FCRA Permanently Extended
Washington
Despite some misgivings, insurance groups are applauding Congress for approving legislation permanently extending the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
The legislation establishes uniform rules for credit information and preempts state laws that are inconsistent with the national standard.
However, the final bill, which President Bush has said he will sign, contains two provisions that concern insurance companies.
One provision allows consumers to opt out of information sharing among financial institution affiliates that use the information for marketing and solicitation purposes, and requires financial institutions to notify consumers of their right to opt out.
Catherine Willis, director of government relations for the Des Plaines, Ill.-based National Association of Independent Insurers, said that the insurance industry asked Congress to create a narrow exception for certain products and services sold by insurance companies, in which information sharing could benefit consumers. But the effort did not succeed, she said.
She noted that, frequently, consumers obtain insurance from different affiliates of a company. For example, Ms. Willis noted, auto insurance might be sold through one affiliate, while homeowners insurance is sold through another. But the average consumer believes he or she is simply buying insurance from one company, she said.
The insurance industry, Ms. Willis said, asked Congress to allow an exception to the opt-out rule for similar products such as insurance.
Still, she said, the process is not over. The FCRA extension will still be subject to rulemaking, Ms. Willis noted, and some provisions of the bill may be open to interpretation. The insurance industry, she said, will participate actively in the rulemaking process toward the end of efficient and effective enforcement of the provision.
Another provision calls for a Federal Trade Commission and Federal Reserve Board study, in consultation with the Fair Housing Administration of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, on the impact of insurance credit scoring on the availability of credit.
Ms. Willis noted that the industry opposed including the FHA in the study because that agency does not have jurisdiction over insurance.
Marliss A. Browder, federal affairs representative for the Indianapolis-based National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, agreed. "States, not agencies such as HUD, have jurisdiction over insurance and have been active in addressing this aspect of insurance regulation," she said.
Nonetheless, Ms. Browder noted that NAMIC supports the legislation since it provides uniform national standards for consumer protection.
Leigh Ann Pusey, senior vice president of federal affairs for the Washington-based American Insurance Association, added that the legislation strengthens and improves the credit information system, which helps millions of consumers get credit and insurance.
Reproduced from National Underwriter Property & Casualty/Risk & Benefits Management Edition, November 26, 2003. Copyright 2003 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.
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