Insurance

Prop. 33: Insurance Discount Measure Stirs Controversy

October 8, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

<p>For a decade now, Mercury Insurance founder George Joseph has been trying to get one big change made to California's landmark insurance law: a discount for customers who switch auto insurance carriers.</p> <p>Gov. Gray Davis vetoed a Mercury-backed bill in 2002. The voters rejected Mercury-backed Proposition 17 in June 2010 by 4 percentage points.</p> <p>Now Joseph has returned with Proposition 33, which would allow discounts for people who switch carriers without a lapse in coverage in the previous five years.</p>

Mercury Insurance Promotes Another Initiative To Boost Rates On Drivers Who Dropped Coverage

October 5, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

<p>SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Billionaire insurance executive George Joseph has been fighting with consumer advocate Harvey Rosenfield for two decades over California's landmark automobile insurance law.<br /> <br /> This November, the two are squaring off again over a ballot initiative that would roll back a provision of the 1988 law and let insurance companies charge drivers based on their history of coverage.<br /> <br />

Health Insurance PACs Have Love-Hate Relationship With Health Care Reform

October 4, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden clearfix" itemprop="description"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item"> <p>The health insurance industry presented itself as a key ally of President Barack Obama’s health care law while at the same time making hefty contributions to members of Congress who are trying to get rid of it, according to contribution records.</p>

Extending Insurance Discounts

October 3, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Call it a rematch. Proposition 33 is Los Angeles insurance executive George Joseph's plan for liberalizing the rules on auto premiums.</p> <p>For years Joseph has been trying to extend "good-driver" discounts to more motorists, with no luck.</p> <p>In 2010 his company, Mercury Insurance Group, bankrolled an initiative similar to Proposition 33 but was defeated. What's wrong with more discounts?</p> <p>Critics say they create winners and losers. For every motorist who gets a discount, someone else pays more.</p>

Yes On Prop. 33 Campaign Redefines ‘Volunteer’

October 3, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

<p>The sponsors of Proposition 33, a measure to allow auto insurers to charge higher or lower rates based on whether a driver had coverage in the previous five years, don't seem content just to <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinion-la/la-ol-proposition-33-distortions-begin-early-20120911,0,4098301.story">stretch the truth</a> about the nature of their measure (which The Times' editorial board <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/endorsements/la-ed-end-prop33-auto-insurance-discounts-20120920,0,657143.story">opposes</a>).

Prop. 33 Asks Voters to Reconsider How Auto Insurance Discounts Work

October 1, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

<p>California voters are getting a chance to tweak the state’s car insurance rules when they consider the fate of <a href="http://vig.cdn.sos.ca.gov/2012/general/pdf/33-title-summ-analysis.pdf" target="_blank" title="http://vig.cdn.sos.ca.gov/2012/general/pdf/33-title-summ-analysis.pdf" rel="noopener">Proposition 33.</a> The November ballot item asks voters to change the way car insurance rates are calculated in California. The measure proposes tweaking current rules to allow companies to consider a driver’s insurance history when setting how much they will pay.</p>

No On Warmed-Over Prop. 33

September 26, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

<p><a href="http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/opinion/ci_21639046/editorial-endorsement-no-warmed-over-prop-33">Click here to read the original editorial from the Santa Cruz Sential.</a></p> <p>Proposition 33 on the Nov. 6 ballot is a testament, or an indictment, of one auto insurance company's dogged pursuit of recruiting customers while charging more to Californians who are either buying policies for the first time or have let their coverage lapse.</p> <p>This measure closely resembles 2010's Proposition 17, which voters rejected.</p>

New survey: Americans don’t want insurance rates tied to prior insurance coverage

September 24, 2012  ·  Doug Heller

<p><img class=" alignright size-full wp-image-2279" alt="" class="right" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/images_dougdrawingname.gif" style="width: 133px; height: 200px; margin-left: 7px; margin-right: 7px; float: right;" width="133" height="200" />The Consumer Federation of America released a <a href="http://consumerfed.org/news/599">new report today</a> assessing consumer views on the factors insurance companies use to set premiums around the country.  Not surprisingly, Americans think that insurance rates should be based primarily on motorists' driving safety record (87% and 85% of respondents believe rates should reflect a driver's number of accidents

No On 33

September 22, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

<p><a href="http://www.nctimes.com/news/opinion/editorial/editorial-no-on/article_e14d6701-0837-55e3-a606-5e50864fc11c.html">Click here to read the original editorial from the North County Times.</a></p> <p>Anyone who has read these pages at all over the past 15 years, since the North County Times was founded out of the merger of the Blade-Citizen and Times Advocate, knows well that we pretty strongly favor a deregulated market where consumers decide winners and losers purely via their buying decisions.</p>

Prop. 33: Don’t Be Fooled By Promise of Discount

September 21, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

<p>As a student at the <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/?controllerName=search&action=search&channel=opinion%2Fopenforum&search=1&inlineLink=1&query=%22University+of+San+Francisco%22">University of San Francisco</a>, I find like many San Franciscans that living in the city means I don't need a car. Even if I wanted a car, USF doesn't allow us to have them on campus. With tuition going up every year, auto insurance is an extra expense I don't need, so I'm thinking of canceling my insurance.</p>

No on Proposition 33 – The auto insurance initiative was a bad idea two years ago; it’s still a bad idea.

September 20, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

<p><a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/endorsements/la-ed-end-prop33-auto-insurance-discounts-20120920,0,657143.story">Click here to read the original editorial in the Los Angeles Times</a>.</p>

Prop. 33: Proposal Will Lead To Higher Rates

September 20, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

<p>I grew up in Chula Vista and have been around military families all my life. Two years ago I got married and became part of a military family myself. I’m proud of my husband’s service. But I’m shocked at the cynical use of military families in the advertising campaign for Proposition 33, which is 99 percent bankrolled by one billionaire insurance company executive.<br /> <br />