Los Angeles, CA – Consumer Watchdog executive director Carmen Balber issued the following statement today:
Proposition 103 has been a huge success for California policyholders, keeping insurance rates lower than national averages and holding insurance companies accountable for their actions. The law has saved drivers alone over $150 billion on their auto insurance rates since 1988, according to the Consumer Federation of America. Eliminating Prop 103’s consumer protections, including public review and approval of insurance rates and an elected insurance commissioner, would mean skyrocketing rates for home and auto policyholders.
We are evaluating the ballot measure recently filed by an insurance agent and see no sign of a serious campaign behind it or the millions that would be necessary to qualify it for the ballot.
What we know is that consumers want more, not less, accountability from the insurance industry. Consumer Watchdog polling shows voters overwhelmingly support a plan to require insurance companies to cover all those who fireproof their homes, with 77% in support and 15% opposed – with broad support across gender, party, age, income, residence type and region. See the polling.
National polls also show consumers overwhelmingly blame insurance companies for the insurance crisis. A March 2025 poll by Data for Progress and the Insurance Fairness Project found that respondents blame insurance executives for skyrocketing insurance rates, with 85% saying they were “very” or “somewhat responsible.” See the polling.
Twice in recent history the insurance industry tried and failed to convince the voters to overturn provisions of Prop 103. Proposition 17 in 2010 and Proposition 33 in 2012, sponsored by Mercury Insurance, sought to eliminate Prop 103’s prohibition on raising prices on poor drivers who have a break in their insurance coverage. The voters rejected both attempts to eliminate the law’s consumer protections.
What consumers need now is stronger enforcement of Prop 103’s protections against price gouging and collusion, not a free pass to raise rates unaccountably.
