An Iowa-based church insurer has been accused by two equal housing advocacy groups of religious discrimination in selling housing insurance.

Their complaint against GuideOne insurance in Des Moines was filed with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development by The National Fair Housing Alliance in Washington and the Ohio-based Fair Housing Advocates Association.

The groups said they sent testers posing as insurance customers who obtained evidence showing that GuideOne, through its FaithGuard endorsement, “provides and markets its products and services to homeowners on the basis of their religion and religious status.”

GuideOne, according to its Web site insures 66,000 homeowners and its products are “specifically designed for people of all faiths.”

But the complaint notes that the Web site offers coverage for hosting church activities and “extra protection for your church activities, property and religious lifestyle.”

Sam Waters, associate general counsel for the insurer, said in a statement, “GuideOne Insurance's FaithGuard home and auto insurance products for churchgoers are in no way discriminatory and we strongly believe this complaint to be baseless and without merit. We embrace all faiths, and are outraged that this group alleges otherwise.”

He added that GuideOne's FaithGuard product “is available to people of any faith– Christian, Muslim, Jewish–or even no faith at all, it makes no difference. In fact, FaithGuard is immediately available to all perspective customers and to 100 percent of the company's current policyholders (churchgoers or not), and it is our position that it is the customer's choice as to whether they add it to their policy.”

There are no church-related underwriting eligibility guidelines to obtain the product. There is no such question on the application, and the company does not check to confirm if someone is a churchgoer or not before issuing a policy, according to Mr. Waters.

The product, he wrote, is no different from policies offered by other insurers who specialize in serving teachers or military personnel and he noted it “was examined and approved by insurance departments in each of the 19 personal lines states where the company writes auto and home insurance.”

The complaint alleges that offering insurance to pay church tithes or donations up to $750 due to a disabling injury at home, double medical limits for injuries at home during a church activity is “to the exclusion of persons of faith who do not attend church but rather attend synagogues, mosques, temples or other institutions of worship.

“It also does so to the exclusion of all non-Christians whether those persons are religious or not.”

According to the complaining groups part of the Fair Housing Act prohibits religious discrimination in the provision of services in connection with sale or rental of dwellings and bars publishing a statement that indicates a preference, limitation or discrimination based on religion.

The complaining groups said while the company at times makes reference to “persons of faith” in general, it is “clear that the company prefers and targets Christians and churches.”

“GuideOne Insurance blatantly violates the letter and the spirit of the Fair Housing Act by providing extra protections to churchgoers or Christians while not providing those same protections to persons of other faiths,” said Shanna L. Smith, National Fair Housing Alliance president and chief executive officer.

According to the company's Web site, FaithGuard is offered in at least 19 states, including Ohio. “This number translates to an abundance of fair housing transgressions committed against people every day,” said Vincent Curry, executive director of the Fair Housing Advocates Association.

Lisa Rice, NFHA vice president said she could not reveal what exactly the undercover testers did to obtain evidence since the case was now on file with HUD.

“We did send out testers to verify that GuideOne was indeed offering this policy,” she said.

The company, founded in 1947 says it is licensed in 50 states and sells through 200 agents. It has approximately 45,000 church policyholders and it insures faith-based schools, colleges and senior communities offering auto and property coverage.

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Church Insurer Accused Of Discrimination

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