Wednesday, August 13, 2008

California - Auto Insurance laws

California auto insurance State laws have the following requirements as minimum coverage:

$15,000 Liability Bodily Injury (coverage per person)

$30,000 Liability Bodily Injury (coverage per accident)

$ 5,000 Property Damage Coverage (towards any property such as other autos, or any other property)

Liability coverage limits apply on a per accident basis. The above liability coverage is often referred to as 15/30/5 which is an abbreviation.

As per the California auto insurance laws, you must have at least one of the coverage mentioned above, but if you can have multiple coverage, your assets will be more secure. It’s best to get California auto insurance quotes if you are shopping for multiple coverage.

Check out the California auto insurance laws with the California Insurance Dept and get more knowledge in completing a California auto insurance quote comparison from multiple companies with the hassle of having to contact with insurer individually with the option of purchasing a policy online and receiving instant proof of coverage.

There are four ways to accomplish financial responsibility:

1. Coverage by a motor vehicle or automobile liability insurance policy;
2. A cash deposit of $35,000 with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV);
3. A certificate of self-insurance issued by DMV to owners of fleets of more than 25 vehicles; or
4. do business in California

As per the California auto insurance laws, all drivers and owners must have at least the statutory limits of minimum liability insurance or an approved alternative way to pay for injury or property damage they may cause. If the laws are violated, penalties are very severe with this section of the vehicle code.

When your car is in an accident for which you are found legally liable, bodily injury (BI) liability covers your liability to others for injuries to them. Property damage (PD) liability covers your liability for damage to someone else’s property.

A policy with bodily injury of $15,000/$30,000 and property damage of $5,000 will pay out as follows:

* The maximum limit for one person’s injuries, medical expenses is $15,000 under the bodily injury portion;
* If two or more people are injured, the maximum limit for the accident will be $30,000;
* The maximum limit for damage to other people’s property (their car, their fence, etc.) is $5,000.

Comprehensive coverage (other than collision), uninsured motorist, medical payments and collision insurance are not required by law.

For more information, you can call the following law enforcement agencies in California:

California Department of Insurance
300 South Spring Street, South Tower
Los Angeles, CA 90013
800-927- HELP (4357)

California Department of Motor Vehicles
2415 1st Avenue Mail Station F101
Sacramento, CA 95818
800-777-0133

California Automobile Assigned Risk Plan
595 Market St., #1250
San Francisco, CA 94105
(800) 622-0954 Toll-free within California only.

source:financenewspro.com

How to deal with the creditors calling and asking to pay bills?

Most of us fell behind on some of our bills and it can get late to a certain period of time. This is the time when the creditors start calling you repeatedly asking to pay the debts. Most of the creditors will threaten you on the phone. They will want to scare you or back you into a corner and make you think in an irrational manner.

Most of the creditors and collection agencies will try to be ruthless at some point. This mostly happens if the creditors are collecting on unsecured debts. Creditors collecting for mortgage or auto loan are more reputable in their collection attempts. They know they have the title of you car or your house and if you are not making the payments, they will take away the car or the house. Here are five ways to deal with the creditors.

Always check the latest credit report. Make sure that the debt for which the creditor is collecting is legit. It mostly happens that inaccurate items get reported on your credit copy and you are being called by a creditor for a debt that is not at all yours.

Be aware of the consumer rights explained in the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. You will have a fair idea on how a collection agency or a creditor is supposed to deal with you when they are collecting for some account. If they try to violate the laws during collections, you should record their phone calls and sue them. Do not let the creditors abuse or intimidate you on the phone. They will try all possible ways, sometimes illegal methods, to get the money from you.

If the debt is too old and you don’t have the money to pay it back, then check the statute of limitations of your state. If the debt is past the statute of limitations of your state, they cannot take any legal actions against you. You need to send a dispute letter explaining that you are aware of the laws of your state and the debt is past the SOL period. This should stop them from doing further collections. If the debt is within the SOL period, then you should try to negotiate with the creditor. The creditor will refuse your offer at first, but if you make it known to them that they are getting something rather than nothing, they will eventually budge. If the creditor has agreed for a settlement amount, make sure that you have the settlement offer in writing.

Never give the creditors access to your bank account or give them post dated checks. In most cases, the creditors try to do unauthorized debits from the customer’s bank accounts.

If the creditor is calling you to pay a legitimate debt, then you should make a plan to save enough money and make a lump sum payment towards settling the debt. You must make sure that the creditor is reporting the account accurately to the credit bureau after the account is paid off.

source: financenewspro.com

IOB hikes PLR, spares home loans up to Rs 30 lakh

Public sector Indian Overseas Bank on Tuesday announced 0.50 per cent hike in benchmark lending rate to 14 per cent with effect from August 16, but spared housing loans up to Rs 30 lakh and education advances from the increase.

The existing housing loans and education loans, which are linked to BPLR, are exempted from the present revision, IOB said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Also, fresh housing loans up to Rs 30 lakhs and fresh education loans are spared from the hike, the bank said.

Existing loans under special credit scheme, where fixed rate option is applicable are also exempted from the present revision, IOB added.

A host of banks including the largest lender SBI has raised interest rates following tight monetary measures taken by the Reserve Bank to tame inflation, which has crossed 12 per cent.

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