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.

What are the cheapest and easiest ways to get a better rate on my car insurance policy?

Margo

That’s a great question, Margo.

There are two main ways that anybody can use to lower their car insurance premium without lifting any more than a finger. All you have to do is call your car insurance company and spend about ten minutes on the phone, and with both of these changes you can save around fifty percent or more on your current  car insurance premium.

The first one I want to address is

• Cutting your coverage!

Collision and comprehensive coverage take up about forty percent of your premium, so if you cut them out you’ve saved almost half of what you were paying already. However, you have to figure out if it is good for yo to drop full coverage and stick to the minimum liability. If you have a leased car, or if you’re buying a new car in payments, then you are probably required to have comprehensive and collision coverage on your insurance policy.

If you’re car is only a couple of years old, then you might want it. No one wants to spend a couple of years paying off a car, and then total it for nothing. I suggest you decide based on how much your car is worth. Case in point: this car

probably does not need comprehensive or collision. The general rule that I go by is that if it’s worth less than a thousand dollars, then you need to cut it down to the minimum liability required by your state. There’s no reason to pay more for your insurance policy than your car is actually worth. That’s just crazy.

Way number two to get a good deal on your insurance policy without barely lifting a finger:

• Raise your deductible!

This is the thing that most people are scared of, because they think that if they raise their deductible, they might not be able to afford it when the time comes to pay for it. Note to class: if you’re a good driver, you don’t have much to worry about. When are you ever going to have to pay your deductible? I have a thousand dollar deductible and I’ve had it for several years, and haven’t had to pay it once.

And if you’re a bad driver? Aren’t you paying enough for your insurance policy as it is? Instead of fretting about the high deductible, raise it, and then put the money you’re saving in a savings account with interest. You might never have to use it, and in the meanwhile, it’s sitting there getting bigger and bigger. I did this three years ago when I first raised my deductible, and I put the savings in a high interest money market account, along with my other savings. It grows by %5, and I’m making money without doing anything at all.

Keep these two things in mind when you’re trying to figure out a way to save on your car insurance premium. Remember that even if you can’t do anything else, you can definitely raise your deductible and cut your coverage.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.

I’ve heard that you could get a cheaper California auto insurance rate based on what kind of job you have. Is this true?

Mark

It can be.

California auto insurance rate discounts based on occupation are some of the more rare kinds of discounts, because not all CA car insurance companies have them, but there are several that do. If you find that you are in an occupation that regularly gets a California auto insurance rate discount, then it would do well for you to ask while you are shopping around for a new car insurance company. As it is, there are two kinds of occupations that are going to get you the best discounts on your California auto insurance rate, and those are:

• Teaching.
• Engineering.

Some car insurance companies will offer discounts on the California auto insurance rate for teachers by themselves, but most teachers get their discounts by joining a teacher union. However, if you choose to join a teacher’s union for the California auto insurance rate discount, then you ought to make sure you want to join them for other reasons as well. Normally, the discount you get on your California auto insurance rate only just covers the membership dues you will be paying for being part of the union. However, these unions offer lots of services to teachers apart from discount California auto insurance rates, so it’s a good idea to join anyway.

As for engineering, car insurance companies have done research which shows that these people are less likely to get into accidents, which is their reason for giving engineers discounts on California auto insurance rates. Why do they get into fewer accidents? Who knows? Car insurance companies claim that their professions require more attention to detail, which they say is something that permeates their day to day life. As such, engineers are the sorts who will pay more attention to the road, and thus file fewer at fault claims.

You don’t even have to have the job yet to get the discount, in some cases. Several companies are offering a cheaper California auto insurance rate to people who simply have degrees in the field of engineering, as well as in other math and science related fields. If you think you might be qualified, ask your car insurance company before you sign up for a policy.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.

I’m a student at UCLA. How do I get the best California car insurance rate?

Gabriela

That is a great question, Gabriela.

Students like us are broke, busy, and braindead from studying half the time, so it certainly helps to know what we can do to lift some of the burden of heavy California car insurance rates. Your California car insurance rate doesn’t have to be high, though. All the same, people take it for a given that just because they are under the age of twenty five, they should resign themselves to paying $200 monthly premiums. Not so. I cut my rates by more than fifty percent in the last year alone, and I’m nowhere near my twenty five year mark. First, I suggest that you skim through some of the other posts on this site and look at the ways to save. Then, I want to introduce you to some other ways for the study burned student to save money on their California car insurance rate.

There are three main ways that you can save money on your California car insurance rate while you’re a student, and one is by sticking to your study plan, another is by sticking with your ‘rents, and the third is by sticking to your bus ticket. None of them sounds particularly fun, but none of it hurts as much as a high California car insurance rate quote, either, so if I were you I would thank my lucky stars that I got a chance to save so much on my California car insurance rate.

Now I’m going to break it down. You may not be able to do all of the suggested things, depending on what part of California car insurance rate is coming from, but you can pick and choose. First:

• Sticking to your study plan.

You shouldn’t need more encouragement to do this, but if you’re in the mood to let your studies slide and just slip through the UCLA books with a C average, think again if you want to save money on your California car insurance rate. That’s right, being a good student can get you as much as a fifteen percent discount from many California car insurance companies.

The requirement tends to be that you have either a B average or a 3.5 grade point average, and you can prove it. If you don’t have this great California car insurance rate discount, ask your insurance company ASAP.

• Sticking with your ‘rents.

Personally, I am not on my parents car insurance policy. The difference, though, between me and a lot of college students is that I’m married. If you’re an unmarried college student, you can save money on your California car insurance rate by staying on your parents policy. Your parents, probably, have better driving history and lower risk for you, so being on the same policy with them will still be costly, but will make you less risky.

You can even get on a car insurance policy with your roomate for a smaller discount. So long as you don’t go it alone.

• Sticking with your bus ticket.

Most people don’t want to ride the bus if they can avoid it, but for some it’s a great way that they can save money on their California car insurance rate. If you go to UCLA, then you should be able to take advantage of the bus system. If you combine this with the last suggestion, you can get a lower California car insurance rate by leaving your car at home with your parents, staying on their policy, and being covered whenever you come home on weekends and vacation. Most car insurance companies offer a lower California car insurance rate to your parents if you leave your car at home and go to school over a hundred miles away.

Another thing, if you have your own policy and have a car, is that you can get the low mileage discount by using the bus whenever you can and thus cutting your mileage. Other car insurance companies give discounts to people who use the bus.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.

I know there is a program for cheap California car insurance, but how do I know if I’m eligible?

Marty

Excellent question, Marty.

In my last blog post, I introduced the program for cheap California car insurance that is helping decimate the population of California that is driving uninsured on Californian roads–a total of three million people currently, but the number is shrinking. The cheap California car insurance program was designed to help good drivers who have a low income be able to afford car insurance in this state where the prices are getting increasingly higher and higher.

There are several requirements that you must meet to be able to get your car insured through the cheap California car insurance program, and the first involves your age and the number of years you have been driving. You have to have had your license for at least three years, and you have to be at least nineteen at the time of application.

Next we have the obvious, which is the low income requirement. In order to get the cheap California car insurance program, you have to meet the low income eligibilities. In terms of whether or not your income is low enough, here are the numbers:

• Just you, you have to make $25,525 or less
• You + one more, combined income of $34,225 or less
• Three people, $42,995 or less
• Four, $51,625
• Five, $60,325
• Six, $69,025
• Seven, $77,725
• Eight, $86,425

These numbers are for incomes that are 250% of the national poverty level or less. In order to count someone as part of the number of people in your household, they have to be related to you. That means adopted kids, biological kids, grandparents, spouses, foster kids even, are okay, but your roomie is not.

The next requirement is that you be a good driver. In order to be considered a good driver, you can only have gotten into one car insurance accident involving property damage that was your fault, no more. Injuries? You’re out. You also can’t have more than one point in California’s moving violation point system for the last three years, nor can you have had any vehicle related felonies or misdemeanors on your record.

There are a couple more requirements, one being that you can’t have a car that values at more than twenty thousand dollars. A new car is okay, so long as it values less than that. Also, if you’re in college, you can’t be claimed as a dependent by your parents still. And if you want to get the cheap California car insurance for a car in your household, you have to use it for all vehicles in your household. You can’t have one on the cheap California car insurance program and another with Allstate.

Hopefully this information will help you get insured and get out on the road. Remember that whenever you find that you can’t afford your car insurance, you should try every path possible for you before admitting defeat. Car insurance accidents involving people without insurance are a big cause in the raising of car insurance rates, and if you got into an accident without insurance the costs of the lawsuit could set you back financially for years to come. Stay safe, and stay insured with the cheap California car insurance program.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.

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.