Premiums and ZIP codes

Often, California has been in the lead when it comes to legislating for fairness. When a service industry is acting in an arbitrary way and damaging the interests of consumers, you can usually rely on Sacramento to do something about it. So, for example, the Insurance Commissioner instructed auto insurance companies not to rely on ZIP codes when writing policies. The real basis on which to assess risk should always be the individual driver. It's reasonable to look at the person's experience, driving record, how far he or she drives every month, etc. That way you reward the good drivers with lower premiums and hit the bad drivers with higher premiums.