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posted by Fnord666 on Thursday April 16 2020, @05:32AM   Printer-friendly
from the slippery-slope dept.

California orders auto insurers to refund premiums due to coronavirus - Roadshow:

One of the (admittedly minor) upsides to many people being asked to stay in their homes during the COVID-19 outbreak is that, on the whole, people are driving much less. This means that they're using less gasoline, emitting fewer pollutants and not getting into so many accidents. You'd think that last thing would translate into a drop in the cost of car insurance. You'd be wrong.

Except in California, of course. California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara ordered on Monday that auto insurance companies return the premiums paid for coverage for the months of March and April because of the state's shelter-in-place requirements, and that order might extend to May.

"With Californians driving fewer miles and many businesses closed due to the COVID-19 emergency, consumers need relief from premiums that no longer reflect their present-day risk of accident or loss," Lara said in a statement. "Today's mandatory action will put money back in people's pockets when they need it most."

Many auto insurance companies have come under fire for their lack of action during the COVID-19 crisis, with critics accusing the companies of profiting from this pandemic. As a response, most of the major insurers, including Allstate, Geico and Nationwide, have begun to offer refunds of around 15% to customers. Still, the California order goes much further than that.

"I applaud efforts made by insurance companies to date that have offered grace periods and flexibility to consumers and businesses during this national emergency," Lara added. "We must do more to help our hard-working families and small businesses."


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  • (Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Thursday April 16 2020, @11:57PM

    by PartTimeZombie (4827) on Thursday April 16 2020, @11:57PM (#983859)

    As any red-blooded American libertarian knows, anything those pinko Limeys do must be wrong and bad.

    The same goes for the Socialists in California.

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