Gov. Carney signs insurance consumer fairness bill

Gov. John Carney yesterday signed into law a bipartisan piece of legislation targeting unfair discriminatory practices used to determine premium costs in the automobile and homeowners insurance industries.

The final bill came after a series of negotiations between legislators, industry representatives and the Department of Insurance.

Here is what’s in the bill:

Insurance companies may no longer use an insurance credit score that factors in income, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, education, address, zip code, race, ethnic group, religion, marital status or nationality of the consumer.

They may not cancel a policy, take action against a consumer, or determine a renewal based solely on credit information. They cannot tap into collection information using medical codes. They cannot increase a renewal rate for personal automobile insurance based solely on the insured reaching the age of 75 or older. The same applies for a change in marital status due to a death of a spouse.

“By addressing unfair discriminatory practices, HS 1 for HB 80 adds and enhances Delaware’s consumer protection measures to hold companies accountable,” said Trinidad Navarro, commissioner of the Department of Insurance. “This law will push Delaware in the right direction toward a fairer and more affordable insurance marketplace.”