NAMIC at Odds on Colo. Credit Score Ban

Colorado lawmakers are faced once again with a proposed ban on credit scoring for insurance underwriting, according to the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC). HB 1143 would reportedly prohibit an insurer from using credit scoring for the acceptance, denial, renewal, or rating of a potential insured for insurance underwriting purposes in connection with property/casualty insurance. The bill was introduced in the Colorado House of Representatives and assigned to the House Business Affairs and Labor Committee. “NAMIC is disappointed to see that a credit scoring ban bill has reared its ugly head in Colorado again,” said Christian Rataj, NAMIC’s Western state affairs manager. “Insurance consumers have dodged this bullet in three of the past five legislative sessions, but it keeps reappearing like a bad rash that needs to be permanently cured.” Rataj noted that several recent federal and state government studies have validated the use of credit scoring as a legitimate and reasonable underwriting tool that does not unfairly discriminate against certain population groups. “It appears as though the advocates of a credit scoring ban just don’t want to accept the repeatedly proven fact that credit-based insurance scoring is good for the vast majority of insurance consumers in the state as it assists insurance carriers in their efforts to provide insurance consumers with rates that fairly and accurately reflect a consumer’s personal risk of loss exposure,” he added.