Proposition 103’s Impact on Auto Insurance Premiums in California
<h3>15 Years of Insurance Reform: 1989 - 2004</h3>
Insurance
Insurance news, investigations, and reform — auto, home, and health insurance rates, claims denials, and industry accountability.
Insurance mandate at heart of plan
<p class="source">San Diego Union-Tribune (California)</p>
<p>"There's nothing in the governor's plan that would require health insurance to be affordable. Consumers would have to pay what insurers charge," said Jerry Flanagan of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights. The foundation is sponsoring legislation that would regulate health insurance in the same way auto insurance is regulated. The state requires auto insurance companies to justify rate increases and sets standards for industry profits.</p>
Poll: Allstate should be banned for next 10 years
<p class="source">Los Angeles Business Journal</p>
<p>A majority of respondents, 60 percent, said that Allstate should be banned, because they abandoned the new homeowners policy market and should face some form of punishment for the decision.</p>
Many records, little information;
<h3>State's methods for reporting government lobbying expenses mesh indirect and direct spending. The result: inflated figures and unreliable comparisons with other agencies or private firms.</h3><p class="source">The Orange County Register (California)</p>
<p>So, under a system designed to make government more transparent, it's incredibly difficult to know how much of your tax dollars are being spent on lobbying or how that compares to other jurisdictions. Just getting a fuzzy picture takes a lot of work. "I'm not surprised," said political watchdog Carmen Balber of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights when I told her about my frustration reviewing the reports. "That's what you get when you look at lobbying reports," she said: an incomplete picture.</p>
Verizon customers vexed by new $2 fee
<p class="source">Ventura County Star (California)</p>
<p>Phone companies are looking for any reason to increase their profits, said Harvey Rosenfield, founder of the Foundation for Taxpayer & Consumer Rights, a consumer advocate group in Santa Monica. "I think it's a consumer outrage," he said.</p>
Justify rates, Allstate told;
<h3>State demand could lead to homeowner policy refunds</h3><p class="source">Sacramento Bee (California)</p>
<p>Consumer advocates contend that the Allstate withdrawal is aimed at pressuring Poizner to approve higher premiums. They vow to lobby for steep cuts. "The premiums they were charging may have been appropriate four years ago. Their costs went substantially down. They should have lowered (rates)," said Doug Heller of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights in Santa Monica. "They need to return money to the customers they overcharged."</p>
WILDFIRES SPUR INSURERS TO CUT SOME COVERAGE
<p class="source">The Arizona Republic (Phoenix)</p>
<p>"It certainly isn't fair for these insurers to be dumping these last-minute requirements on homeowners," said Carmen Balber of the Foundation for Taxpayer & Consumer Rights. "It does make sense to require homeowners to take reasonable precautions, but some of the excessive demands that we've heard from homeowners are over the top."</p>
State to grill Allstate on premiums;
<h3>Hearings are ordered that could lead to refunds to homeowners. The company says its rates are fair.</h3><p class="source">Los Angeles Times</p>
<p>Douglas Heller, executive director of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights in Santa Monica, contends that Proposition 103 puts Poizner on firm ground to call for premium refunds, if merited. "Proposition 103 is very clear that insurance companies can't overcharge customers," he said.</p>
California demands Allstate justify homeowner rates
<p class="source">Associated Press</p>
<p>Allstate was also criticized Wednesday by the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, which said the company has been overcharging residents by $326 million a year. The group called for a 40 percent reduction in rates under Proposition 103, which it says would result in average individual savings of about $362 a year.</p>
PROPOSITION 103 FINALLY NEAR TO THE END OF A LONG ROAD
<p class="source">The Daily News of Los Angeles</p>
<p>Over the course of the next year, customers of other companies will see the changes, said Doug Heller, executive director of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights. "Sometimes the only thing worse in the delay of justice is to give up the pursuit of it,'' Heller said. "Here we have resolution. Finally the peoples' word will finally take hold. It's taken a darn long time though.''</p>
Insurance companies try to cut losses in wildfire hotspots
<p class="source">Associated Press</p>
<p>The inspections have angered homeowners and watchdog groups that accuse the companies of trying to cut risk at the expense of customers, even while industry profits soar. The complaints echo concerns raised after Hurricane Katrina, when many insurance companies increased rates or dropped policies along the Gulf Coast. "It certainly isn't fair for these insurers to be dumping these last-minute requirements on homeowners," said Carmen Balber of The Foundation for Taxpayer & Consumer Rights.</p>
Quick Route to the Inner Circle
<font face="verdana,sans-serif" size="2">In my shock at the size of
Arnold's latest $250,000 contribution, I misread the name of the donor.
Bill Powers, not Bill Gross, was the PIMCO donor noted below. It's
still Powers' first...</font>