USAA, the country's seventh-largest auto insurer, has already reduced, or plans to reduce, reduce automobile insurance rates in 2004 by an average of 7 percent in almost all states, the company reported on June 8. Meanwhile Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi approved the Automobile Club of Southern California's filing to reduce its insurance affiliate's policy premiums by five percent, the Auto Club reported this week. The filing was based on a reduction in the number of bodily injury, property damage and collision claims. The rate reduction, effective August 1, 2004, would affect approximately 90 percent of Auto Club's policyholders. The newly approved rate decrease will mean that rates have decreased by 23.5 percent over the past 11 years, the Automobile Club of Southern California said. “It stands to reason that other insurers in the state could be seeing similar trends in their claims data," Commissioner Garamendi said in a statement. "I hope my department will see more filings for rate decreases in the coming months."