The CALIFORNIA LOW COST AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE PROGRAM (LCA) began as a pilot program in 2000 for residents of Los Angeles County and the City and County of San Francisco only.  The California Legislature wanted to address the problem of uninsured motorists in the state, proposing the theory that most uninsured drivers in California go without liability insurance because of the cost, and that if affordable coverage was available, many drivers would purchase it.

In 2005, the California Legislature passed Senate Bill 20, which expanded the Program to the counties of Alameda, Fresno, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego, effective April 1, 2006.  This legislation also authorized the Insurance Commissioner to launch the Program throughout the state upon determination of need in each county.

·            Effective June 1, 2006, eight additional counties were introduced into the Program: Contra Costa, Imperial, Kern, Sacramento, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Stanislaus. 

·            On March 30, 2007, the six additional counties of Merced, Monterey, Santa Barbara, Sonoma, Tulare and Ventura were added.

·            On October 1, 2007, twenty more counties were added: Amador, Butte, Calaveras, El Dorado, Humboldt, Kings, Lake, Madera, Marin, Mendocino, Napa, Placer, San Benito, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Solano, Sutter, Tuolumne, Yolo and Yuba. 

·            On December 10, 2007, the final 16 counties of Alpine, Colusa, Del Norte, Glenn, Inyo, Lassen, Mariposa, Modoc, Mono, Nevada, Plumas, San Luis Obispo, Sierra, Siskiyou, Tehama and Trinity were added, making it a statewide Program.

The purpose of this Program is to provide low cost automobile liability insurance to good drivers who demonstrate financial need.  Per the rules of the Program, every admitted automobile insurance company in California will have to take their "fair share" of low cost applications.

To qualify for the LCA Program, the applicant who resides in an eligible county will have to demonstrate their financial need as well as be a "good driver".  Certain other restrictions apply, such as, the current value of the vehicle to be insured cannot exceed $20,000.

The liability limits are $10,000 bodily injury or death per person, $20,000 bodily injury for each accident and $3,000 property damage for each accident. The limits are less than the mandatory limits required in California of $15/30/5, but purchasing these lower limits will satisfy the state's current financial responsibility laws.  Optional Medical Payments and Uninsured Motorist Bodily Injury Coverages are also available, but no Physical Damage Coverage is offered.

The California Low Cost Automobile Insurance Program is administered by the California Automobile Assigned Risk Plan (CAARP).  Like CAARP, LCA applications will be assigned to insurance companies from CAARP's administrative office.  Licensed fire & casualty agents, or producers, who are certified with the California Automobile Assigned Risk Plan, will also be certified to write the Low Cost Program.  Prospective insureds must contact their local agent/brokers to secure this coverage.