By Kimberlee Kruesi, SAN DIEGO NEWS ROOM
Car insurance giant Mercury Insurance released its first TV advertisement last week promoting Proposition 17, one of many controversial initiatives on this year’s ballot.
As the main sponsor of Prop. 17, Mercury Insurance spent nearly $2 million for its first TV ad and more than $7 million in overall campaign advertisements.
The ad claims Prop. 17 will “fix the flaw” and encourages voters to read the California voter’s guide to better understand the law’s benefits.
Prop. 17 would allow insurance companies to give persistency discounts to new customers. Persistency discounts are typically given to those who have had insurance coverage for an extended period of time with one company. Currently, auto insurers cannot give the same discount to new customers who have had continuous coverage but with a different insurance company.
“Under current law, drivers who have maintained auto insurance with the same company are eligible for a continuous coverage discount,” said Mike D’Arelli, Director of the Alliance of Insurance Agents & Brokers, in a statement. “However, a flaw in the law prohibits drivers from taking this continuous coverage discount with them if they switch insurance companies.
Doug Heller, executive director of Consumer Watchdog, disagrees.
“It is very important for people to know that there is a wide range of people opposing this bill,” said Heller, who oversees the Santa Monica-based nonprofit. “Only the third-largest auto insurer is sponsoring this but multiple organizations are opposing the initiative.”
As Prop. 17 and other hot-button initiatives dominate the political discussion, the Insurance Commissioner primary race has yet to receive much attention. Many consider the primary race a “sleeper” election because lack of name recognition has caused candidates to be overlooked or ignored.
“It may be a question of whether Democratic voters prefer the plain Jane sounding name of Dave Jones or the Latino surname of De La Torre when they stare at their ballot,” said political consultant Steve Maviglio in an article naming Democrat candidates for the position.
The insurance commissioner, currently Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Poizner, is a consumer advocate who influences the pricing and selling of health, auto and property insurance. The position is also considered a strategic stepping stone toward advancing politically.
However, the important position has been overshadowed by various bills that are not only controversial in manner but have also received much more TV airtime than the candidates.
Yet the two leading Democratic candidates for Insurance Commissioner have voiced their opposition to Prop. 17.
“Quite simply, giving a small discount to every driver who switches from another insurer to Mercury will mean dramatic price increases for those who haven’t had insurance for even one day in the past five years,” said Jones in an statement. “Any driver who has had insurance canceled for missing just one payment – even if they restarted their insurance immediately – is at risk if Proposition 17 passes.”
GOP candidate Mike Villines (R-Clovis) has not yet released a stance on the proposition.
Tags: big corporations, consumer, contributions, deceptive, Mercury, overcharges, Prop 17, trust, voters
