Business News
SACRAMENTO – On Friday the Board of Equalization (BOE) released California gasoline and diesel consumption figures for January 2011.
California gasoline consumption was up 2.7 percent in January, and diesel consumption rose 1.4 percent, compared with last year.
“Gasoline consumption is up over last year even as gas prices have risen more than 32 cents per gallon,” said Board Member Betty T. Yee. “Higher gasoline prices are a concern for all Californians. However, I am optimistic this consumption increase in light of higher prices is a sign of the strengthening of our economy.”
California’s gasoline consumption increased 2.7 percent in January when Californians used 1.20 billion gallons of gasoline, compared to 1.17 billion gallons the same month last year.
California’s average price of gasoline rose 10.4 percent in January to $3.39 a gallon, up 32 cents compared to January last year when California gasoline prices averaged $3.07 per gallon.
The U.S. average price for a gallon of gasoline jumped 13.7 percent in January to $3.15 per gallon, up 38 cents compared to a year earlier when the U.S. average price for gasoline was $2.77.
Diesel sold in California during January totaled 191 million gallons or 1.4 percent more than the previous January when Californian’s used 189 million gallons.
Diesel prices rose 56 cents higher to $3.56 per gallon in California during January, or 18.7 percent higher than the previous January when diesel was averaging $3.00 per gallon.
The U.S. average price for a gallon of diesel rose 18.9 percent in January to $3.39 per gallon, up 54 cents compared to a year earlier when the U.S. average price for diesel was $2.85.
The BOE is able to monitor gallons through tax receipts paid by fuel distributors. The figures reported monthly are net consumption that includes BOE audit assessments, refunds, amended and late tax returns, and the California State Controller’s Office refunds.
Figures for February 2011 are scheduled to be available at the end of May 2011.
All monthly, quarterly, and annual figures can be viewed at www.boe.ca.gov/sptaxprog/spftrpts.htm.
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The hearing will focus on MetLife's practices regarding payment of benefits under life insurance policies after MetLife learns of an insured's death – either to the beneficiaries or, if they cannot be located for three years or more, to the State's Unclaimed Property program.
MetLife learned of the deaths of insureds through a database prepared by the Social Security Administration called “Death Master,” which lists all Americans who die.
The commissioner and the controller are responding to preliminary findings from an audit the controller launched in 2008, indicating that for two decades, MetLife failed to pay life insurance policy benefits to named beneficiaries or the state even after learning that an insured had died.
The company has a huge number of so-called industrial policies, valued at an estimated $1.2 billion, which were primarily sold in the 1940s and 1950s to working-class people. The payments, which were collected weekly, typically were higher than the final death benefit.
The controller's unclaimed property audit indicates that MetLife did not take steps to determine whether policy owners of dormant accounts are still alive, and if not, pay the beneficiaries, or the state if they cannot be located.
Simultaneously, the preliminary findings show, when MetLife knew that an owner of an annuity contract – which generates income for the policy owner at the time the annuity matures – had died, or the annuity had matured, the company did not contact the policy holder or beneficiary, even though it subscribed to the Death Master database.
Furthermore, MetLife continued making premium payments from the policy holder's account until the cash reserves were used up, and then canceled the contract.
The announcement comes after Controller Chiang last week announced a landmark settlement with insurer John Hancock and following a multiyear investigation aimed at determining whether the insurance industry was in compliance with state unclaimed property laws requiring them to transfer dormant property to the state for safekeeping when the rightful owners, or their heirs, cannot be located.
The commissioner and controller believe that these practices are not isolated, but are systemic in the insurance industry.
“The thrust of this hearing is to determine whether MetLife, one of the largest life insurers and issuers of annuities in the United States, engaged in unfair practices regarding the payment of life insurance claims to beneficiaries,” Commissioner Jones said.
“California families buy insurance to provide for their retirement security and the financial security of their families when they die,” Controller Chiang said. “The benefits should be paid to the policy beneficiaries or to the State to return to the rightful owners.”
The hearing will be held in Sacramento on Monday, May 23, from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
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