Tough Realities of State Minimum Insurance Coverage

When it comes to auto insurance, you probably consider coverage that will pay you back if your car is damaged. What you might not think about is auto insurance covering damages to others if you’re at fault in an accident. If you are determined liable for damage to the others’ property, or even bodily injury, your auto policy should help protect you against financial disaster.

Every state has a required minimum level of insurance for damages you may be liable for in an accident. Many insurance providers tout cheap rates based on the “state minimum” levels. The tough reality is that these minimums have not been reviewed in many years and do not accurately reflect the costs of today’s automobiles.

California Casualty is working to address such issues before there’s a problem.

One of our customers illuminates the issue.  She was determined at fault in a multi-car accident. Her property damage liability limit was $25k. During the claim settlement process, we advised her that it was possible her minimum coverage might not cover all the damage – and she might be responsible for the remaining balance.  The customer was frantic with worry she’d owe thousands of dollars in additional damages – out of pocket.

Fortunately for her, our claims team was able to settle for an amount that fell within the customer’s coverage limits.

California Casualty is here to help you make the right choices. We’ll help you evaluate your current liability coverage amounts. Hopefully you never find yourself in a situation where you’re liable for significant property damage or bodily injury.

Will you be able to rest easy knowing that the insurance policy you chose has you covered?

Winter Car Care Checklist

Here at CalCas – we care about our customers. Even if you’re not a customer, we care about you too! That’s why we wanted to share some tips from the NHSTA for caring for your car in the winter.

The first thing you should do is get your car serviced and inspected well before the really cold temps arrive. You want to make sure all routine maintenance has been handled – and any repairs that may be needed are made.

A very common problem in cold temperatures is the painful discovery of a dead battery. In frigid temperatures, batteries lose power. It also takes more power to start your car in colder weather, so this is doubly important. Most auto parts shops will check your battery for free these days, so there’s no reason not to know you have a good battery going in to the winter months.

You should also fill your windshield wiper reservoir before bad weather hits. I’d recommend filling it regularly, because few things can make driving more difficult than a dirty windshield. If you buy the kind with anti-freeze in it, it can double as a defroster for those days you’re forced to park out in the snow or ice!

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