Whether you need an assigned risk program or you continue to qualify for high-risk insurance from conventional providers, you'll pay more. Bodily injury liability coverage helps pay for someone else's injuries in a car accident when you are at fault. Insurers use a variety of factors to determine the cost of car insurance, such as your age, address, the type of car you drive and your driving history, which means that, ultimately, each driver will receive a different rate. You'll need to show that you've obtained auto insurance in California, with coverage in each of the categories listed below.
Your insurance company may ask you for details about the accident to determine your rate. An accident caused by hitting a fender is likely to be treated differently than an accident caused by passing a red light. A DUI is often perceived as a major risk factor for insurance companies, leading to higher car insurance costs. In other states, if you have bad credit, insurance companies will consider you to be in a high-risk category and will likely charge you more for your insurance.
Drivers with warning signs in their driving record tend to have higher insurance costs than drivers with a clean record. In Sacramento, these are the cheapest car insurance companies based on average rates for a 35-year-old driver with good credit and a clean driving record, according to NerdWallet's most recent analysis. For insurance companies, it's similar to having a bad driving record, which is why drivers who let their insurance expire for 60 days pay approximately 6% more than the average premium in California. Aside from that, the best way to reduce your car insurance costs is to compare the rates of at least three insurance companies.
In many states, insurance companies include your credit rating in a broader insurance rating, which indicates the risk you could take by insuring yourself and how much they will charge you for a policy. California drivers who need to drive but can't afford car insurance may qualify for the state's low-income car insurance program. If you have an accident while driving without insurance in California, you will be fined and all penalties for driving without insurance will apply, no matter who is at fault. According to NerdWallet analysis, these are the most populated zip codes in Sacramento and the average annual cost of car insurance for a 35-year-old driver with good credit and a clean driving record.
Both the other driver and their insurance company can sue you and garnish your future wages and savings to pay for damages.