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Memorial Day FlyOver - Stop Prop 17 Airplane Urges SoCal Beachgoers: PROTECT OUR TROOPS FROM INSURERS - NO ON PROP 17

SANTA MONICA, Calif., May 31 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Consumer advocates are calling on California voters to reject an insurance company-funded initiative that would allow insurance companies to target military personnel with higher car insurance rates. Standing at Santa Monica Pier as a banner-towing plane pulled a Memorial Day message about Prop 17, advocates highlighted the opposition to Prop 17 by groups like VoteVets.org and USAA, the nation's only insurance company created by and for military personnel.

In the David v. Goliath battle over Prop 17, in which the state's 3rd largest car insurer, Mercury Insurance, is blanketing the airwaves with its $15 million deceptive ad campaign, consumer groups took to the air themselves today with the banner plane traveling along Southern California beaches from Malibu to Imperial Beach at the southern edge of San Diego. The plane's banner reads: PROTECT OUR TROOPS FROM INSURERS - NO ON PROP 17

Prop 17, which is entirely funded by insurance companies, would allow those companies to increase the cost of car insurance for soldiers and others who have a break in insurance coverage because they were living on base or were not driving for a period of time for any other reason.

"Prop 17 is an attack on the men and women who put their lives on the line for our country, and voters should say no to the insurance companies funding this attempt to raise car insurance rates on servicemembers," said Douglas Heller with Stop Prop 17.

VoteVets.org Chairman and Iraq War veteran Jon Soltz said, "our nation's military men and women, who are fighting so hard for this country, should not have to fight off insurance companies as well. Prop 17 was drafted by a greedy insurance company to target California military and veterans. We strongly oppose Prop 17 for that reason."

Under Prop 17, soldiers and veterans who dropped overage while living on base anywhere in the US would be required to pay up to a $1,000 more dollars a year for auto insurance when they need insurance coverage again. For example:

- If a member of the military is serving stateside and decides not to bring his/her car while on base in another state, then he/she will be surcharged up to $1000 a year when they return home.

- If a veteran is having a hard time getting back on his/her feet - and misses a single payment - he/she will be surcharged up to $1000 a year when they try to buy insurance again.

Earlier this month, the San-Diego Union-Tribune urged it readers to vote no on Prop 17, because "a member of the U.S. military would not be protected from losing his or her 'continuous coverage' discount if transferred within the United States."

Nearly every newspaper in California is urging citizens to vote no on Prop 17, as are all the state's consumer groups.

For more information, please visit: http://StopProp17.org or find us on facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/stopprop17

SOURCE Stop Prop 17