Implementing Proposition 103

I read your editorial with complete astonishment.

How can you say that the regulatory structure created by Prop. 103 will put insurance rates under control? When has a regulatory body ever contributed to “low rates” for anyone? Until there is also “regulation” of expenses insurance companies are forced to pay out, you cannot regulate rates. You accuse the insurance industry of “picking nits” in Prop. 103 and that it would be “better advised to join (state Insurance Commissioner Roxani) Gillespie and the consumer groups that have been cooperating with the Department of Insurance to . . . improve . . . the system.” You go on to say that some of these steps include a no-fault law like New York’s. What the heck has the insurance industry been pushing for the last two years? A no-fault system!

The problem with the insurance industry today is that it should have tried to control costs and prevent fraudulent claims years ago. Rates have gotten out of control because the industry didn’t care about its expenses. It could just continue to raise rates at will. Cutting rates willy-nilly will never work because its expenses are already established. Cutting rates in the suburban areas while cutting costs for inner-city drivers will only make matters worse. A good no-fault system, without denying the right to sue for injuries, is the answer. It’s what the insurance industry has been saying all along.

BILL DEEBLE JR.

Long Beach