CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : SAN FRANCISCO : Insurance Rollback Hearings Scheduled

Insurance Commissioner Roxani Gillespie summoned the first five insurance companies to Proposition 103 rate rollback hearings, beginning July 18 in San Bruno. The five companies are Progressive, Safeco, USAA, Allstate and the California State Automobile Assn. If the hearings determine that the companies realized more than an 11.2% return on equity in 1989, they will be ordered to make refunds to customers of the excess, plus 10% interest. Such orders could be appealed to the courts. USAA responded defiantly, saying it would view any refund order “as a penalty for our efficient operations and an assault on our financial solidity.”