What Are California Car Insurance Requirements?

Reader’s Question:

What are the California car insurance requirements?

Lily

Berkeley, CA

With the growing population in California, drivers in the state also increase. Thus, the state’s law requires every driver to carry liability insurance. With liability insurance, injuries and damage incurred by the driver will be paid by the car insurance company of the at-fault driver. The minimum level of liability insurance is 15/30/5. The sum that the car insurance company will pay is $15,000 if the accident involves only one occupant. If there is more than one occupant, the combined expenses are $30,000 while the payment for damaged property is $5,000.

Where the person whose vehicle was hit by the insured will be paid, the at-fault driver on the other hand is responsible for the cost of repair of his/her own vehicle. Collision and comprehensive coverage offers to pay this cost like the necessary repairs of the car in the case of circumstances beyond the control of the driver like being struck by a deer. PIP or Personal Injury Protection offers payments for medical expenses incurred by the at-fault driver and his/her passenger. The state of California however does not require this coverage. However, some car insurance companies still offer this as an optional coverage to drivers.

Another type of optional insurance coverage is the uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage. This coverage pays the cost of car repairs and medical expenses of the insured. This is coverage can be helpful in the case of hit and run or when the at-fault driver who has insufficient car insurance coverage to pay all the costs of damage and medical expenses. Although uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage is not required by the state of California, this is still strongly recommended. Furthermore, the level of liability insurance is recommended to be higher than the minimum amount required by the state.

If you want to save from high California car insurance rate, make sure that you have safety features installed in your car and you don’t have expensive car or SUVs. Don’t forget to shop for car insurance rates from different car insurance provider.