Rate factor explorer
Most of what you read about "what affects car insurance rates" was written for other states. California is different: Proposition 103 put three factors into the Insurance Code, and a regulation lists every other factor an insurer may use. The Department of Insurance's filing instructions are blunt about it — only the listed factors may be used in a company's rating plan. Pick a factor to see where it stands.
Does this factor count in California?
How California builds a rate
The Insurance Code lists three required factors "in decreasing order of importance": your driving safety record, the number of miles you drive annually, and your years of driving experience, followed by "other factors that the commissioner may adopt by regulation" (Insurance Code 1861.02(a)). That regulation is 10 CCR 2632.5, and its list of optional factors is short: type of vehicle, vehicle performance, type of use, percentage use by the rated driver, multi-vehicle households, academic standing, driver training, vehicle characteristics, marital status, persistency, non-smoker status, secondary-driver characteristics, multi-policy discounts, and relative claims frequency and severity by where the car is kept.
Each company files its own class plan with the Department of Insurance, which is why two companies can price the same driver differently while following the same list. Comparing quotes is how you find the company whose plan fits your facts best.
Sources (official)
- California Insurance Code section 1861.02 (mandatory factors, prior coverage, Good Driver 20 percent)
- California Code of Regulations, title 10, section 2632.5 (the full list of rating factors)
- California Insurance Code section 1861.025 (Good Driver criteria)
- California Insurance Code section 11628.3 (mature driver course discount)
- California Department of Insurance — Private Passenger Auto Class Plan Filing Instructions (only listed factors; optional-factor weights)
This explains which factors the law and regulation allow. How much weight each allowed factor carries is set in each company's approved class plan and varies by company.
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Can car insurance companies use my credit score in California?
Credit score does not appear on the list of rating factors in California's auto rating regulation (10 CCR 2632.5), and the Department of Insurance's filing instructions say only the factors that regulation lists may be used in an insurer's class plan.
What are the three factors California requires for car insurance rates?
In decreasing order of importance: your driving safety record, the miles you drive each year, and your years of driving experience (Insurance Code section 1861.02(a)).
Can an insurer charge me more for not having insurance before?
The absence of prior coverage, by itself, cannot be a criterion for Good Driver eligibility or generally for rates, premiums or insurability (Insurance Code section 1861.02(c)).
Does my ZIP code affect my rate in California?
Where the car is garaged can enter through two optional factors the regulation allows — relative claims frequency and relative claims severity (10 CCR 2632.5(d)).