You will need to obtain California auto insurance on your vehicle once you move to California from Michigan. According to the California Department of Motor Vehicles your auto insurance needs to meet the minimum liability limits required by the state of CA and be issued by a company licensed to do business in California.

The minimum insurance required in California is $15,000 for injury/death to one person, $30,000 for injury/death to more than one person and $5,000 for damage to property. This coverage is known as 15/30/5. As you know this is different from a basic Michigan insurance policy.

Michigan law requires you to have No-fault insurance (sometimes referred to as PLPD) as minimum auto insurance coverage. The basic Michigan no-fault auto insurance policy has 3 parts that include personal injury protection, property protection and residual liability insurance (bodily injury and property damage).

In California your insurance company is required to electronically report insurance information for all private-use vehicle liability policies to the CA Department of Motor Vehicles which an out of state insurer would unable to have them do this. That and the fact that most insures will not insure your vehicle if you move out of state and thus garage it in a different state means that you will need to insure your vehicle in California once you move from MI and become a resident in CA.

According to the CA DMV if you take a job here or become a resident, you must get a California driver license within 10 days. Residency is established by voting in a California election, paying resident tuition, filing for a homeowner's property tax exemption, or any other privilege or benefit not ordinarily extended to nonresidents. Also you need to register your car in CA soon after arriving. Registration fees must be paid within 20 days of entry into CA or residency to avoid penalties.

If you do not change over your driver's license and registration and license plates to California within the given time you may face penalty fees and also could be ticketed if you are stopped by police. Also if you do not change over your insurance policy and do not inform your MI insurance carrier that you have moved then you may not be covered properly if in an accident.

Normally your insurance will conform with another state if you are visiting but not if you move there and now garage your vehicle in this new location. Your Michigan insurance agent could tell you more about how long your MI insurance will cover you in CA after you have moved there. To get started comparison shopping for California car insurance click here for quotes from an auto insurance specialist.