California Insurance & Mileage Requirements

You must meet insurance and mileage requirements to drive in California.california 66 image by MLProject from Fotolia.com

All drivers in California must satisfy the state's financial responsibility laws, and most people do this by purchasing an insurance policy that meets the minimum insurance requirement. In October, 2009, the state also revised existing guidelines regarding how insurance companies utilize a vehicle's annual mileage when determining policy premiums. Together, these requirements dictate the minimum responsibilities you must fulfill in order to drive in California.

Minimum Insurance Requirement

If you choose to meet the state's financial responsibility laws by purchasing an auto insurance policy, you must purchase a minimum amount of liability insurance as required by law. This minimum coverage is $15,000 bodily injury liability per person, $30,000 bodily injury liability aggregate and $5,000 property damage liability. You may also satisfy the financial responsibility requirements by making a cash deposit to the DMV, obtaining a certificate of self-insurance from the DMV, or filing a surety bond with the state.

As of October, 2009, the California Code of Regulations, Title 10, Chapter 5, Subchapter 4.7, Section 2632.5 requires that applicants for auto insurance provide an estimated annual mileage for each vehicle they wish to insure. The premiums offered by insurers must reflect each vehicle's usage. In other words, a vehicle used infrequently will be charged a smaller premium versus those used more often.

As of September, 2010, there is no state mandate regarding the verification of the annual miles reported to insurers. State law allows insurers to use a "reasonable" estimate of annual mileage if the applicant does not supply this information and does not require any verification of the information used. Insurers are permitted to ask for verification according to their company guidelines, but even among those that do this, there is no standard as to what constitutes acceptable proof.