Low Cost Auto Insurance Gets Another Boost In California

As I have covered here few times California has been in a continuing process of making auto insurance more affordable for ever more and more Californians. Last time, in the spring 2007, the special program has been covering 22 counties including: Alameda, Contra Costa, Fresno, Imperial, Kern, Los Angeles, Merced, Monterey, Orange, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Tulare and Ventura.

Now plans are made ready to expand it to 32 California counties in total. The program called California Low Cost Automobile Insurance Program allows low income drivers to obtain a liability auto insurance coverage for under $400. The names of the California counties being added to this program will be: Napa, Placer, Solano, Yolo, Kings, Lake, Madera, Marin, Mendocino and Santa Cruz.

The minimum requirements of this auto insurance savings program include age of over 19 years old, a 'good driving record' and income of under $25,525 for a single driver and $51,625 for a household made of four people.

To find out more about this program you can call 866-602-8861

Michigan State Considering New Auto Insurance Regulations

It is estimated that the cost of auto insurance in Michigan is three times higher in city like Detroit then it is in the country side. That puts the city folks in Michigan at a considerable disadvantage compared to the rural area residents when it comes to purchasing auto insurance coverage.

And skipping auto insurance in Michigan is not a safe option as it is illegal in Michigan to drive without basic liability and personal injury insurance.

Michigan is the only state in United States that offers unlimited medical which adds to the cost of the auto insurance. And it is the Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association which covers the claims above $420,000.

So the new initiative in Michigan promoted by some lobbying organizations is to reduce the medical coverage to levels on pair with most other US states. The results of that move are estimated to enable reduction of auto insurance premium costs by 32 percent of the mandatory policy fees. And that in turn is expected to reduce the number of uninsured drivers by 40 percent.

New Auto Insurance Law Released In British Columbia

A new bill 93 has been now signed in British Columbia, Canada creating a morel leveled field in the local BC auto isurance market. It will give British Columbia drivers more options in choosing their auto insurace coverage.

The ICBs monopoly on mandatory coverage though is still currently unchanged. And in the words of Lindsay Olson, Vice-President of british Columb ia and Yokon Insurance Bureau of Canada "The provincial government has taken positive measures to bring more options to drivers".

New Lower Car Insurance In The California Counties Of Merced and Tulare

Starting today there will be a new lower car insurance available for under $400 in the California counties of Tulare and Merced.

The basic conditions applying to that have to do with the driver's meeting the minimum income requirements and having a clean driving record. This program is viewed as helping those who drive without insurance to get one; California has one of the highest rates of drivers driving without auto insurance in the United States.

For a good low cost auto insurance company you might want to check the 21St Century Insurance available in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin US states. Otherwise a noteworthy auto insurance group is 2Insure4Less which operates in all 50 United States states and besides auto insurance also offers insurances for life, annuity, long term care, health, homeowner, auto proffered, auto standard, auto high, renter, disability, cancer, burial, business and benefits. They give you a quick and comprehensive multi quote from Farmers, Kemper, The Hartford, Mercury, Liberty Mutual and Nationwide.

State Farm Lowers Auto Insurance Rates

According to State Farm Insurance spokesperson the company is about to lower its auto insurace rates by 10.1 percent. Also their home insurance is to be lowered by 20 percent in total.

State Farm is is the larges vehicles and homes insurer in California therefore the amounts of savings passed to their customers will be substantial - totalling $489 million and including $259 million paid to vehicle owners and $230 millions to home owners.

According to Insurance comissioner John Garamendi these rate cuts are to start taking effect in April.

Ways Of Saving On Auto Insurance

Many small factors determine the actual cost in involved with auto insurance. Paying attention to such details will markedly minimize the expense of insuring your vehicle.

The law in most places requires of the vehicle driver to carry an auto isurance policy and many people approach it something as something that must be done but preferably avoided. Often then, they go to the same place every year possibly not aware of important savings that are available to them.

One of the simplest things to do is just to have a good look around. It is not that difficult to get a few quotes from a few insurance companies around in order to notice which one provides the best features for the dollar. These days with the wide spread use of the Internet such task is made very easy and insurance quotes can be received in few minutes right on one’s own personal computer.

Certainly, one of the things determining the cost of the insurance premium is the driver’s insurance credit history. Naturally then having it improved can save money. Without going into details of credit management – it should be noticed that everyone is entitled to a free credit report. Equifax, Experian and Trans Union companies are each obliged by law to provide it for free to those who request it, once in 12 months.

How can one improve the credit score? Naturally paying all the bills on time will have the biggest impact. Also each of those reports will contain the positive and negative information determining the overall score. Some of such can be erroneous and if so can be removed by one of the above companies. Also switching to new auto insurance after any particular derogatory remark in the report expires – as these all do – will have a positive impact on the insurance premium paid.

Basic credit report is all that is needed. Also there are some credit-reporting firms stating that their reports are free while in the meantime they charge ‘membership fees’ for it. So it pays to check the fine print in such cases.

And last but not the least idea for saving on auto insurance premiums has to do with the fact that not all the vehicle models are considered equal by the insurance companies. For instance vehicles that statistically show to be stolen the most will also carry higher insurance cost. And if the particular car parts tend to be more expensive so then will be the insurance.

Auto Insurance Minimum Coverage State By State

Each state sets its own values determining the minimum auto insurance coverage that can be activated by any auto insurance company for that state. Here they are listed alphabetically.

Alaska 50*100*25

Alabama 20*40*10

Arkansas 25*50*15

Arizona 15*30*10

California 15*30*5

Colorado 25*50*15

Connecticut 20*40*10

Delaware 15*30*5

Florida 10*20*10

Georgia 15*30*10

Hawaii 20*40*10

Idaho 20*50*15

Illinois 20*40*15

Indiana 25*50*10

Iowa 20*40*15

Kansas 25*50*10

Kentucky 25*50*10

Louisiana 10*20*10

Maine 50*100*25

Maryland 20*40*10

Massachusetts 20*40*5

Michigan 20*40*10

Minnesota 30*60*10

Mississippi 10*20*5

Missouri 25*50*10

Montana 25*50*10

Nebraska 25*50*25

New Hampshire 25*50*25

New Jersey 15*30*5

New Mexico 25*50*10

Nevada 15*30*10

New York 25*50*10

North Carolina 30*60*25

North Dakota 25*50*25

Ohio 12.5*25*7.5

Oklahoma 10*20*10

Oregon 25*50*10

Pennsylvania 15*30*5

Rhode Island 25*50*25

South Carolina 15*30*10

South Dakota 25*50*25

Tennessee 25*50*10

Texas 20*40*15

Utah 25*50*15

Virginia 25*50*20

Vermont 25*50*10

Washington 25*50*10

Wisconsin 25*50*10

West Virginia 20*40*10

Wyoming 25*50*20

The above vehicle insurance numbers are in thousands of dollars. The first two sets of digits there show maximum car insurace liability coverage for bodily injury and the last one maximum property damage. So let’s take the California auto insurance numbers there being 15*30*5 What it means is that if there were say two people involved in an accident – each would get maximum of $15,000 coverage and the total maximum would be $30,000. The maximum ‘property damage’ in that auto insurance claim would be $5,000. Although if the ‘bodily injury’ claim exceeds $30,000 in that example then the insurance would not cover the excess of it and the person there considered to be ‘at fault’ could be sued for that reminder cost.

Of course these numbers are subject to continuous adjustments so please double check with your auto insurance provider for the most current details of it.