The collapse of the housing market and the severe downturn in the economy could reignite insurance scoring battles in state legislatures and in Congress, according to consumer groups, which expect lawmakers to aggressively take another look at the rating factor in the wake of the subprime mortgage crisis and subsequent credit crunch. With millions seeing their credit standing threatened and many at risk of foreclosure, penalizing them further with higher insurance rates would be unfair, these groups contend.
Legislative and regulatory disagreements regarding insurer use of credit information in determining homeowners and auto insurance rates are certainly not new--and in recent years, the controversy even seemed to be dying down.
The battles over the issue between the insurance industry and consumer groups had been particularly heated throughout 2002 and 2003, as buyer advocates contended, among other arguments, that insurance scores adversely impact minorities and the poor, while insurers defended the rating tool as a race-blind, actuarially-sound way of measuring risk. (See related story, page 14.)
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