State officials hope a new law that offers California driver’s licenses to immigrants in the country illegally will also encourage them to buy insurance. To encourage the practice, the California Department of Insurance is aggressively marketing its Low Cost Auto Insurance program to the large pool of immigrants projected to seek licenses under the AB 60 law taking effect Jan. 1. “It would be a tragedy if after all this effort, the 1.4 million people who are getting driver’s licenses for the first time don’t have auto insurance,” said Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones. Jones and others recognized that the cost of getting licensed — $33 — is a lot cheaper than buying insurance for hundreds of dollars a year. So, Jones, working with Senator Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, got the state Legislature to open up the low-cost insurance program to the new category of immigrant drivers. “The price will be less than $450 a year, which is less than $38 a month,” Jones said. He said that’s about a third of what it costs to get private auto insurance in many markets across California. Jones said more than 90 percent of AB 60 applicants are expected to be Spanish speakers. So the state’s been pushing its low-cost insurance through Spanish-language media and ads like this: Los Angeles-based insurance broker Susan Rocha said the state program likely offers the lowest prices for low-income immigrant drivers, especially since they have no official driving record. MORE: capoliticalreview/capoliticalnewsandviews/california-taxpayers-to-subsidize-auto-insurance-for-illegal-aliens/
Posted on: Sun, 04 Jan 2015 22:46:51 +0000
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