Cheap California Liability Only Auto Insurance

Reader’s Question:

I have California liability auto insurance. What sort of coverage does liability insurance has?

Isaac

San Francisco CA

If you have the California liability auto insurance you have coverages that cover others that you may cause damage or harm to in case of an accident that is your fault. Liability insurance though coverage does not provide you any coverage if your vehicle is damaged. Optional coverage of comprehensive and collision covers your car less the deductible you choose, in case of an accident regardless of whos at fault.

California liability auto insurance covers damage your vehicle does to others, damage for which you are legally responsible. If you do not have liability insurance you will need to pay the damages out of your own pocket.

Liability coverage is the foundation of a car insurance policy that is being required in most states. States differ when it comes to required minimum amount liability insurance. Typically states require

• Liability coverage of Bodily Injury (BI) and
• Property Damage (PD).

California liability auto insurance pays for any bodily injury and property damage expenses as well as your legal bills, medical bills and lost wages of the person you injured.

I Want To Buy Cheap California Vehicle Insurance

Reader’s Question:

What do I need to know about California vehicle insurance?

Mark

San Jose, CA

California vehicle insurance is pretty straightforward. The state requires its resident drivers to have liability coverage. The limits for this coverage are $15,000 for the treatment of a single person’s bodily injuries, $30,000 for the combined medical expenses of all persons injured in one accident, and $5,000 for any property damage. Although California vehicle insurance is compulsory for all drivers or vehicle owners, it can sometimes happen that a driver has a hard time getting insured. Drivers with motor vehicle records spotted with one too many citations or convictions can be often denied by providers. In such cases, the driver would most likely be put in the California Automobile Assigned Risk Plan or CAARP. This assigned risk plan hands over drivers who are unable to obtain insurance for whatever reasons to specific insurance companies who agree to provide liability coverage. The required limits for such drivers are $10,000 for bodily injuries of one person, $20,000 if more than two people were injured, and $3,000 for damaged property.

Other types of California vehicle insurance is collision and comprehensive coverage and uninsured motorist coverage. Unlike liability these coverage benefits the policyholder and covers him for any injury or property damage due to an accident. These types of insurance are not required by the state and so obtaining them would depend upon your needs.

I Need Cheap High Risk Driver Car Insurance 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

What Car Insurance Coverage Options Are Available In California?

Reader’s Question:

What other car insurance coverage can I purchase that is available in the state of California that will be a benefit to me?

Mark

Thank you for asking Mark.

Other coverage that you can purchase aside for the state minimum liability coverage are:

Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist

This provides an insurance if the other driver that is at fault does not have the required minimum liability coverage or insufficient policy to cover injuries in the event of an accident. This also covers any damages on your car.

Other optional coverage that is being offered by most insurance companies are:

Medical Payments

This covers any medical bills and any similar expenses

Physical Damage

Collision coverage covers damages to your vehicle caused by collision to another vehicle or with any object regardless who is at fault. Comprehensive coverage covers any damage to your vehicle other than collision like fire, theft, vandalism, acts of nature, etc.

Endorsement/Riders

This covers special equipments, towing service fees, and rental reimbursement.

These coverage are optional. You can add this to your insurance premium to get you fully protected and saves money in the future.

Goodluck!

MariCAR

I Need Cheap Car Insurance in California!

Choosing the right California depends on you. It isn’t the responsibility of the insurance company nor an agent to determine what type of coverage you need. You may be able to have an open discussion with an agent so you can decide what is the best option for you that fits your needs. You should need to know and decide the best coverage for you before you get involved in an accident and not after the accident.

Threes a lot of options available when choosing for the right coverage so you should shop carefully and compare the prices that these insurance companies offer.

The first thing that you should ask yourself is if you need a higher limits. You have the option to consider a policy with a higher limits from the required minimum liability coverage from the state since you are personally responsible for the damages you may cause in the event of an accident. It would be worth considering an extra coverage due to increase of hospital bills and other expenses like car repairs.

The next best thing to do is to shop around. Each insurance company is allowed to calculate its own rate based on the past laws experience and expenses. Therefore the rates will differ since company’s experience are different even if they are located in the same geographical area. You may be able to contact any independent agents, company agents that represent a certain insurance company, websites and other writers for insurance company. They will be able to help you decide which company to choose and the best rate that you can get.

You should be wise on choosing the right insurance company for you. This can greatly affect the premiums that you pay for your vehicle, It is best to compare before deciding what policy to choose.

Low Cost California Collision Auto Insurance Coverage

Reader question:

What is low cost California auto insurance collision coverage?

Mandy

Thanks for your question, Mandy.

Many people only buy the minimal low cost California auto insurance coverage for their vehicle, because they think that they are fairly good drivers and would never get into a car insurance accident, at least not one that is their fault. Any accident, they assume, that they would get into would be covered by the other driver’s liability coverage. However, there are many cases where, despite how you feel about your own driving skills, you are required to add collision coverage to your low cost California auto insurance policy.

The main reason for which you would do this is when you are buying a brand new car. Most loan providers would require that you have collision coverage on your car until you have finished paying them for it, so you will have to add it to your low cost California auto insurance policy.

In some cases, they may not require it, but it is still a good idea to get it. If you are buying a new car, usually while you are paying it off you will at some point owe more for your car than it is actually worth. In these cases, should you total your car and you only have collision coverage, you will only get paid for the worth of your car, leaving you with several thousand dollars of loans to pay off. In order to avoid this, you must get gap insurance. But in order to get gap insurance, you have to have collision on your low cost California auto insurance policy.

Collision covers damage in an accident in which you are at fault, be it with another driver or just you backing into your second car in your driveway. Unlike liability coverage, collision comes with a deductible from your low cost California auto insurance policy. If you get into a car accident, then before you can get the check from your insurance company, you have to pay the deductible. I suggest that you make that deductible at least five hundred dollars in order to get low cost California auto insurance rates.

But how do you know if you need collision coverage, if it isn’t required? I would say that if your vehicle is worth less than one grand, don’t even think about it. It would just be a waste of money, even if you totaled your car. However, if you have a relatively new vehicle and you don’t have a stellar driving history, then I would seriously think about adding collision to my low cost California auto insurance coverage.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.

Types of California Car Insurance – Which is Best?

There are several types of car insurance that you will need in California, an at-fault, tort car insurance law state. While not all are necessary, in order to abide by California car insurance law, you must have at least the three basic types of liability coverage, which can be bought either at the state minimum or at a number above this. California car insurance law requires you to have a minimum of five thousand dollars of property damage liability for when you get into an at fault accident. It isn’t much, and most California car insurance companies suggest that you get at least fifty thousand to prevent problems with being underinsured.

What is California car insurance property damage liability?

When you get to into a car accident that is caused by your own negligence or intent, most of the time this accident will involve someone else. Unless you get into the accident on your own driveway, your California car insurance company will probably have to pay out a property damage liability claim. What this type of coverage takes care of is the damage done to whatever you hit–be it a house, a mailbox, or even, most commonly, another car entirely. There is a separate type of coverage for injuries to another person.

What property damage California car insurance coverage does not take care of is any damage inflicted on your vehicle, even if you crash your vehicle into some part of your own property, such as another vehicle of yours. If this happens, you will have to depend on collision car insurance.

Car Insurance Problem in California On a Rental Car

Reader’s question:

If a rented vehicle got involved in an accident who are responsible for the damages?

Amber

Good question Amber.

If you are renting a car from the rental company, you will be asked to sign a form that says that you will be held responsible for the damages caused to the vehicle as well as the damages caused to the other vehicle even if they were at fault in the accident.

According to the California Department of Insurance’s guide to car insurance, the renter will be held responsible for the damages to the vehicle in accordance to the rental agreement. They would normally offer a Damage waiver which serves an agreement between the rental company and the renter.

You must review your own car insurance policy to check any applicable extension policy regarding renting cars. You must also verify the liability coverage in the event if the rented vehicle got involved in an accident.

If your car insurance provides coverage for rental cars, you do not need to purchase the insurance from the rental car. Some credit card companies also offers insurance if you use it with rental car companies.

Almost in all states, renters are obligated and will hold responsible for the cars they use or rent. But this does not apply to all states. In Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin and the District of Columbia, car rental companies can be held responsible for the damages on the rented cars.

Goodluck!

MariCAR

I Need Auto Insurance in California – Cheap!

Reader question:

What is way to get auto insurance in California other than getting it from a car insurance company?

Megan

Thanks for asking, Megan.

Getting your auto insurance in California with a licensed car insurance company or through some other Californian state auto insurance program are most certainly the easiest ways to get car insurance coverage in California, and most people wouldn’t have the money to do it any other way. However, California car insurance law does allow for more than one way, and one of the other ways is to get a surety bond. You can get this from a company that is licensed by the state, just as if you were getting your auto insurance in California from an actual insurance company.

These surety bonds are usually purchased by people who own a small business, not normally by those that are insuring a private car. Another option for small business owners is group commercial car insurance. Auto insurance in California law allows a surety bond to be purchased for at the least $35,000. This is equivalent to the minimum liability coverage, so if you want to have more coverage then you should purchase a larger bond.

Another way to get auto insurance in California without having to go through a car insurance company is to simply deposit the $35,000 minimum coverage with the department of motor vehicles for the state. Or, as another way, you could go the self insurance route. In order to do this you have to get a certificate from the department of motor vehicles showing that you are self insured. Remember, though, that whatever kind of insurance you get, you still have to be able to show proof of it when you are pulled over by a police officer or you get into a car accident. Proof can be your car insurance card, or your certificate of self insurance, your surety bond, whatever, so long as it is accepted proof by the department of motor vehicles.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.