Our Legal Team had a busy week last week, with two big auto insurance rate victories and significant steps forward in our legal cases against insurance company abuses. Here are some highlights of our accomplishments just this past week:
1) Slashed Farmers' requested auto rate increase in half from 6.9% to 3.5%
2) Lowered So Cal Auto Club auto insurance rates by -4.1%
3) Filed amended complaints in our litigation against Blue Cross for bait-and-switch deductible increases and Blue Shield for forcing customers into lower-benefit, higher-deductible policies, tightening up our claims as we move forward with litigation
4) Successfully intervened in the lawsuit filed by Mercury in Sacramento Superior Court seeking to overturn the -8% rate decrease ordered by the Insurance Commissioner on its homeowners insurance rates. The Commissioner supported Consumer Watchdog's intervention in the suit to defend his Order. Click here to read more.
5) Urged Insurance Commissioner Jones to reject a deal between the Department of Insurance and Coast National Insurance Company that would allow the company to continue to charge illegal and unfairly discriminatory rates for three more years, and order a public hearing instead
6) Successfully obtained an order from the Administrative Law Judge in an action against Mercury Insurance for charging consumers illegal broker fees, allowing us to subpoena Mercury employees to appear and be examined at the hearing to commence April 15. Click here to read more about the action against Mercury.
7) Today, in response to Consumer Watchdog's petitions, the Department of Insurance issued notices that it will hold hearings on Mercury's application seeking to hike its homeowners rates by another 6.9% (above the rates that the Commissioner has already determined are 5% too high) and on Allstate's application seeking to hike its auto insurance rates by 6%.
It was a big week for insurance consumers.
If you have a consumer complaint about your insurance company or HMO, file it here: http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/node/add/complaint
And you can follow all of the the work of our Legal Team here: http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/about/in-the-courtroom
