NEWS ADVISORY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 19, 2001

OAKLAND MOTORISTS WHO LIVE ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE SAME STREET CHARGED VASTLY DIFFERENT AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE RATES
Annual Premiums in Oakland's Temescal District (94609) are 30% higher
than in Piedmont/Montclair District (94611)

Proposition 103, passed by California voters in 1988, sought to end territorial rating by requiring that auto insurance premiums be determined primarily by motoristsð driving safety record.  But defective regulations issued by Quackenbush in 1996 allow ZIP Code to continue to be the primary factor used by most insurance companies.

Alameda County Superior Court found the regulations violated voter-enacted Prop 103 in 1998, but the First District Court of Appeal reversed that ruling in Dec. 2000.  Consumer and community groups and the Cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and Los Angeles are urging the California Supreme Court to grant review to finally enforce Prop 103ðs rating mandate.  

WHAT:    
Press conference to demonstrate the discriminatory effects of territorial rating by automobile insurance companies, contrasting 94611 ("good" zip code) and 94609 ("bad" zip code).  

WHO:
Bay Area Oaks Project citizen volunteers       
Pam Pressley, Staff Attorney, Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights
Daniel Rossi, Deputy City Attorney, Office of the Oakland City Attorney

WHEN:
Tuesday, March 20, 2001 at 11:00 a.m.

WHERE:
Intersection of 42nd Street and Broadway (NW corner) near Oakland Tech HS in North Oakland

EXCELLENT VISUAL DEMONSTRATION OF HOW MERELY MOVING ONE BLOCK CAN CHANGE YOUR AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE PREMIUMS!