Insurance companies are always looking for ways to evade Proposition 103, so it’s not too surprising that some companies –Mercury, GEICO, Progressive, 21st Century and the Auto Club of Southern California, to name some of the biggest — have come up with a scheme to evade the law’s good driver requirements.  These companies are marketing plans that promise special premium benefits to people who belong to what the insurance industry calls “affinity groups” — college graduates who can afford to maintain memberships in an alumni association, people with high paying jobs like doctors, lawyers, and business executives, and other elite members of the 1%.

Guess who gets penalized under this system? Regular people who work middle class or blue-collar jobs; high school graduates; retired citizens and those on low incomes. Even if they are Good Drivers, they are forced to subsidize the rich, but not necessarily better, drivers who insurance companies prefer to do business with. The surcharges — which are not disclosed on your auto insurance bills — can result in premiums as much as 33% higher for some drivers who are not a member of a company’s preferred occupational groups.