Insurers say California’s inaction threatens auto policies

By DON THOMPSON
Associated Press

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Top U.S. insurance companies and associations say California is risking a crisis in the nation’s largest automobile insurance market by refusing to approve rate increases since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. The companies already are cutting back and say they can’t continue operating at a loss while Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara delays rate cases filed by companies representing three-quarters of the California market. It’s part of a battle over Lara’s effort to compensate consumers he says were overcharged during the pandemic’s early months when traffic all but disappeared. He’s refused to consider applications to boost rates for more than two years.