When California’s insurance regulator operated behind closed doors, the insurance companies always won. Insurance premiums soared, people were denied insurance for no legitimate reason, and insurance companies reaped windfall profits. That’s why, when California voters passed the nation’s most sweeping reform of the insurance industry in 1988, they authorized consumers to independently challenge excessive insurance premiums and unfair practices—to take on the legions of lawyers, lobbyists, and actuaries that insurance companies always hire to get their way. Proposition 103 also gave the public the power to make sure the Insurance Commissioner and the California Department of Insurance (CDI) obey the law. The initiative requires insurance companies to pay the costs when consumers do so.
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