HB5839 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB097 19095 RPM 64334 b

97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2011 and 2012
HB5839

Introduced 2/16/2012, by Rep. JoAnn D. Osmond

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

215 ILCS 157/20

Amends the Use of Credit Information in Personal Insurance Act to provide that an insurer authorized to do business in the State that uses credit information to underwrite or rate risks must recalculate the insured's insurance score at the request of the insured, and not more than once annually, in order to determine whether the insured is eligible for a reduction in his or her premium rate.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning insurance.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Use of Credit Information in Personal Insurance Act is amended by changing Section 20 as follows:

(215 ILCS 157/20)

Sec. 20. Use of credit information.

(a) An insurer authorized to do business in this State that uses credit information to underwrite or rate risks shall not:

(1) Use an insurance score that is calculated using income, gender, address, ethnic group, religion, marital status, or nationality of the consumer as a factor.

(2) Deny, cancel, or nonrenew a policy of personal insurance solely on the basis of credit information, without consideration of any other applicable underwriting factor independent of credit information and not expressly prohibited by item (1). An insurer shall not be considered to have denied, cancelled, or nonrenewed a policy if coverage is available through an affiliate. If an insurer denies, cancels, or does not renew a policy of personal insurance based on credit information, it must provide the affected party with a notice as described in Section 35 of this Act and an opportunity for the affected party to explain its credit information under the procedures outlined in Section 22 of this Act.

(3) Base an insured's renewal rates for personal insurance solely upon credit information, without consideration of any other applicable factor independent of credit information. An insurer shall not be considered to have based rates solely on credit information if coverage is available in a different tier of the same insurer.

(4) Take an adverse action against a consumer solely because he or she does not have a credit card account, without consideration of any other applicable factor independent of credit information.

(5) Consider an absence of credit information or an inability to calculate an insurance score in underwriting or rating personal insurance, unless the insurer does one of the following:

(A) Treats the consumer as otherwise filed with the Department, if the insurer presents information that such an absence or inability relates to the risk for the insurer and submits a filing certification form signed by an officer for the insurer certifying that such treatment is actuarially justified.

(B) Treats the consumer as if the applicant or insured had neutral credit information, as defined by the insurer.

(C) Excludes the use of credit information as a factor and uses only other underwriting criteria.

(6) Take an adverse action against a consumer based on credit information, unless an insurer obtains and uses a credit report issued or an insurance score calculated within 90 days from the date the policy is first written or renewal is issued.

(7) (Blank).

(8) Use the following as a negative factor in any insurance scoring methodology or in reviewing credit information for the purpose of underwriting or rating a policy of personal insurance:

(A) Credit inquiries not initiated by the consumer or inquiries requested by the consumer for his or her own credit information.

(B) Inquiries relating to insurance coverage, if so identified on a consumer's credit report.

(C) Collection accounts with a medical industry code, if so identified on the consumer's credit report.

(D) Multiple lender inquiries, if coded by the consumer reporting agency on the consumer's credit report as being from the home mortgage industry and made within 30 days of one another, unless only one inquiry is considered.

(E) Multiple lender inquiries, if coded by the consumer reporting agency on the consumer's credit report as being from the automobile lending industry and made within 30 days of one another, unless only one inquiry is considered.

(b) An insurer authorized to do business in this State that uses credit information to underwrite or rate risks shall, at annual renewal upon the request of an insured or an insured's agent, re-underwrite and re-rate the insured's personal insurance policy based on a current credit report or insurance score unless one of the following applies:

(1) The insurer's treatment of the consumer is otherwise approved by the Department.

(2) The insured is in the most favorably priced tier of the insurer, within a group of affiliated insurers.

(3) Credit information was not used for underwriting or rating the insured when the personal insurance policy was initially written.

(4) The insurer reevaluates the insured at least every 36 months after a personal insurance policy is issued based on underwriting or rating factors other than credit information.

(5) The insurer has recalculated an insurance score or obtained an updated credit report of a consumer in the previous 12-month period. An insurer that uses credit information to underwrite or rate risks may obtain current credit information upon the renewal of a personal insurance policy when renewal occurs more frequently than every 36 months if consistent with the insurer's underwriting guidelines.

(c) An insurer authorized to do business in this State that uses credit information to underwrite or rate risks must recalculate the insured's insurance score at the request of the insured, and not more than once annually, in order to determine whether the insured is eligible for a reduction in his or her premium rate.

(Source: P.A. 96-560, eff. 8-18-09.)