- Individual Bodily Injury Liability: $15,000
- Total Bodily Injury Liability: $30,000
- Property Damage Liability: $5,000
Are you tired of watching your California car insurance rates go up year after year? If you have stayed loyal to your auto insurance carrier but your carrier has not been quite as loyal to you, now is the time to shop the rates for auto insurance in CA with other insurers who are competing for your business. Comparing auto insurance premiums from CA auto insurers is as easy as entering your zip code in the field at the top of this page and entering your personal data in the rate comparison tool. Before you start typing, make sure that you are familiar with California auto insurance laws and coverage options. Here is your brief guide to auto insurance in CA and tips on finding the lowest premiums:
What Types of Coverage and Limits Are California Drivers Required to Carry?
If you are a permanent resident in California and own a vehicle registered in the state, you are required by California financial responsibility laws to hold auto insurance in the state. California officials only require drivers to carry liability insurance, but all insurance companies must also offer applicants Medical Payments and Uninsured Motorist coverage, which the applicant has the right to reject. Liability insurance is designed to protect third-party drivers when you are found to be at fault and liable for an accident. In California all drivers must carry:
- Bodily Injury Liability: $15,000 per person, $30,000 per accident
- Property Damage Liability: $5,000 per accident
While the state minimums will satisfy the mandatory auto insurance laws in the state of California, these minimum requirements may not provide adequate protection in many scenarios. You should review all of your coverage options, price the cost of optional forms of cover, and build a sufficient policy that does not sacrifice protection as you price shopping if you want real peace of mind on the road. Some of the most popular forms of cover you will be offered include: Medical Payments, Uninsured Motorist Bodily Injury, Uninsured Motorist Property Damage, Comprehensive, Collision, Towing & Labor and Gap.
Why to Purchase Optional Forms of Coverage?
As previously stated, all insurance carriers offering auto insurance in CA are required by law to offer applicants at least $1000 in Medical Payments and at least $15,000 per person and $30,000 per accident in Uninsured Motorist protection. When you are shopping for cheap car insurance in CA, it might be tempting to reject both coverage options, but you should think twice before you do this. With the Insurance Research Council estimating that 21.7 percent of the drivers in California are uninsured, it is in your best interest to elect to carry uninsured motorist protection. This will help you pay for medical bills when you and your passengers are injured due to a driver who failed to comply with state laws.
How to Keep Your California Auto Insurance Quotes Low
Selecting state minimum liability limits is not the only way to find cheap premiums. Here are some tips to carry higher limits without paying an arm and a leg:
- Insure all of your vehicles with the same carrier for a multi-car discount.
- Insure your auto insurance and property insurance with the same carrier for combined savings of up to 40%.
- Maintain an accident-free record and violation-free discount for special California Good Driver discounts. Take driving school if you do get a violation.
Now that you have a basic understanding of what is auto insurance is required in California, use the auto insurance rate comparison tool to retrieve your quotes. Gather your current policy details, driver information and vehicle information, and you can see which company is beating the competition in terms of rates.