SACRAMENTO, California — Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara approved advocacy group Consumer Watchdog’s status to intervene in rate reviews after an unprecedented back-and-forth with insurance companies critical of the group.
In the finding published Friday, Lara granted Consumer Watchdog eligibility to participate in rate reviews and get compensated for it until July 12, 2026 — but not without also taking some swipes at the group, which he criticized as not providing enough information about its own impact.
The move comes as state regulators are weighing faster rate increases to keep insurers from fleeing fire-prone areas. Consumer Watchdog, a firebrand group that sponsored Proposition 103, the 1988 ballot initiative requiring state approval of property and casualty insurance rates, is often the only advocacy group participating in the proceedings.
If the Insurance Department had determined Consumer Watchdog ineligible as an intervenor, it would have effectively neutered the group, which received 96 percent of the fees the Insurance Department paid to intervenors last year, adding up to over $21 million for the group since 1988.
