Insurers Told: Don't Jack Returning G.I.s' Auto Rates

By Michael Ha

NU Online News Service, May 17, 3:12 p.m. EDT?North Dakota's insurance commissioner said he has taken action to prevent insurers from jacking up auto premiums for soldiers returning from Iraq, who cancelled the coverage while at war.[@@]

Commissioner Jim Poolman said he believed the matter could become an issue for states throughout the nation.

Mr. Poolman said in April, when some National Guard members from his state returned home, "as they began looking for auto insurance to put back on their vehicles?in some cases going to the same company, and in other cases going to different companies?they were either being rated as a higher risk or not being able to get insurance at all because they had previously gone uninsured while in Iraq."

The commissioner noted that this problem is not at all limited to his state and that this potentially could become a nationwide issue. "Maybe more media attention could spur more attention to this potential problem," he said.

In North Dakota, the issue mainly concerned young, single National Guard reservists who had decided to cancel their auto coverage before starting a six-month or one-year active duty in Iraq. "We have approximately 900 National Guard members from our state who are on active duty serving in Iraq," the commissioner said.

"So we started looking at companies and found out that, yes, there could be some problems," the commissioner said. Some of the carriers that could have caused potential problems for returning soldiers included the Northbrook, Ill.-based Allstate Corporation; The Progressive Corporation in Mayfield Village, Ohio; and Safeco Corporation in Seattle, according to the commissioner.

"We came across a few cases after our first deployment came back last month. So we got a bulletin out very quickly," he said. "We saw that this could have been a much larger problem had we not sent a pre-emptive bulletin on it."

In the bulletin, the commissioner acknowledged that under usual circumstances, considering whether the applicant has had continuous coverage can be appropriate underwriting and rating standards, but "in this instance, however, these underwriting requirements are inappropriate and should be waived."

"These servicemen and women, who have risked their lives on behalf of and in defense of our country, should not be penalized for their service," Commissioner Poolman said in his bulletin.

The commissioner requested in the bulletin that insurers reinstate these soldiers' policies as if coverage were continuous, if the soldiers were "in good standing at the time of leaving for active duty and can show proof that such active service was the reason for the loss in continuity."

The commissioner further asked insurers to provide similar consideration to returning soldiers who are new insurance applicants but were in good standing with another carrier prior to leaving for active duty.

Mr. Poolman said his office was alerted to the problem by insurance agents. "What happened was that we were hearing from agents that there was a potential problem involving returning soldiers who had dropped their insurance specifically on vehicles while they were serving in Iraq."

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Insurers Told: Don't Jack Returning G.I.s' Auto Rates

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