Getting Low Cost Automobile Insurance in California

By: David Schneider, Car Insurance Expert
CheaperCarInsurance.com

With so many people not carrying car insurance, despite it being illegal not to, California has taken certain measures to ensure its residents, regardless of income, can afford low cost automobile insurance. The state’s efforts to insure low-income drivers began in 2002 and has been going strong ever since.

The goal of the California Low Cost Automobile Insurance Program (CLCA) is to provide an affordable insurance option to good drivers who might not otherwise be able to afford coverage.

Are You Eligible for Low Cost Automobile Insurance?

If you live in California and are interested in taking advantage of the California Low Cost Automobile Insurance Program, here’s what you need to qualify:

• You must be at least 19 years old
• You have to have had a driver’s license for the past three years
• You must not have had more than one at-fault accident or one point for a moving violation in the past three years
• You must not have a misdemeanor or felony conviction for a violation of the Vehicle Code
• Your car must be worth $20,000 or less
• You must meet certain income eligibility requirements (i.e. income of $27,075 or less if you are single)

If you meet these requirements, you can fill out a simple questionnaire on CLCA’s website to determine your eligibility and apply. If you are approved, you will be randomly chosen a car insurance provider; you cannot choose your own.

Coverage by the California Low Cost Automobile Insurance Program

The CLCA doesn’t provide quite as much coverage as what you could get if you were purchasing your own car insurance policy, but it is ample enough for your basic needs.

Buying a Basic Liability Policy

• Bodily Injury liability – up to $10,000 coverage per person and up to $20,000 per accident
• Property Damage liability – up to $3,000 per accident

Optional Coverages
You also have the option of buying:

• Medical Payments – covers up to $1,000 per person
• Uninsured Motorist Bodily Injury – up to $10,000 per person and $20,000 per accident

The CLCA does not offer Physical Damage (Comprehensive and Collision) coverage, but this can be purchased from the insurance company that you work with through this low cost automobile insurance program. What’s the Cost?

The cost for the California Low Cost Automobile Insurance Program vary depending on what county you live in and whether you purchase any of the optional coverages, but they range from $161 in Imperial county to $307 in Stanislaus county for the year. You can see that’s a substantial savings from what would otherwise cost $1200 to $2400 a year directly from an insurance company.

Note: if there is a single male driver between 19 and 24 in your household, the rates have a surcharge of 25%, since this is the most risky, and therefore most expensive, driving demographic to insure.

Get Started

If you are a low-income driver in California and want to see if you could save several hundreds of dollars on car insurance, visit the California Department of Insurance’s website to see if you qualify. If you don’t qualify for deeply discounted low cost insurance through the state’s program, get a quote right here on CheaperCarInsurance.com. While we may not be able to save you quite as much as the CLCA could, you can still realize savings of several hundreds of dollars when you buy a car insurance policy from one of our top rated insurance providers.

Just click “Get a Quote” now to enter your information and get instant quotes from many insurance companies.

Posted: January 25, 2010