Insurance companies take a lot into consideration before charging you a specific dollar value for your monthly insurance rate. Factors like your age, gender, marital status, profession, make, model and year of your car, credit card history, and your driving history can either increase or decrease the price of your premium.
As you look for a new insurance plan, you’ll probably type something like “car insurance
California” into your search engine. In looking for a good deal in your state, you’ll find that a million insurance agencies pop up. But be warned - your zip code can affect your car insurance premium rate.
At CoverHound, we do the comparison work, so you don’t have to.
California’s Car Insurance Laws
As per the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), California requires at the very minimum that every car-owning, licensed motorist carry liability insurance. If you don’t get liability insurance, the state demands that you provide proof that you can cover the expenses related to the injuries and damages sustained in an auto accident you have caused. Most Californians get liability insurance to satisfy this law.
According to the California Office of Traffic Safety, over 3,000 people lost their lives in traffic collisions in 2014. The six most common causes for auto accidents in California include:
As a Californian, if you were to get into a serious car accident today, would you be able to afford paying for the damages out of pocket? Traffic collisions cost the U.S. $871 billion in economic loss and societal harm in 2010 alone, according to a study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Here’s what the minimum amount of liability car insurance in California will cover their policyholders for:
While this may look like a good amount of coverage initially, it won’t go far in a serious accident. Not only that, but liability insurance does not cover the monetary damages sustained to your property or person, it only covers the other person involved in an accident you caused. So what if you’re the one hit in an accident and the other person doesn’t have insurance?
This is why the DMV and the Insurance Information Institute (III) recommend that drivers take out more insurance than their state mandates, more insurance equals more protection.
Location and Your Insurance Premium
No matter how good a driver you personally are, if the city/town you live in exceeds a certain number of vehicle accidents or thefts per year, your insurance agency will determine that you’re a risk. To show you how rates vary by zip code, we have put together a list of three cities in California that vary widely in their premium rate costs. Here are the variables we used to get our results:
Vehicle type and Model: 2006 Honda Ex Sedan
Ownership: Owned
Vehicle Use: Commute
Miles Commuted: 15, 5 days a week
Ages: 25, 45, 65
San Francisco, CA: Age Male Female 25 $106 $105 45 $85 $83 65 $83 $82
Sacramento, CA: Age Male Female 25 $100 $98 45 $78 $77 65 $77 $75
Sonora, CA: Age Male Female 25 $89 $87 45 $67 $66 65 $66 $64
The results include two automatic discounts that we offer through our services: Good Driver and Senior discounts. Remember, these discounts are offered before you enter your personal history into our database. After gathering basic statistics, our site will ask you to enter other information including:
As you search the web for an insurance plan, remember that where you live is just as much a determining factor as your driving history. For an affordable auto insurance rate, visit CoverHound today.
Insurance shopping simplified
Insurance shopping simplified
