Bennie Thompson wants to ban auto insurers from using credit scores to set rates
Two House Democrats from Michigan have proposed legislation that would prevent auto insurance companies from using credit scores as a factor in determining auto insurance rates, a change that would dramatically reduce these rates in their home state and around the country.
Reps. Hansen Clarke (D) and John Conyers Jr. (D) last week introduced the Ban the Use of Credit Scores in Auto Insurance Act, along with Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.). The bill would amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act so that reports on consumer credit could not be used to set auto insurance rates.
Clarke has said that using consumer credit reports as a factor in setting insurance rates has had a crushing impact on Michigan drivers as the recession hit Michigan particularly hard, leading to plunging credit scores and sharply rising auto insurance rates. Michigan reportedly has the highest auto insurance rates in the country, and an unemployment rate that is higher than the nationwide average.
The Hill
7/16/12
Magnolia Tribune
