Which Way, L.A.?

Will Your Insurance Be Cancelled If You File a Claim?

California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi says insurance companies should be required to disclose whether they engage in the practice of raising rates or canceling policies for people who make claims or refuse to sell insurance to those who-ve made claims in the past. Although the insurance industry says there's no evidence of widespread abuse, Garamendi, who has called a hearing tomorrow in San Francisco to talk about what's called "use it and lose it," says it's time for new regulations. Will your insurance be cancelled if you file a claim? We ask an insurance industry spokesman and the author of Proposition 103, which created the office of California Insurance Commissioner. Reporter's Notebook: The State of Black LA When he retired in June after 36 years as head of LA's Urban League, the LA Times said that "no black leader outside the realm of politics has his insider relationships with the region's corporate movers and shakers or elite African Americans, liberal and conservative." To 68 year-old John Mack, retirement does not mean silence. Mack discusses the 2005 "State of Black LA," as reported by the United Way of Greater Los Angeles and the Urban League.