Aetna Resumes Selling New Policies in Calif. : Aetna Again Sells Auto, Home, Liability Policies

Aetna Life & Casualty, the ninth largest seller of property and casualty insurance in California, announced today that it is resuming sales to new customers of all auto, homeowners and commercial liability policies, ending a two-week moratorium while it evaluated the state Supreme Court decision upholding most of Proposition 103.

A company spokesman, Jason Wright, said Aetna had concluded from statements made May 11 by state Insurance Commissioner Roxani Gillespie that the state intends to allow the insurance industry a fair rate of return in California, for each line of insurance, in accord with what he said was the tenor of the high court’s decision.

“Our halt in new sales was temporary, while we awaited a substantive statement on how the state intended to operate,” said Wright from Aetna headquarters in Hartford, Conn. “We’re more comfortable now.”

He said the company is particularly pleased that California will allow a profit on each line of insurance in deciding whether to exempt each company from the 20% rate rollbacks from 1987 levels called for in Proposition 103.

Aetna will file for an exemption and for continuation of “pretty much” the rates it charges now, the spokesman said.

A number of insurance companies have expressed satisfaction at Gillespie’s decision to allow a profit for each line of insurance held, while a number of consumer groups have criticized the decision on grounds that the industry had traditionally been willing to sell some lines at a loss in a move to lead customers to more profitable lines.

Aetna last year sold $103 million of private passenger auto insurance in California.