Basic Coverage

• The California Low Cost Automobile Insurance Program provides basic insurance for Californians with good driving records. The program includes two types of insurance: bodily injury liability and property damage liability. As of 2010, you can get liability insurance per person up to $10,000 and per accident up to $20,000. The maximum amount of property damage insurance you can get from the state is $3,000.
  
  

Additional Coverage

• The California Low Cost Automobile Insurance Program also offers extended coverage that includes medical payments and bodily injury protection for uninsured motorists. Medical payment coverage tops out at $1,000. Uninsured motorist coverage goes up to $10,000 per person and $20,000 per accident. You cannot obtain coverage from the state for physical damage done to another's car, also known as comprehensive and collision insurance.
  
  

Requirements

• To be eligible for these low-cost programs, you must be over the age of 19 and have had a license for at least three years. The state also requires that you have a good driving record. Your car cannot be valued at over $20,000 as of 2010. There are also income thresholds that vary depending on how many people are in your household. You may earn up to 250 percent of the federal poverty line and still be eligible for state insurance.
  
  

Administration

• The California Automobile Assigned Risk Plan supervises the California Low Cost Automobile Insurance Program. The policies themselves are written by licenses insurance providers in the state. The program receives no subsidies from taxpayers. Each county sets rates so that the insurance program breaks even, with no county taking a loss. Rates vary from one county to another, but all annual rates are between $200 and $300 as of 2010, except for Los Angeles County, which has a rate of $368 per year.