The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) will reviewtestimony on use of consumer credit information as an autoinsurance rating factor, but has no timeline yet regarding when, orif, it will take action to curb the practice, a spokesman said.

The OIR subpoenaed five insurance companies--Allstate, GEICO,Nationwide, Progressive and State Farm--to a hearing this pastWednesday and questioned them on how they use credit information intheir underwriting practices.

OIR spokesman Ed Domansky said Commissioner Kevin McCarty'sposition on the use of credit scoring has been, as noted indocuments on the OIR Web site, that the practice leads to anunintentional discriminatory effect on low-income individuals andminorities.

But although the commissioner has a position on the issue, Mr.Domansky said the purpose of holding a hearing on credit scoringwas to give insurance companies the opportunity to provide detailsabout how they use credit information, and to show that the use ofsuch information does not adversely impact customers.

Comments made at the hearing will be reviewed, Mr. Domanskysaid, but no timeline has been set regarding a potential next stepas regulators received considerable information from insurancecompanies and others and heard over six hours of testimony.

Meanwhile, in both the Florida House and Senate, bills have beenintroduced that would ban the use of credit information forunderwriting purposes with respect to auto insurance.

Senator Ronda Storms, R-Valrico, introduced SB1524, and Rep.Priscilla Taylor, D-West Palm Beach, who is an insurance agent,introduced HB 683. Both bills would ban the use of credit, as wellas education and occupation, as rating factors for autoinsurers.

Mr. Domansky said the OIR is aware of the bills, and added thatwhile the OIR is not a direct sponsor, the office and thecommissioner could act in furtherance of the bills.

He said typically when the OIR and legislature are working onsimilar issues, they act independently, but on this issue, witheach body aware of what the other is doing, there probably will besome level of communication.

However, given the new information provided by insurancecompanies at the hearing that the OIR has yet to fully review, Mr.Domansky stressed the OIR needs to remain fair and objective.

Gary Landry, vice president of the Florida Insurance Council,said he believes insurance companies showed during the hearing that50-to-60 percent of the minority population would see premiums riseif credit was banned as a rating factor. This holds true, Mr.Landry said, despite arguments minorities are adversely affected bythe use of credit information.

In addition, Mr. Landry said although concerns were voiced thatthe economic meltdown could hurt consumers' credit, and thereforelead to increased insurance rates, insurance companies said at thehearing that they have seen no evidence of that.

Insurers also testified, Mr. Landry said, that they haveprocedures in place that allow them to account for life-changing,credit altering events beyond a consumer's control.