TRENTON, N.J., February 1 – Governor Jon Corzine extended the states automobile insurance Urban Enterprise Zone program until April 1, 2009.

The program, created in 1997, is designed to make private passenger automobile insurance more available in urban areas where it is determined, by the commissioner of the Department of Banking and Insurance, that consumers would benefit from increased access to automobile insurance.

Under the program, private passenger automobile insurers must insure risks in proportion to their statewide market share in the voluntary market.