CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : LOS ANGELES : Gillespie Blames Insurance Industry

State Insurance Commissioner Roxani Gillespie blamed the industry for delays in implementing reduced car insurance rates promised by Proposition 103. “I have been very disappointed by the insurance industry,” Gillespie said during a speech to 200 members of the University Club in Los Angeles. “Consumer groups were willing to sit down and compromise, but I could not get insurers to do the same,” she said. “There wasn’t anything done to bring down the barricades.” Insurers have maintained that Proposition 103, which promised to cut rates by 20% from their November, 1987, levels, would make it impossible for them to make a reasonable profit in California. Gillespie said insurers’ refusal to compromise left her with no choice but to implement a six-month price freeze on Oct. 2. Consumer advocates and more than 200 companies reached agreement with Gillespie Oct. 18 in Sacramento Superior Court that will keep the freeze in effect.