To buy a car insurance in the USA, you have to insure it before you even own it.
The trick we had thought of was to buy a car quickly, insure it, and drive (for a tourist visa) on American soil. Once the California license was in hand, we would have switched the insurance to US license.
But in the end, it’s disillusioning when the lady from the Department of Motor Vehicles says:
“If you don’t have a Tourist Visa and you plan to have a residence in the USA, you have 10 days from your arrival on the ground to update yourself and pass the California permit. Once you have started the process with the DMV, the code in your pocket, your license is no longer valid here, so you cannot drive a car purchased and insured in your name without a US license. »
To sum up, if you go to the USA to settle there
An international license is useless because you have to get up to speed quickly.
If the state in which you are is not a partner of France, you must pass the US license.
You have 10 days from your arrival on the ground to update you which is ridiculous since:
The steps take about 1 month if we consider the waiting times for the driving test.
There is no point in buying a car and insuring it until you have a US license, because you will not be able to drive it legally. This is the info I got from the DMV, however we know someone who managed to get insured with his French license and who has been driving for over a year in California… is a little playing with fire, because the police are not necessarily lenient and do not necessarily know the French license.
You are condemned to rent a car with your French license the time to have the US license (which costs an arm, even two…).
In order to pay less for insurance and not to be considered a young Californian driver because it is a fortune, insist with your new insurer that it takes into account your historic driver.
Auto insurance in the USA for super dummies
BODILY INJURY LIABILITY (BIL)
This is civil liability that covers you for bodily injury caused to a third party. In the country of lawsuits and astronomical medical costs, this is one of the guarantees that should not be overlooked.
Choose the amount of BIL carefully:
If the contract indicates 250,000/500,000, the insurance will cover a maximum of $250,000 per victim up to a maximum of $500,000 per accident.
The lower the guarantees, the cheaper the monthly insurance payments will be, but the more risk you will take.
It’s up to you to assess how much the death, injuries, medical expenses, legal fees and compensation of a victim could cost you.
If you have a lot of property (houses, apartments, etc.), take out a high guarantee which will protect you against the seizure of your property if you cannot compensate a victim.
We took out a 500,000/500,000 guarantee to be “quiet”. But the majority of motorists in California drive on much less.
#UNINSURED MOTORIST BODILY INJURY (UM)
This guarantee covers you for bodily injury caused by a third party who is not insured.
#Choose the amount of the UM carefully:
If you chose a BIL of 500,000/500,000 like us, do the same for the UM –> Cover yourself at the same height as you cover a victim.
#UNDERINSURED MOTORIST BODILY INJURY (UM bis)
This guarantee covers you for bodily injury caused by a third party who is not ENOUGH insured.
#Choose the amount of the UM carefully:
If you have chosen a UM of 500,000/500,000 like us, do the same for the UM bis –> Cover yourself at the same height as you cover a victim.
#PROPERTY DAMAGE LIABILITY (PDL)
It is the civil liability that covers you for material damage caused to the property of a third party.
Example: If you lose control of your vehicle and you crash into a car before stopping your race in the neighbour’s fence.
#Choose the amount of the UM carefully:
Cover yourself at the same height as you cover a victim.
# COLLISION DEDUCTIBLE
The guarantee covers damage to the insured vehicle in the event of a collision with another vehicle or a fixed object.
As in France, a deductible (deductible in English) applies to the reimbursement. The higher it is, the cheaper the monthly insurance payments will be.
We have chosen a deductible of $500, which means that if we are involved in a collision, we will have to pay $500 out of pocket on the total amount of the repairs.
MEDICAL PAYMENTS
This guarantee covers the fees of the doctors, the hospitalization costs concerning the insured, the members of his family or the other passengers of the vehicle, regardless of who is responsible for the accident.
#GOOD TO KNOW :
It is not always necessary to take out this guarantee with the car insurance because your health insurance may already include this option in your coverage, find out.
#COMPREHENSIVE DEDUCTIBLE
This guarantee covers accidents without collision, i.e. damage caused to the insured vehicle by fire, theft, glass breakage, hail, vandalism, etc.
As in France, a deductible (deductible in English) applies to the reimbursement. The higher it is, the cheaper the monthly insurance payments will be.
#GOOD TO KNOW :
Here, we have chosen a low deductible, $50, because broken windows are costly repairs that often occur in the life of a vehicle. We will only have to pay $50 per intervention and the insurance will take care of the rest.
#TOWING & LABOR (T&L)
This coverage covers towing and labor costs for policyholders who take out Comprehensive coverage.
#GOOD TO KNOW :
Sometimes the annual amount of the towing guarantee is quite high, and it may be more interesting to join car clubs like AAA or others who offer their members advantages such as towing and discounts of all kinds ( shopping, cinema, travel, restaurant, mechanics…).
We have joined AAA and we benefit from free towing in a wide geographical area around our home as well as a 10% discount on labor in partner garages. We also had a great promo of $300 discount on the purchase of our life car Hert Rent 2 Buy (read the article) because there was a partnership. So far we are very satisfied.
#RENTAL REIMBURSEMENT
This guarantee covers the rental costs of a replacement vehicle while yours is being repaired following an accident.
#GOOD TO KNOW :
I like to read articles in which the author shares without counting the good plans, so I once again praise the advantages of being an AAA member since they are partners with rental agencies and offer you rental rates. interesting.
