BSRancher
New Effort to Educate Californians About Pending Auto Insurance Rate Increase
Mail & Television Ads Will Urge Drivers to Contact Insurance Commissioner
Garamendi and Tell Him to Drop Department's Unfair Plan
SACRAMENTO, May 8 /PRNewswire/ -- A diverse group of local elected
officials, chambers of commerce, tax groups and insurance companies today
announced that Californians to Stop Unfair Rate Increases (CSURI) will
begin immediately educating Californians through television ads and mail to
their homes about proposed auto insurance regulations that will unfairly
raise rates for millions of drivers statewide.
To see a list of CSURI Steering Committee members, a PDF of the mail
piece and the script for the TV ad, go to http://www.stopunfairrates.org A
list of CSURI Steering Committee members also follows this press release.
"I testified at a town hall meeting in Fresno and expressed my concerns
when these auto rating changes were being discussed in early 2004," said
Kings County Supervisor Jon Rachford. "I also drove from Hanford to San
Francisco in February of this year to testify against the changes again at
the public hearing. I'm not alone in my opposition or in my frustration.
Over the past several months, dozens of local elected officials, chambers,
and other community leaders have registered concerns with the regulations.
Unfortunately, we have been ignored."
"I want to ensure my constituents understand how this regulatory change
will impact their pocketbooks," said Inyo County Supervisor Linda
Arcularius. "I'm sure elected officials from other negatively affected
regions would feel the same. We are confident that when more Californians
are made aware that they are about to pay as much as 30% more for auto
insurance -- just to subsidize arbitrary rate decreases for drivers in the
state's biggest cities -- they will take action and urge Insurance
Commissioner Garamendi to drop the plan before it is implemented."
The law requires auto insurance rates to be based on the actual costs
and risks associated with providing insurance to each driver. That's the
way rates are calculated today and that's the way it should be. But, under
the plan first announced by the Department of Insurance in December, 2005,
drivers in the state's biggest cities will receive arbitrary rate
reductions, while drivers in other regions of the state will be forced to
pay more.
The proposed changes seek to reduce the influence location carries in
the formula when insurers calculate auto rates. By reducing the influence
of location, drivers in more congested areas of the state like Los Angeles,
San Francisco and Beverly Hills, where there are more people on the road
and more risk of an accident or theft, will pay less for auto insurance.
Alternatively, rates will go up for drivers in more rural and suburban
areas, where there are fewer people on the road and less risk of an
accident.
The proposed changes ignore factors that greatly contribute to risk
associated with certain regions. Population density and congestion are two
such factors, another is fraud. According to the National Insurance Crime
Bureau, there are more staged accidents in Los Angeles than any other city
in the country, except Miami.
"This proposed regulation is simply unfair," said Michael Turnipseed,
executive director of the Kern County Taxpayers Association. "Rather than
invest time and resources in fighting fraud so that insurance rates can be
reduced for all drivers -- this misguided proposal would shift the cost of
that fraud to drivers who live in less populated regions of the state --
like ours, where there is less fraud."
Some members of CSURI also participate in Californians Against Higher
Insurance Rates, a loosely formed coalition that has been speaking out
against the proposal during regulatory proceedings held by the Department
of Insurance. Many local leaders became frustrated with the lack of
response to their opposition and look forward to participating in a more
expansive effort to educate and engage more Californians before it's too
late.
CSURI will be requesting contributions from the public and businesses,
but in the meantime a few insurance companies, Farmers, 21st Century, State
Farm, Safeco and Allstate agreed to fund the education effort because they
strongly believe that auto insurance rates should be based on actual costs
and risks and not arbitrary desire to reduce rates for certain customers.
A budget of approximately $2 million will allow the coalition to
educate households in the following counties: Butte, Del Norte, Humboldt,
Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Mendocino, Nevada, Lake, Plumas, Santa
Barbara, San Benito, San Diego, Solano, Tulare and Yolo. Additional
counties may be added later.
CSURI Steering Committee (partial list)
Elected Officials
Linda Arcularius, Inyo County Supervisor
Rob Brown, Lake County Supervisor
Anthony W. Farrington, Lake County Supervisor
Sue Horne, Nevada County Supervisor
Curt Josiassen, Butte County Supervisor
Leslie McNamer, Del Norte County Supervisor
Reb Monaco, San Benito County Supervisor
Joe Neves, Kings County Supervisor
Jon Rachford, Kings County Supervisor
Sarah Sampels, Del Norte County Supervisor
John Woolley, Humboldt County Supervisor
Gary Wyatt, Imperial County Supervisor
Mark Ashiku, Ukiah Mayor
Ruth Asmundson, Davis Mayor
Mary Ann Courville, Dixon Mayor
Maureen Kirk, Chico Vice Mayor
Peter La Vallee, Eureka Mayor
Richard Ortega, Tulare Mayor
Michael Smith, Dixon Councilmember
Jerome Stocks, Encinitas Councilmember
Philip E. Vandegrift, Tulare Councilmember
Business/Taxpayer Groups
Greater Bakersfield Chamber of Commerce
Carpinteria Valley Chamber of Commerce
Kern County Taxpayers Association
Lakeport Regional Chamber of Commerce
Oxnard Chamber of Commerce
Paradise Ridge Chamber of Commerce
Quincy Chamber of Commerce
San Diego Taxfighters
Templeton Chamber of Commerce Board of Trade
SOURCE Californians to Stop Unfair Rate Increases
Web Site: http://www.stopunfairrates.org/
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