SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California's insurance regulator says auto insurers shortchanged motorists on refunds ordered last year as crashes dropped during the coronavirus pandemic.
Traffic plummeted after California imposed the nation’s first stay-home order a year ago to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
But insurers say dangerous driving trends have worsened even as miles driven declined. They returned about $1.75 billion to consumers, but California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara said Thursday that’s not nearly enough given their lower costs.
They refunded about 9% of consumers’ insurance bills on average, but Lara said it should have been about 17%.
