cheap auto insurance for more CA counties

State Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi will expand California's low-cost automobile insurance program to eight additional counties, including Stanislaus and San Joaquin, later this year.
Monday, Garamendi announced plans to include Stanislaus, San Joaquin, Sacramento, Imperial, Kern, Contra Costa, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties in the program. Once in effect, the program will allow qualified drivers to get staterequired liability coverage for less than $400 a year.

A pilot program was created in 1999 in Los Angeles and San Francisco counties. Last year, the Legislature approved expanding the program by passing Senate Bill 20, written by Sen. Martha Escutia, D-Whittier. The bill expanded the program to Alameda, Fresno, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego counties as of April 1. It also authorizes the insurance commissioner to introduce the program in other counties.

The California Automobile Assigned Risk Plan administers the policy. Government funding does not subsidize or pay for the insurance, said Byron Tucker, communications director for the Department of Insurance.

To qualify, a driver must be 19 or older and have no more than one at-fault accident or one point taken away for a moving violation in the past three years. Income must not exceed 250 percent of the poverty line — $23,275 for a single driver or $47,125 for a family of four. The value of the vehicle must be less than $20,000.