As with most states, California auto insurance law requires all drivers to carry three fundamental liability components.
Bodily Injury Liability or BIL of $ 15,000 per person
Total Bodily Injury Liability of $ 30,000 per accident
Property Damage Liability (i.e. PDL) of $ 15,000 / accident
The insurance business knows this as 15k/30k/15k.
But please understand that to rely on this coverage alone, would be asking for trouble. Multiple pile-ups and ambitious lawyers often drive the cost of a vehicular accident to well beyond six figures. If you’re at fault and you’ve gone with the minimums, you personally, are now on the hook for the shortfall. So, you’ll have to sell your property, deplete your bank balance and maybe even more…how do you feel about that?
From experience, I recommend no less than 100k/300k/100k and more, if you are on the road frequently…particularly in the abundant elite communities of Californ-i-a. A few extra dollars spent here is money well spent.
Until now, we’ve talked about liability coverage only. That doesn’t cover injuries to you and/or damages to or loss of your automobile. The rest of what we will talk about is not required by California statute.
First, let’s think about you. Personal Injury Protection (PIP) covers injury to you and/or your passengers. I suggest PIP coverage of no less than $ 100,000.
Next, your vehicle. To most folks, full coverage means the combination of collision and comprehensive.
The purpose of collision insurance is two-fold; to cover the cost of the repair to your damaged vehicle or if “totaled” to make a cash settlement. You must pay for a predetermined deductible, & the insurer pays for the rest.
Comprehensive covers your ride for vandalism, theft and damages due to fire, animals and acts of God.
Another valuable coverage — protection from uninsured drivers. It’s not your fault, but he won’t pay. Here’s where your uninsured/underinsured driver coverage comes to the rescue.
Auto insurance Southern California proposes “Pay-Per-Mile”.
The California Insurance Commission has proposed that insurance companies be allowed to charge policy holders on the basis of actual miles driven. Similar to purchasing prepaid minutes for a mobile phone…the consumer would pay up-front for a fixed number of miles to be driven in a limited period of time. A monitoring device installed in the car will allow insurance companies to observe a driver’s car usage and charge accordingly.
Consumer advocacy groups are supporting the proposal because paying for miles actually driven (instead of an insurance company’s estimate) should provide savings to low mileage drivers.
And some say more importantly, it will incenticize drivers to stay off our roads. Environmentalists say this type of auto insurance in La Mesa and other California cities will encourage consumers to drive less…leading to lower fuel usage, reduced pollution and less congestion on the road.
The program looks like a winner to me.