Insurer to cut rates for homeowner coverage

California customers of Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co. can expect to save an average of $505 on their annual homeowner’s coverage as part of 17.9% rate reduction announced Tuesday by Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner.

“It is important for us to be competitive in the California marketplace,” said Bruce Petersen, chief operating officer of Fireman’s Fund Personal Insurance, a unit of the Novato, Calif.-based insurer, which, in turn, is owned by German insurer Allianz.

Fireman’s Fund is California’s ninth-largest homeowners insurer with about 59,000 policies in force.

Consumer advocates, who participated in the regulatory proceedings that led to the Fireman’s Fund rate cut, called Poizner’s announcement good news.

“We worked with the Department of Insurance to make sure homeowners get the full savings” that they are entitled to under California’s Proposition 103 insurance law, said Douglas Heller, executive director of Santa Monica-based Consumer Watchdog.

In all, the premium reduction, effective Aug. 1, should lower insurance costs for Fireman’s Fund policyholders by $30 million a year statewide. Los Angeles area homeowners should save $5.3 million a year, Poizner said.

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