Court Bars Nevada Insurance Rollback

A 1989 Nevada law calling for a one-year, 15% rollback of auto insurance liability premiums was struck down Thursday as unconstitutional by a three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Judge Edward Leavy wrote that the law deprived insurers of a “fair and reasonable return” on their business. The Nevada law is similar in some respects to California’s Proposition 103, which was upheld last year by the California Supreme Court. But Leavy ruled that certain definitions in the Nevada law ruled out the rollbacks. Concurring were Judges J. Clifford Wallace and Arthur L. Alarcon.

Although a U.S. District Court had upheld the Nevada rollbacks, they had been stayed pending appellate review and never went into effect. Nevada officials said they have not decided whether to appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.