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 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 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 in Southern California may offer “Pay-per-mile”.
California’s Insurance Board has put forth a proposal to allow insurers to charge consumers based on miles traveled. Similar to purchasing prepaid cellular phone minutes…consumers would pay in advance for a number of miles to be driven during a specified time period. 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 maybe more importantly, the plan will act as an incentive for drivers to stay off the pavement. Environmentalists say this type of car insurance in La Mesa will encourage consumers to drive less…leading to lower fuel consumption, reduced pollution and less congestion on the road.
The plan looks good to me.
