In California, nearly 1 in 4 drivers are uninsured, even though California law clearly requires all drivers to have proper coverage.
More than 3 million California drivers have no insurance. To reduce that number, a state initiative called the California Low Cost Automobile Program began in 2006. The program’s intent is to make minimal insurance [$10,000 per person/$20,000 maximum per accident] available to every driver in the state.
It’s the absolute minimum, and that’s hardly enough to cover the bills when a person is injured in an auto accident.
Uninsured drivers are a problem in almost every region in California. So are unlicensed drivers, and because unlicensed drivers don’t carry insurance, they are more likely to hit and run, often at dangerous speeds, causing catastrophic personal injuries when they are in a collision.
As the number of drivers without insurance has risen, unethical insurance companies have figured out how to profit from them. These companies issue a policy that the driver can use as proof of insurance, but the companies cancel the policy as soon as the driver gets registration papers for a car.
It’s obvious that California’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and law enforcement agencies are not doing their job of protecting law-abiding citizens from uninsured and unlicensed drivers. The damages from personal injuries and wrongful death are piling up every day, and everyone who drives in California is a potential victim of an uninsured driver.
Uninsured and underinsured drivers aren’t going to disappear from California’s roads anytime soon, so it’s important to take every possible action to protect yourself against them.
Two steps that you can take to protect yourself are to:
• buy as much uninsured and underinsured coverage as is offered, usually as much as your primary limit and its down right cheap.
• Contact us at 888.777.1776. Our firm has a winning record of judgments against insurance companies that try to avoid paying their obligations – companies that act in bad faith in handling claims.
Most people have no idea how to use the insurance laws to protect themselves and give up their rights.
Don’t make that mistake. In many cases I have accomplished miraculous results in cases where there was not enough insurance for the horrible personal injuries caused by underinsured drivers.
Call 888.777.1776. It will cost you nothing to learn what you don’t know.
Onward,
Richard Alexander
