2008 is barely into its second quarter, but it's already been a rough year for Allstate Insurance. They've had legal issues in Florida when they failed to release certain records, and now they've been given a deadline of April 24th, when a hearing will take place, to prepare an argument against the State of California's order that auto insurance rates must be reduced by an average of 15.9 percent.

Originally, the rate reduction was supposed to go into effect on Monday, April 14th, but on Friday the 11th, attorneys for the insurance company filed an appeal on the basis that important evidence was excluded from the hearing which resulted in the rate cut being required.

Peter DeMarko, a spokesperson for Allstate, said that the previous hearing, "…resulted in Allstate being asked to lower its rates by almost twice as much as any other similarly situated insurance company even though our rates are already competitive."

The cut came about because the Department of Insurance disagreed with a proposed rate revision filed by Allstate in 2006, which was subsequently sent to the administrative law judge who recommended the 15.9% reduction last month.

Santa Monica-based nonprofit advocacy group Consumer Watchdog has been intervening on behalf of Allstate customers during these proceedings, and says that the insurer is going through a great amount of "legal maneuvering" to avoid having to provide relief for customers already paying high insurance premiums in a declining economy.

Allstate is currently the third-largest auto insurer in California. If the reductions are upheld, the average cut would average roughly $124 /vehicle each year.