SB 314: A bill for decency and fairness
SB 314 prohibits insurers from using a person’s credit history or a score reached in whole or in part through mathematical formulas applied to that credit history, when deciding if the person is eligible for insurance.
I recognize that there may be some remote connection between a person’s credit history and his insurance risk - although I think that connection unlikely in most cases. Perhaps, if someone is down on his luck, he is more likely to go crazy and kill himself. Perhaps, perhaps, if someone is in financial distress, he is more likely to not notice a stop sign while driving - but so, too is the guy who just won a raise (or the lottery). There is really very little connection between a person’s credit rating and his or her need for car, home, life or other insurance. If he can’t pay for it, he probably won’t go and buy it (except for car insurance; one hopes he’ll get that at any cost in foregone other expenditures).
The insurance industry practice of deciding on, and declining, insurance based upon irrelevant factors serves more to harm the individual and society than it can ever help the insurer. Pass this bill.
Edward Johnston 541-336-7045
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