Farmers Ins. Exchange v. Low

113 Cal. Rptr. 2d 537, 93 Cal. App. 4th 667
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedJanuary 16, 2002
DocketF035196, F035198
StatusPublished

This text of 113 Cal. Rptr. 2d 537 (Farmers Ins. Exchange v. Low) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Farmers Ins. Exchange v. Low, 113 Cal. Rptr. 2d 537, 93 Cal. App. 4th 667 (Cal. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

113 Cal.Rptr.2d 537 (2001)
93 Cal.App.4th 667

FARMERS INSURANCE EXCHANGE et al., Plaintiffs and Appellants,
v.
Harry W. LOW, as Insurance Commissioner, etc., et al., Defendants and Respondents;
Fireman's Fund Insurance Companies et al., Interveners and Appellants;
Consumers Union of U.S., Inc., et al., Interveners and Respondents.
United Services Automobile Association et al., Plaintiffs and Appellants.
v.
Harry W. Low, as Insurance Commissioner, etc., Defendant and Respondent;
Fireman's Fund Insurance Companies et al., Interveners and Appellants;
Consumers Union Of U.S., Inc., et al., Interveners and Respondents.

Nos. F035196, F035198.

Court of Appeal, Fifth District.

November 1, 2001.
Review Granted January 16, 2002.

*539 Horvitz & Levy and Mitchell C. Tilner and Daniel J. Gonzalez, Encino; Barger & Wolen and Steven H. Weinstein, Los Angeles, Richard G. De La Mora and Robyn E. King, for Plaintiffs/Interveners and Appellants, Farmers Insurance Exchange, Fire Insurance Exchange, Truck Insurance Exchange, Safeco Insurance Companies, and for Fireman's Fund Insurance Companies; Forrest, Henderson, Sloan & Davis and Theodore R. Forrest, Jr., and Jeffrey P. Davis, for Plaintiffs and Appellants Farmers Insurance Exchange, Fire Insurance Exchange and Truck Insurance Company; LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae and R. Scott Puddy for Plaintiffs and Appellants United Services Automobile Association, USAA Casualty Insurance, Allstate Insurance Company, Allstate Indemnity Company and Deerbrook Insurance Company and Interveners and Appellants Allstate Insurance Company and Allstate Indemnity Company and Deerbrook Insurance Company.

*540 Heller, Ehrman, White & McAuliffe and Paul Alexander and Vanessa Wells, Palo Alto, for State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, State Farm Fire and Casualty Company and State Farm General Insurance Company, Amicus Curiae on behalf of Appellants.

Bill Lockyer, Attorney General, Lawrence K. Keethe, Steven J. Green, Kristin M. Daily and Robert Asperger, Deputy Attorneys General, for Defendants and Respondents.

Public Advocates, Inc. and Mark Savage, John T. Affeldt, San Francisco, and Maria E. Andrade, for Interveners and Respondents Consumers Union of U.S., Inc., National Council of La Raza, Korean Youth and Community Council, Oakland Chinese Community Council, Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater Los Angeles.

*538 OPINION

CORNELL, J.

This dispute concerns records and reports made by various insurance companies to the Insurance Commissioner of California, which, by definition, are public records. (Gov.Code, § 6252, subd. (d).) The records detail for every ZIP code in California the number of exposures[1] and the premium dollars earned by an insurer. The Insurance Commissioner agreed to disclose the records after receiving a request for the data from various consumers groups.

Appellants Farmers Insurance Exchange (Farmers), United Services Automobile Association (USAA), USAA Casualty Insurance Company, Fireman's Fund Insurance Companies, General Insurance Company of America, First National Insurance Company of America, Safeco Insurance Company of America, Safeco Insurance Company of Illinois, Safeco Insurance Company of Pennsylvania, Allstate Insurance Company, Allstate Indemnity Company, Deerbrook Insurance Company and Amicus Curiae State Farm Insurance Companies (collectively Insurers), assert the trial court abused its discretion when it denied their application for a preliminary injunction preventing disclosure of the records. Insurers contend the data is a trade secret exempt from disclosure by Government Code section 6254, subdivision (k) and the trial court erroneously interpreted Insurance Code section 1861.07 in denying their application.

Respondents the Insurance Commissioner of the State of California, the California Department of Insurance, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater Los Angeles, the National Council of La Raza, the Korean Youth and Community Council, the Oakland Chinese Community Council and Consumers Union of U.S., Inc. (collectively, the Commissioner), assert the trial court properly interpreted the statutes and regulations. The Commissioner argues the exemption in Government Code section 6254, subdivision (k) was eliminated for this data by Insurance Code section 1861.07.

We conclude the data at issue is covered by Insurance Code section 1861.07, but that this section did not eliminate the exemption from disclosure found in Government Code section 6254, subdivision (k). As the trial court did not consider this exemption from disclosure, we remand to the trial court for further proceedings.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL SUMMARY

A. Background

In 1994, California Code of Regulations, Title 10 section 2646.6 was promulgated *541 (Regulation 2646.6). Since it was last amended in 1996, this section has required every insurance company with more than 10 million dollars of sales annually in a specific line of insurance to file a Community Service Statement (CSS) with the Commissioner. (Reg.2646.6, subd. (a).) The information required by the CSS is reported separately for each ZIP code in California and includes what is referred to as Record A data.

Each reporting insurance company includes in its Record A report for each ZIP code in California (1) the total earned exposures, (2) the total earned premiums, (3) the total number of new exposures, (4) the total number of exposures which were cancelled, and (5) the total number of exposures which were not renewed. (Reg. 2646.6, subd.(b)(1).) This information must be reported separately for the following lines of insurance: private passenger automobile liability, private passenger automobile physical damage, homeowners multiple peril, commercial multiple peril, commercial automobile liability, commercial automobile physical damage, fire, and liability other than automobile. (Reg. 2646.6, subd. (b)(1)(A)-(H).)

In addition to the Record A data, the CSS includes: (1) the number of offices maintained by the insurance company in every ZIP code including the type of service offered (Reg.2646.6, subd. (b)(2)), (2) the number of independent, captive, or employed agents and claims adjusters for the insurance company located in each ZIP code in which the insurer maintains an office (Reg.2646.6, subd. (b)(3)), (3) the number of direct mail or telephone solicitations for new insurance for every ZIP code for direct solicitation insurers (Reg.2646.6, subd. (b)(4)), (4) the number of agents and claims adjusters maintaining offices in each ZIP code who are conversant in a language other than English (Reg.2646.6, subd. (b)(5)), (5) the gender and race for each person who applied to the insurance company for insurance (Reg.2646.6, subd. (b)(6)),[2] (6) the number of applications received for each line of insurance by ZIP code (Reg.2646.6, subd. (b)(7)), and (7) the number of applications declined for each line of coverage by ZIP code (Reg.2646.6, subd. (b)(8)). The disclosure of this additional information is not an issue here.

This appeal arises from a trial court interpretation of Regulation 2646.6, subdivision (c) which provides that all the data submitted by the Insurers is subject to California Insurance Code section 1861.07.[3] This section states that all information provided pursuant to article 10, chapter 9, part 2 of division 1 of the Insurance Code (Article 10) shall be made available to the public.

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113 Cal. Rptr. 2d 537, 93 Cal. App. 4th 667, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/farmers-ins-exchange-v-low-calctapp-2002.