20th Century Insurance

20th Century Industries Inc., the Woodland Hills-based parent of 20th Century Insurance, said its third-quarter profit edged up 3% from a year earlier, to $34.5 million from $33.5 million. The higher earnings in the quarter ended Sept. 30 came on an 11% increase in 20th Century's earned premiums--a measure roughly equivalent to gross revenue--to $226.8 million from $205.2 million. 20th Century said its combined ratio amounted to 93.5% in the latest quarter, meaning it paid 93.

C alifornia drivers might think John Garamendi, the state's insurance commissioner , is the central figure in the fight over whether auto insurers should pay Proposition 103 rebates. But sharing center stage with Garamendi is Louis W. Foster, 79, the founder and chairman of 20th Century Industries and its main unit, 20th Century Insurance. Foster started 20th Century in 1958 with $273,000 and became a pioneer.

On the eve of a key vote at City Hall, a Woodland Hills-based insurance company warned Wednesday that it may move out of Los Angeles if the controversial Warner Ridge project is not quickly approved. In a letter sent Tuesday to Mayor Tom Bradley and the five-member Los Angeles Planning Commission, the chairman of 20th Century Insurance Co. said his firm will stay put only if it gets a 20-year lease in the proposed 690,000-square-foot Warner Ridge project.

State Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi on Friday directed 20th Century Insurance to immediately issue $101.8 million in long-disputed Proposition 103 refunds, but the company said it will appeal the order to the courts. An appeal by 20th Century seemed destined to prolong the 3 1/2-year-long legal war over Proposition 103 rollbacks and means, once again, that rebate checks will not arrive in customers' mailboxes anytime soon.

20th Century Industries, the Woodland Hills-based parent of 20th Century Insurance, said its first-quarter profit rose 19% from a year earlier, to $26.1 million from $22 million. In the quarter that ended March 31, the auto and home insurer said its revenue surged 12%, to $242.2 million from $216.8 million a year earlier. 20th Century attributed the gains to growth in policies and investment gains.

Like most of California's big auto insurers, 20th Century Industries Inc. is continuing its legal fight against having to pay customer rebates under Proposition 103, the insurance reform measure. So what happens to the $106.5 million in rebates that Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi has ordered the company to pay while 20th Century argues its case? It's not sitting in a shoe box at the insurer's Woodland Hills headquarters marked "Prop. 103 refunds."

20th Century Industries filed suit last week against the state Department of Insurance, challenging Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi's order that the Woodland Hills-based insurer give back $106.5 million to its policyholders as part of Proposition 103. Garamendi issued a statement calling 20th Century an "insurance outlaw" that is making a "disgraceful attempt" to avoid his order.

20th Century Industries, the Woodland Hills-based parent of 20th Century Insurance, said its profit rose 24% in the third quarter ended Sept. 30, to $33.5 million from $27 million a year earlier. Net premiums written--a rough equivalent of revenues--increased 15% to $212 million from $183.6 million. In the nine months ended Sept. 30, 20th Century's profit jumped 42% to $83.9 million from $59.2 million a year before. Net premiums written totaled $615.4 million, a 13% gain from $546.