I Need to Find Car Insurance Company In California
Reader’s Question:
I live in California and I just want to know what I should do if I cant find an insurance company that will insure me?
Thyme
Good Question, Thyme.
Some of the insurance companies specialize for the high risk drivers. This what we call the non standard market. If you plan to purchase in the non standard markets, make sure you shop around first because the requirements and eligibility are different from these insurance companies.
If you still cant find an insurance company that will insure you, you can get liability coverage from the California Automobile Assigned Risk Plan. (CAARP). This plan is for those who are unable to find an insurance company from the non standard markets and for those who do not qualify as a good driver.
Heres how the plan works. Your application will be assigned to an insurance company. All insurance companies are required to accept all applicants of CAARP. The rates for the plan are all the same regardless of which insurance company that issues the policy. This plan is also available in installment. If you maintain a clean driving record for three years, you may be able to move to a standard line insurance company.
You may check with the certified insurance agent of CAARP to find out more information on how to apply for the insurance with this plan.
Goodluck!
MariCAR
California Auto Insurance Claim Denied Because of Teen Driver?
Reader question:
I heard that you can get a claim denied if your teenager is on your California auto insurance policy. Is that true?
Phillip
Thank you for your question, Phillip.
I’m not sure where you heard that, Phillip, but it’s definitely not true that your California auto insurance company will deny your claim just because you have a teenager on your policy. Heck, you’ll probably get your claim denied if you decide not to add your teenager to your insurance policy, because if you don’t provide such important information, then your auto insurance company is unable to adjust your car insurance premium to fit the amount of risk you pose to the company.
One thing that I think you might be thinking about is the recent report done on parents whose claims were denied because they had claimed themselves to be the main drivers on vehicles of which their high risk teenagers were actually the main drivers. I think this might be the result of a bit of miscommunication.
Many people who deal out auto insurance advice, myself included, have urged parents to make sure that car insurance companies don’t automatically add the teenagers to the most expensive and costly to insure vehicle on their policy. This is definitely something that you should worry about, since car insurance companies tend to, if not told otherwise, put the highest risk driver with the highest risk car, even if the driver in question never touches the car.
However, making sure that your teenager’s name isn’t added to a car that they don’t drive isn’t the same as deliberately putting your teenager’s name on a car that they don’t drive. This is called fronting, and is considered fraud, so I advise every parent thinking about doing this on their California auto insurance policy to think again. The truth is that most parents who do this don’t even know they’re committing fraud, at least according to sixty percent of the parents in the report.
Make sure that you give accurate information and that your insurance company follows it when rating your policy, but giving inaccurate information yourself could land you in trouble.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarram.
Things To Consider Before Selecting a California Auto Insurance
There are several things that you need to be aware of when you are going into the battle for California auto insurance. Here is a list that will make you aware of what to expect and what to demand.
- Your name is .0001%.
California auto insurance providers, like car insurance companies everywhere, deal in statistics. When they see you, that is what they see, not a living breathing person. Therefore, no matter how many protestations you make that you are the most angelic and able driver in the world, if you are part of a demographic (or if your car is) that files a lot of claims, you are high risk as well. There are a number of things that can push you either way on the risk spectrum, from your job to your car, so it’s something you have to get used to.
- One is not like the other.
Not all California auto insurance companies are the same, which is why it is necessary to shop around.
- Price isn’t everything.
While getting a great insurance quote is ideal, it is also important for you to have a bunch of other things from your insurance company. First of all, you will need good rates, but also good service and an easy claims process. You will need to look at several aspects of a company before you decide that it’s the one.
- Rise above it.
In California auto insurance, you have to have a minimum coverage of $35,000 self insured, and $40,000 if you go through a insurance company. However, most of the time these tiny amounts will not help you when push comes to shove. Think about what you need and consider upping your liability insurance coverage.
- Get paid.
Every California auto insurance company offers discounts, but so many people just ignore them. According to several studies, Americans spend $500 billion more on car insurance than they would have spent if they had gotten discounts that they are eligible for.
- Tell the difference.
Many auto insurance providers will try to get off by repairing your car with aftermarket parts when you file a claim with them. While these are just as safe as other parts, if you don’t get the parts from the original manufacturer then your vehicle will lose value.
- Look out.
Your insurance company is there to serve you, but that doesn’t mean they will be all enthusiastic about it once the time comes for them to do so. It is your responsibility to fight for the money that you deserve.
- Think ahead.
Don’t wait until the last minute to read your auto insurance policy as you are waiting for the firemen to pry you out of your wrecked car. If you know what you need to do in the claims process ahead of time, then you don’t have to worry about it when you’re stressed and possibly injured from a collision.
California Car Insurance Law – Do I Have To File a Claim?
California car insurance law doesn’t mandate that you file a claim after every accident. It’s entirely up to you to do so or not. Some people choose not to after some accidents because they don’t want the negative spot on their car insurance report, but you have to make the correct decision so that you don’t pay for it in the future. Most car insurance companies want you to at least tell them about an accident, even if you don’t file a claim, but in some cases that may not be advisable.
- Deductible.
Here’s the first test of whether or not you need to file a car insurance claim. There’s no California car insurance law about deductibles, but most companies have one for their extra insurance coverages, that is, not for liability but for all the rest. If your repairs are going to cost less than your claim, then there’s no reason for you to file a claim. However, if the repairs will cost more, then you should go ahead and file a claim.
Try to get an estimate from a reliable body shop before you make the decision about the price. If you aren’t sure about how much the repairs will cost, then you can’t make a valid decision about whether to file a claim or not.
- Other spots on your record?
Sometimes when you have a car accident, you’ll already have something on your car insurance record that makes you less than desirable, or high risk. If you already have a previous ticket for a moving violation, or if you have gotten into an at fault accident before, then you should check the law with the California department of insurance to see when a car insurance is able to decide on nonrenewal for you.
- Anybody there?
If you get injured, then you absolutely must make a car insurance claim. You never know what complications could happen, and even if you have health insurance, it is often the case that medical insurance will not elp you with things such as lost wages. If you need help with these things, then you will need to make a car insurance claim.
If there is another driver involved in the accident, then it is a good idea to at least tell your car insurance company. California car insurance law allows claimants to sue the other driver, so if the other driver comes up with a lawsuit and you haven’t said a word, then you’ll be in trouble.
I Can’t Get Car Insurance In California
Reader question:
No California car insurance company wants me. What do I do?
Jackie
Great question, Jackie.
There are plenty of factors that can contribute to you being unable to find a California car insurance company to insure you. Perhaps you have a drunk driving conviction, or you own a high performance vehicle, or maybe you have a lot of speeding tickets on your driving record. If you have a DUI or speeding tickets, then you might be able to get them off of your record by taking a defensive driving class. Ask to see if this option is available for you.
However, if you are not able to get a car insurance company to sell you a policy in the meanwhile, then you need to get into action and find one that will. First of all, leave the regular car insurance companies alone and try looking for one that specializes in selling policies to high risk drivers. One well known company that does this is Progressive. Remember that your premiums will be more expensive.
If that doesn’t work out for you, then you might have to consider joining the California Automobile Assigned Risk Plan. Also called the assigned risk pool, it is essentially a pool of drivers that drivers who have trouble getting insured will join, and then the state will assign a company to them which will sell them a policy.
Every insurance company participates in this program, because they have no choice. A car insurance company gets more assigned risk policies the more regular policies that it sells. Normally, you will be on CAARP for around three years. After that, you will be able to get insured through a regular CA car insurance company.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.
Affordable Car Insurance For Senior Citizens
Getting older, especially if you don’t have a big retirement fund, can be a strain on the budget. This is why you see many American seniors taking their social security checks and moving to Mexico, which is one of the few places where they can live on such small amounts of money. Needless to say, the senior population of the United States needs a break when it comes to car insurance premiums. By retiring age, they will just barely be passing out of the least risky group and heading into an age group that confers high risk.
This is why joining the Hartford AARP might be a good idea for seniors who need a cut on their San Jose CA car insurance. In fact, if you join Hartford AARP, you’ll get a pretty big cut–the organization for retired people claims that they can knock the price of your car insurance premium down by almost fifty percent. Can you pass that up? I wouldn’t be able to.
If you have more than one car insured with Hartford AARP, then you get up to a twenty five percent discount. And if you have more than one kind of insurance with them, then you can add on another ten percent to your total discount. Should you be a policy holder with the Hartford AARP company for five years or more, you will also get a five percent discount.
When you get your insurance with Hartford AARP, you can also know that you are secure. Many times you can have your insurance canceled by another company if you get into an accident, or if you get a speeding ticket. However, with Hartford AARP there are only three things you can do to get your policy canceled, and those things are:
- get a DUI conviction.
- lose your license.
- fail to pay.
This company has a long history helping retired people, in more ways than just in getting cheaper car insurance premiums, so I suggest that any senior who wants to save money give them a good think.
My Auto Insurance Was Just Canceled – What to Do?
Reader question:
Is it easy to get auto insurance in California after you’ve had your policy canceled?
Margeret
Thank you for asking, Margeret.
Actually, it can be pretty hard to get California auto insurance if you have something on your record like a previous cancellation by a car insurance company. This is why it is so important to take care with all of your automobile insurance dealings because if you don’t, then you will have to pay the price. And that price can be as much as a ten percent increase, and that’s only if you can find a company for auto insurance that wants to give you coverage at all.
When you go looking for auto insurance, the company will be able to look at your CLUE report, which aside from containing your claims history, will also have your previous cancellations and nonrenewals. This may influence them to deny your request for coverage, but if they do take you on then they might make you pay your entire yearly premium up front instead of allowing you to do the month by month installment. This can be a good thing for some people, because it is actually slightly more expensive for the installment plan. However, most people don’t have that much money at once.
Another thing that having your auto insurance canceled is that it will affect your credit score. Not all auto insurance companies report to credit agencies, but it is definitely something to think about even if they say you don’t, because most wouldn’t give a straight answer on this. Credit scores are also used hen determining how much you will pay for your auto insurance in California, and if you have a bad credit score, then that price could be pretty high. Even if your driving record is otherwise stellar, it could still hit you hard.
If all else fails, you’ll have to either go to a company for auto insurance in CA that sells policies to customers who are considered high risk. If you do this, you will pay more. And if no one will accept you, then you will have to consider going with the high risk pool for auto insurance which costs even more.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.
Who Offers Cheap Southern California Auto Insurance?
After I wrote a few blog posts ago about the cheap southern California auto insurance program, I got some feedback from a couple of readers who were complaining about the fact that they would not qualify for the program because they were ‘bad drivers’, and yet at the same time they could not afford to get a southern Califronia auto insurance policy. So, in the end, they were just stuck in the middle. There was a program out there for low income drivers, but they couldn’t take advantage of it, and the program for high risk drivers was too expensive.
Well, the first thing that I want to suggest to them in this post is that they thoroughly read this site to see if they can’t, applying all of the other discounts and ways to get a better price on southern California auto insurance, find a way to afford their car insurance coverage.
If that doesn’t work, though, and you absolutely have no choice whatsoever other than to drive uninsured, I’d like to suggest a bit of activism. Contact your state legislature.
For some people, that seems a little extreme, but think about it. These people are the ones that made the southern California auto insurance laws in the first place. If there are people who cannot follow those laws, and not for lack of trying, then they should do something about it. After all, car insurance laws are not the same kind of law as no theft, which requires no effort whatsoever. Many people who live below the poverty level, and even many who live above it and right on, find that they cannot perform this required payout.
This is how programs like the low cost southern California auto insurance program come about. If you really want an option for low income, high risk drivers and you can’t do it the usual way, then you need to bring your legislators’ attention to it. It’s in their best interest to decrease the amount of uninsured drivers on the road, so it couldn’t hurt to try.
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