Mercury Insurance: What Won't Be Mentioned at Today’s Press Conference with Commissioner Poizner

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Doug Heller
Executive Director
Consumer Watchdog

Mercury Insurance is holding a press conference today with California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner to announce rate decreases for drivers, homeowners and renters. As the LA Times reports.

The auto rate reductions were based partially on new state criteria [implementing Proposition 103] that downplay the importance of the ZIP Code where a car is typically parked overnight. The cut took effect in May but had not been announced, the department said.

Mercury Chairman George Joseph and California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner have scheduled a news conference in Los Angeles this morning to announce the rate cuts officially.

What Mercury's Chairman won't be talking about, however, is that the company is sponsoring legislation in Sacramento that would gut Proposition 103's consumer protections that led to these savings and make it impossible for customers to get refunds from companies if they break the law or refuse to lower rates when they're supposed to. The bill -- AB 1051 -- is authored by Los Angeles Assemblyman Charles Calderon, who has accepted about $7,850 in campaign contributions from Mercury Insurance over the last 2+ years.

As we explain in our letter of opposition, the bill would destroy Proposition 103's protection against "unfair discrimination," like the kind that is forcing Mercury to sell insurance at fair rates to good drivers no matter where they live. It would also stop the Insurance Commissioner or the courts from ordering refunds from an insurer when they have broken the law, something Mercury itself has been forced to do as recently as earlier this year.