California Insurance Commissioner Unveils Intervenor Reform Regulations
Article 1 Comment California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara is pushing a change to the state’s long-standing intervenor regulations, which enable groups to intervene in rate hearings. Lara on Friday released the amended text of proposed regulations for the intervenor and Administrative Hearing Bureau processes under Proposition 103, reforms he said will increase transparency, improve efficiency and ensure funds used in the rate review process serve the public interest. Related: California Bill Would Require Insurer Claims Handling Plans, and Double Penalties Lara has proposed several changes to state insurance laws to convince insurance carriers to return to writing homeowners insurance in riskier areas of the wildfire-prone state. One group that has taken part in intervenor hearings is Consumer Watchdog. The California Department of Insurance in January released data showing Consumer Watchdog earned $1.4 million in fees last year from a program that pays people and advocates to intervene in rate hearings. The intervenor program has come under scrutiny as carriers began pulling back from writing in the state. California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara last year proposed modernizing the program to diversify the recipients of intervenor funds, which is part of the state’s insurance law, Proposition 103. Related: ‘Structural Shift’ Occurring in...