Two bills have been introduced that will be a solution. House Bill 2513 and Senate Bill 6252 would ban the practice of using a person’s credit history, education or income to set insurance rates.
Driving records and vehicle-safety records are reasonable factors for insurers to consider when pricing insurance; A person’s income, education level and credit score are not.
With our economy in recession and unemployment in Washington at 9.5 percent, there is absolutely no reason we should allow insurers to squeeze already-vulnerable families on a discriminatory basis.
The insurance commissioner is probably right: Insurers are in the business of collecting premiums and they will defend any basis for doing so with whatever tactics at their disposal. Lawmakers should ignore their smokescreens and enact this legislation. This is a matter of basic fairness.