Allstate
has been given until an April 24 hearing to prepare arguments in its
appeal of a state order to cut its auto insurance rates an average of
15.9 percent.
The insurer’s attorneys will argue for a stay in San Francisco Superior Court so that Allstate’s current rates remain in effect while the insurer’s appeal filed last week is considered.
The rate reduction was to be implemented Monday by an order issued last month by the state’s Department of Insurance.
However, Allstate filed an appeal Friday, saying key evidence was excluded from a hearing before an administrative law judge who recommended the cut.
Allstate spokesman Peter DeMarco said that action "resulted in Allstate being asked to lower its rates by almost twice as much as any other similarly situated insurance company even though our rates are already competitive."
The Department of Insurance disagreed with Allstate’s proposed rate revision filed in 2006, which eventually brought the matter before the administrative law judge, who recommended the 15.9 percent cut.
According to Consumer Watchdog, the Santa Monica-based nonprofit group that has intervened on behalf of consumers during the proceedings, Allstate is going through extraordinary "legal maneuvering" to delay relief to consumers already overburdened by high prices and a shaky economy.
If upheld, the reductions would amount to an average of $124 per vehicle each year, according to the state Department of Insurance.
Allstate’s auto insurance business is the third-largest in the state, with about 9 percent of the market, according to department figures.
