California car insurance requirements
State law requires the following coverages:Minimum bodily injury liability$15,000/$30,000Minimum property damage liability$5,000
California laws mandate that you carry minimum liability coverage limits of 15/30/5 on your vehicle. While buying just minimum coverage means you are getting the cheapest car insurance in California, you are only covered for damage you do to other drivers’ cars and for others’ injuries. That means your insurer won’t pay for damage to your car or for your injuries if you cause an accident.
Keep in mind that a minor accident could easily exceed minimum liability coverage limits, leaving you responsible to pay for damages not covered by insurance. For example, if you have $30,000 in bodily injury liability insurance and you cause an accident that costs $50,000, you have to pay $20,000 out-of-pocket. If you don’t have the money on hand, your assets may be taken to cover the costs. California also has one of the lowest property damage liability limits in the country at just $5,000. If you hit a car and it costs more than $5,000 to fix it, you’re on the hook for the rest of the bill.
If you want more protection, it will cost more, but as you’ll see in the chart below, additional coverage is typically affordable. Boosting coverage from the state minimum to higher liability limits costs $101 a year or about $9 a month. Hiking your policy to full coverage with a $500 deductible costs, on average, $1,027 more, or $86 a month.
Coverage limitsAverage annual rateLiability Only – state minimum$491Liability Only – 50/100/50 BI/PD$592Full Coverage – 100/300/100 BI/PD
$500 Comp/Collision deductible$1,518
*The table shows the average annual rate of nearly every ZIP code in California from up to six major insurance companies. Rates are for a male driver, age 40, with a clean record and good credit for a 2016 Honda Accord. Data was provided for CarInsurance. com by Quadrant Information Services.
Recommended car insurance coverage
When deciding how much car insurance to buy, you need to assess your particular situation. To drive legally, you must buy at least the minimum liability insurance required by your state. If you didn’t borrow money from a lender to buy your car and you don’t have a lot of money or assets to protect, that might be a wise choice. If, however, you don’t own your car outright, you will be required to get comprehensive and collision coverage. Additionally, if you have a home and savings to protect, it’s wise to buy more coverage.
Use our How Much Car Insurance Do You Need? tool to get a recommendation.
Liability
The more money and assets you have, the more likely it is that you may be sued following a car accident. Unless you are determined to pay the lowest car insurance rate possible, we recommend you buy higher than minimum liability coverage. If your net worth is:
less than $50,000, choose at least 50/100/50between $50,000 and $100,000, choose at least 100/300/100more than $100,000, choose at least 250/500/100
If you’re leasing or financing your car, you automatically need coverage of 100/300/100 or higher.
Collision and comprehensive
Collision coverage pays for damage to your car after an accident that you cause. Comprehensive insurance pays to replace stolen cars and for damages from vandalism, flooding, hail, fire and animal strikes. If your car is:
less than 10 years old, you should strongly consider buying collision and comprehensive. more than 10 years old, only buy collision and comprehensive if your car is worth $3,000 or more, if you couldn’t afford to replace your car if it’s wrecked, or if you just want more protection on your policy.
If you buy comp and collision, check our guide to choosing a deductible amount.
Uninsured/underinsured motorist
Uninsured motorist coverage and underinsured motorist coverage pays for damages if you’re hit by a driver with no insurance or a driver with coverage that’s insufficient to pay for your repairs and medical expenses. These should match the liability limits you choose. In most states, including California, these coverages are optional.
Medical coverage (Med Pay)
Medical payments coverage can help pay for the medical or funeral expenses of covered drivers and passengers after an accident, regardless of fault, up to $25,000. In most states, including California, it’s an optional addition to your car insurance policy. Med Pay does the following:
Covers you and your passengers medical expenses Pays for expenses after health insurance limits are exceeded Offers additional protection to insured drivers who are hit by a car while walking or biking
If you and your passengers:
Don’t have health insurance, or have a plan that doesn’t cover car accidents or has low limits, we recommend that you add medical coverage of at least $5,000 to your car insurance policy. Do have health insurance, it’s still a good idea to have medical coverage if you want the best protection in your policy, as it can pay out after your health benefits are maxed out.
Gap insurance
If you got a loan to pay for your car and have an accident, gap insurance pays the difference between the cash value of your car and the current outstanding balance on your loan or lease.
If you’re financing your car, your car is less than one year old and you’ve put less than 20 percent down on it, you should buy gap insurance. If not, you don’t need gap insurance.If you’re leasing your car, it’s a good idea to buy gap insurance if you don’t already have the coverage in your lease agreement.If you own your car outright, you don’t need gap insurance.
Below you’ll see average annual rates for California, ranked cheapest to most expensive, for three coverage levels:
State minimum liability requirements Liability limits of $50,000 per person/$100,000 per accident and $50,000 property damage Liability of $100,000 per person/$300,000 per accident and $100,000 property damage, with comprehensive and collision at $500 deductible
Company State Minimum average annual rateGeico$253Progressive$441Allstate$496Nationwide$575State Farm$576Farmers$604Company50/100/50 average annual rateGeico$313Progressive$533Allstate$544Nationwide$693Farmers$723State Farm$746Company100/300/100 average annual rate Geico$944Progressive$1,128Allstate$1,379Nationwide$1,756Farmers$1,932State Farm$1,967
California rates by company and city
Below you’ll see average annual rates for the 10 cities in the state with the largest population. Rates are for coverage of $100,000 per person/$300,000 per accident and $100,000 of property damage coverage, with comprehensive and collision carrying a $500 deductible.
Insurance Company Los Angeles San Francisco Bakersfield OaklandAnaheimLong Beach San Diego Sacramento San Jose FresnoGeico$1,267$1,034$924$1,086$942$1,082$882$1,021$942$956Progressive$1,439$1,169$1,009$1,204$1,151$1,218$1,067$1,240$1,080$1,111Allstate$1,985$1,596$1,363$1,500$1,407$1,415$1,313$1,542$1,269$1,319State Farm$2,757$2,164$1,926$2,327$1,975$2,175$1,793$2,344$1,881$2,018Nationwide$2,837$2,095$1,568$1,995$1,835$2,009$1,645$1,995$1,682$1,774Farmers$2,854$2,320$1,872$2,399$1,947$2,097$1,781$2,248$1,918$2,212
Scores are based on Insure. com’s “Best Insurance Companies customer review survey of 3,700 customers. Companies not in the top 10 of market share do not qualify. All scores are out of 100.
Best customer service:
USAA – 100Mercury — 94Auto Club of Southern California – 93.9State Farm – 92Allstate – 91.8
Best claims service:
USAA – 100Auto Club of Southern
California – 96.3Liberty Mutual – 96Geico –93.9CSAA Insurance Group – 92.5 Progressive – 92.5
Best value for the price:
Auto Club of Southern California – 95Mercury – 92.5CSAA Insurance Group – 91.7USAA – 91.3Progressive – 86.3