A Guide to Motorcycle Insurance in California (CA)
California is the largest state in the US in terms of population, and the third largest in terms of physical size, so it is no surprise that it has a massive motorcycling fraternity who routinely enjoy hitting the open roads of California in search of freedom, thrills and adventure, but of course the wiose ones among them have made sure that they have the best California Motorcycle Insurance possible, so that any adventures are not cut short and you should to.
It certainly isn’t named ‘The Golden State’ for nothing, because in addition to massive gold rushes over the years, it truly is a golden place if you like motorcycling in the sunshine.
The geography of California is such that it offers the whole range of biking experiences from mountains to open roads and spectacular natural scenery. But in order to enjoy it you need to first make sure that you get comprehensive California Motorcycle Insurance that covers you for more than just the basics, so that you can enjoy it all without having to worry.
California Motorcycle Insurance – The Minimum Requirements
If you want to ride your motorcycle on the roads of California, then there are certain minimum state requirements that you need to have in place as regarding motorcycle insurance in California and what the statutory minimums are.
These minimums are normally referred to as 15/30/5.
The legislation which lays these minimums down is Civil Code Section 333.4, and it requires:
$15,000 to cover bodily injuries
$30,000 maximum cover per accident
$5,000 for damage to property
So, in order to ride your motorcycle legally on the roads in California you have to get motorcycle insurance that at the very least offers those amounts of cover.
Are the California Motorcycle Insurance Minimums Enough?
In practice the Motorcycle Insurance State Minimum requirements in California are too low for most responsible motorcyclists. If you have an accident and only have the basic levels of cover then you may be legal to drive in California, but that isn’t going to stop the hospital from sending you the bill for the excess on a Medivac rescue if you have to be evacuated from a more remote part of California, or the other party in an accident from suing you if they sustain particularly nasty injuries from an accident that was your responsibility.
And if you have a good motorbike then you could also end up having to pay thousands to replace it if it is a write-off; and you wouldn’t be covered in the event that the motorcycle was stolen, vandalised or burned in a fire at your garage.
So before you just take out the minimums and forget the matter, it is well worth delving a little deeper into what is actually available in the way of California Motorcycle Insurance and explore your options more fully.
Other Types of Cover
Some other areas that you should also explore are whether your motorcycle insurance covers any passengers that are travelling on your bike in the event of an accident, and also whether the property damage covers only the other person’s property, or also damage to your own property.
The $5000 minimum is clearly woefully low for anything but the most minor accident, and if you consider the average cost of a car it is easy to see how any reasonably serious accident could quickly put you in the bankruptcy courts if you had only opted for the basic cover.
Also, there are many people who act irresponsibly and don’t take out any insurance at all, so you should be sure to look into underinsured motorist cover and uninsured motorist cover.
In terms of covering your motorcycle for incidents apart from accidents such as fire, theft and vandalism then you really need to look into Comprehensive California Motorcycle Insurance which is designed to cover your bike for those unforeseen times that we hope happen to none of us.
And it is also a good idea to periodically look into getting extra California Motorcycle Insurance information from the California Department of Insurance.
Overall, getting high quality California Motorcycle Insurance is not something that you should leave to chance, because you are potentially putting at risk not only your own financial future, but that of your entire family. So make sure that you get a variety of quotes and be sure to check out exactly what is available.
The $5000 minimum is clearly woefully low for anything but the most minor accident, and if you consider the average cost of a car it is easy to see how any reasonably serious accident could quickly put you in the bankruptcy courts if you had only opted for the basic cover.
