California auto insurance is based on the negligence law of pure comparative. What this means is that if you are found to be 51% or more negligent in an accident then you will be coded as negligent in an accident and your auto insurance rates will likely go up. California auto insurance laws make it possible for an accident to have more than one party be negligent for an accident, so, what does this mean?

First, this means that if an accident is any percentage the responsibility of either party, California auto insurance laws require that auto insurance company pay for the repairs to the other’s vehicle for the percentage their driver was negligent. Basically a 50-50 accident with California auto insurance means that both parties are going to take care of 50% of the repairs to the other party’s vehicle.

If an accident is 60-40 then the party that is 60% responsible is negligent and that driver’s auto insurance pays for 60% of repairs to the other vehicle, according to California auto insurance law. The party that is 40% responsible is considered to be fault free as far as insurance rates go, but has to pay for 40% of the repairs to the other party’s vehicle.

California auto insurance laws make it so that the auto insurance companies are the ones that get to make the determination of who was at fault, taking that responsibility from the busy lives of law enforcement officers.

California auto insurance liability limits are set, like any other state, to insure that regardless of who you may get in an accident with, they have the coverage to pay for your damages if they are negligent. Those who don’t adhere to the California auto insurance liability laws are subject to legal action, including being sued for damages. Below is the California auto insurance liability limits with a brief summary of what each means.

All liability limits with California auto insurance or any other auto insurance are listed in BIPD format, separated with slashes, like 15/30/5. California auto insurance does demand minimum liability limits of 15/30/5, meaning:

Bodily Injury limits of $15,000 and $30,000 refer to how much you could expect from your auto insurance company to pay for another vehicle’s damage that you caused. If you caused an accident your auto insurance company would pay for up to $15,000 for injuries to one person in another vehicle, up to $30,000 for all passengers in that vehicle.

Property Damage liability limit of $5,000 means that your auto insurance company would pay for up to $5,000 in damages to the vehicles you damaged in an auto accident.

California auto insurance law demands that you hold at least these limits for your vehicle, but for the price it is worth it to go a little higher. Vehicles and medical bills are more than ever these days and you don’t want to be in a bind.

California auto insurance law offers drivers the opportunity to purchase protection against uninsured motorists with uninsured motorist property damage coverage. You automatically have uninsured motorist coverage for your bodily injuries with California auto insurance law, but not coverage for damage to your vehicle. Here are a few things that you should know about California auto insurance and uninsured motorist property damage coverage.

(1) Good news! If you have collision coverage with your vehicle, you have a $0 deductible according to California auto insurance laws and the limit of your repairs is the actual cash value of your car. If you do not have collision coverage but do have UMPD, your deductible is still $0, but the limit for repairs or replacement is $3,500.

(2) California auto insurance law requires that you make impact with the uninsured vehicle to qualify for uninsured motorist property damage, or UMPD, coverage. So if you are forced from the road by another vehicle, but never make impact with them, according to California auto insurance law you do not qualify for UMPD.

(3) It is imperative that you understand that most California auto insurance policies do not automatically include UMPD. You must inform your agent that you want the coverage and your agent will make it an “endorsement” to your coverage.

(4) Lastly, California auto insurance laws do not require that you have a police report to qualify for UMPD. However, you must either identify the other party or have their license plate number to qualify for California auto insurance UMPD.