Three Insurance Trade Associations Respond to Superior Court Ruling Today

SACRAMENTO, Calif.--Aug. 10, 2006--A Superior Court judge today refused to grant a preliminary injunction against Department of Insurance auto insurance regulations that will now force insurers to develop rates that are unfair to their customers, according to three insurance trade associations.

The three trade groups - the Association of California Insurance Companies (ACIC), the Personal Insurance Federation of California (PIFC) and the American Insurance Association (AIA) - filed the lawsuit seeking declaratory and injunctive relief to stop enforcement of the unfair regulations.

"We disagree with the court's ruling today because the regulations are bad news for most California drivers - particularly in rural areas," said Sam Sorich, president of ACIC. "However, today's ruling did not validate the regulations. The issue before the court was limited to the issue of whether insurers must make filings next week."

"We will continue to fight for fairness for all of our insurance customers, not just those favored by the insurance commissioner," said Rex Frazier, president of PIFC.

"Today's ruling forces insurers to file rate calculations that do not reflect the risks faced by individual drivers. That is contrary to the law," noted Ken Gibson, western region vice president of AIA.

Steven Weinstein of Barger and Wolen LLP, represented the trade organizations in court today. He said that the judge granted the companies an additional two days to file their rating plans and that gives us time to appeal his ruling to the Appellate Court.