INSURANCE

Most Insurance Rates Won’t Jump, Rosenfield Says: Proposition 103 author Harvey Rosenfield said that if the 1988 voter initiative is properly implemented, most California drivers need not fear wide swings in premiums. Reacting to reports on the impact of proposed new Insurance Department rules, Rosenfield said the biggest change might be a slight easing of rates for urban drivers and a rise in rural rates. Deputy Insurance Commissioner William Ahern said at a hearing that a department report on the impact of removing age, sex and marital status as factors in rate setting provided “only a piece of the picture.” The report predicted that there would be rate hikes for older drivers and decreases for younger ones, but Ahern said those effects will be lessened in the final regulations.