P-C Industry Fights New York Credit Freeze Bill

The property-casualty industry is seeking an exemption from the proposed New York “credit freeze” legislation aimed at fighting identity theft.

Gary Henning, American Insurance Association senior vice president, in remarks prepared for a joint hearing in Albany today by the Senate Committee on Consumer Protection and the Assembly Committee on Consumer Affairs and Protection, said there is “almost no likelihood that a person could be victimized by identity theft in a property-casualty transaction.”

Mr. Henning said that Federal Trade Commission statistics bear out his contention. In 2005, only .4 percent of all reports of identity theft across the state were insurance related, he said.

Furthermore, he noted that since the FTC report does not break down the line of insurance, “it seems doubtful that many of these complaints are property-casualty insurance complaints.”

Credit freeze legislation allows consumers to prohibit businesses and credit reporting agencies from accessing their individual credit histories.

The Property Casualty Insurers Association of America has taken the issue one step further and urged the lawmakers not to pass any credit freeze legislation.

“Enacting credit freeze legislation in New York would most likely result in increased costs, burden and inconvenience both for the consumer and for businesses operating in New York State with only minimal resulting consumer benefit,” said PCI regional manager Kristina Baldwin.