California, a Vehicle, and Insurance

There is no way to live in any part of California without a vehicle. Imagine trying to get across town or the bay or even the Sierras without a vehicle; it’s close to impossible. California law states if you have a vehicle you must have insurance. This means every registered vehicle must have insurance to operate on the California roads no matter who the driver is.
In the state of California you must carry the minimum required insurance such as bodily injury and property damage. For bodily injury the minimum is $15,000 for an individual and $30,000 for all people involved in the accident. For property damage the minimum is $5,000, but keep in mind the minimum will not always protect you from out of pocket expenses, this is only the minimum required to operate a vehicle on the roads of California.
With a the minimum required for bodily injury that mean the auto insurance company will pay for injury related accidents for any one person in the car and up to $30,000 for any persons in the accident. Your property damage minimum states that your auto insurance company will pay up to $5,000 to the car you hit.
The state of California also requires you carry uninsured motorist coverage and underinsured motorist coverage. This will protect you in the event you are involved in an accident where the person at fault has either no insurance or not enough insurance to cover the damages to your vehicle or the injuries to you.
Along with the state required coverage are other options such as collision coverage, where the auto insurance will help pay for damages if you are at fault in an accident. Then there is comprehensive coverage that will help pay for damages in the event you are involved in a non accident related situation. This will cover fire or storm damage and even theft or vandalism done to your vehicle.
Both collision and comprehensive coverage is sold in addition to bodily damage and property damage. The auto insurance companies also offer other packages such as towing and rental car coverage in the event you need a car until yours is operational again. It is in your best interest to purchase the highest deductible you can afford since the auto insurance company only pays up to the deductible. Save yourself the stress and aggregation of out of pocket expenses by placing a high deductible on your different insurance coverages.