Washington state rejects bill to ban the use of credit scores

Washington state lawmakers rejected a bill to ban the use of credit scores to determine insurance rates.

The state’s insurance commissioner, Mike Kriedler, has campaigned to stop such a law from being created, saying it is unfair in today’s economic climate and that most consumers don’t understand how their credit can affect their risk level.
The state senate disagreed, but failed to vote on S.B. 65252 before February 16, the deadline for passage. The House of Representatives version of the bill, H.B. 2513, was voted down.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ property & casualty committee and the Market Regulation and Consumer Affairs Committee have held two meetings regarding credit scoring in the insurance industry and will review the issue.

The National Conference of Insurance Legislators have added an amendment to the policy of insurance based credit scoring that will protect those affected by the economy or are deemed as in “extraordinary life circumstances.”

This story was originally published by Canadian Insurance Top Broker.