Last month, the National Conference of Insurance Legislators passed a model law that among other things prohibited carriers from taking an adverse action based solely on the claims history of a previous property owner.

The most controversial portion of the measure said policyholders could have one so-called Claim Without Payment situation before carriers could take an underwriting or rating action on future such incidents.

In addition, the law prevents any action taken on the basis of a mere inquiry.

A total of 27 states have adopted legislation in regard to the databases, much of it at the behest of the real estate industry, who feared sales would suffer if homeowners' policies were delayed or not available.

Eric Goldberg, assistant general counsel for the American Insurance Association, said that NCOIL member lawmakers are expected to promote enactment of the NCOIL model next year in states where no action has been taken. "Therefore, we believe that consumers and insurers would be best served if the NAIC were to endorse the NCOIL model act," Mr. Goldberg said.

NCOIL and the NAIC have been under pressure to act more in synch to stave off federal regulation. But the first effort in that direction–the jointly sponsored market conduct model law–has not fared well in the states.