If you are relocating to Silicon Valley from another state in the US, you can gloss over this part - you're familiar with American insurance!
If you're moving here from another country, and you purchase a home or car, you will have to familiarize yourself with several types of insurance - medical, dental, home, and car as well as the insurance companies and what they offer.
Medical and Dental
When you start working for a company in Silicon Valley, you won't have much of a say in which medical and dental insurance company you have insurance with. The company takes out the insurance on your behalf and you and your spouse will be issued with the relevant cards - usually 3 - medical, prescription and dental - which you will put in your wallet and show to the relevant parties who need to see them - doctors, pharmacies and dentists respectively. Deductions will be made from your salary every paycheck time period for this insurance.
When you visit your doctor, you will be asked to make a co-payment. This amount is written on your medical card and can vary between $5 and $20, depending on what type of insurance your company has given you. So at each medical visit, you will have to pay this amount. The medical office will bill your insurance company directly for the rest.
For prescriptions, in our age of technology, your doctor will send an electronic communication to the pharmacy of your choice where you will go and pick up your medication on presenting the pharmacy card you have received for another fee, usually under $20 per prescription.
For dentists, the same thing applies, except for the co-payment. You will have to go to a dentist chosen from the list given to you by your dental insurance company. The dentist usually bills your insurance direct and any deductible will be billed to you later by the dentist, depending on what treatment you have.
Useful Information:
Home Insurance
Your home insurance usually protects your largest financial investment, so it's important to do a really good search of the insurance marketplace when purchasing insurance. The greater the extent of your search, the greater the opportunity to find residential insurance that meets your specific needs.
Whether you are interested in purchasing homeowners (including fire only), renters, condominium unit owners, it is important to shop and compare insurance products just like you would when shopping for any other important consumer purchase. Shop around for quotes and check what you're getting.
Obviously if you get all your insurance through the same company, you'll get a better deal, than going with different companies for auto and home.
Useful Information:
- California Department of Insurance
- List of Residential Insurers at the California Department of Insurance
- Information about residential insurance at the California Department of Insurance
Auto Insurance
Since the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) requires liability insurance in order to register and operate a vehicle, it's really important to purchase and to fully understand your automobile insurance policy.
Auto insurance may be more than you're used to paying as Silicon Valley, its freeways and its fast pace causes a higher rate of accidents than in many other parts of the country: hence you'll probably be faced with higher premiums.
To get a very general quote from all the major insurance companies, although a year out of date, go to Auto Insurance Survey.