As a California personal injury lawyer who has vigorously battled against and negotiated with car insurance companies for the last 30 years, Mercury General's recent move to fight Proposition 103 does not come as a huge surprise to me. I agree with Los Angeles Times columnist Michael Hiltzik that when insurance industry lobbyists cook up a ballot initiative they claim will bring down rates for consumers, you have to stop and think if it's too good to be true. The initiative in question is the Continuous Coverage Auto Insurance Discount Act, which is sponsored by a group called Californians for Fair Auto Insurance Rates. Who is this group? It's none other than Mercury General Corp., the nation's third largest auto insurer.

Mercury's tactic is to start collecting signatures for this initiative this fall so it can get it on the ballot next June. Mercury plans to spend an obscene amount of money in advertising and paying an army of signature collectors to see this thing through. What's in it for Mercury? Well, this proposal is the auto insurer's latest attempt to do away with Proposition 103, the 1988 ballot measure which successfully regulated car insurance companies by giving an elected insurance commissioner the power to approve property and casualty rates before they go into effect.

At the time, insurers were being arbitrary and discriminatory in setting these rates. For example, insurers heartlessly redlined underprivileged neighborhood by setting higher rates for poorer zip codes. But Prop 103 changed that by requiring insurers to consider a driver's safety record, experience and number of miles driven annually as primary factors to set the premium instead of where he or she lived. Prop 103 also barred insurers from using the absence of prior policy as a negative in setting rates for drivers, thereby allowing previously uninsured motorists to get legal car insurance coverage. While Prop 103 has helped drop insurance rates in most states including California, it has also helped insurance companies keep up their profits making it a win-win for both consumers and insurance companies.

Still, lobbyists for auto insurers have done everything in their power over the last 20 years to undermine Prop 103. Mercury, especially its founder and chairman George Joseph, has been out to rewrite Prop 103 and has been more than willing to spend millions of dollars toward that goal. It's no secret that what Joseph wants particularly is to lift that ban on no-prior-insurance surcharges. I'm sure there is a lot more on Joseph's mind and behind Mercury backing this initiative. As someone who has seen a number of auto insurers including Mercury shortchanging victims of serious car accidents without batting an eyelid, you can take it from me that giving customers a break or reducing insurance rates is not their goal or intent in supporting this initiative. I'll be watching Mercury's campaign with great interest.