BILL NUMBER:  S2854

 TITLE OF BILL :  An act to amend the insurance law, in relation to
prohibiting motor vehicle insurers from discriminating based on
socioeconomic factors

 PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL :

Prohibits motor vehicle insurers from discrimination on the basis of
socioeconomic factors in determining algorithms used to construct
actuarial tables, coverage terms, premiums and or rates.

 SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS :

This bill will amend Insurance Law, adding a new § 2616, to prohibit
the use of: (a) sex; (b) marital status; (c) sexual orientation; (d)
age; (e) consumer credit information or credit score; (f) any measure
of a consumer's price elasticity of demand; (g) employment status or
occupation; (h) income level; (i) educational background or education
level attained; (j) ownership or interest in real property; (k) any
other characteristic indicating or tending to indicate the
socioeconomic status of an individual in any classification plans,
rules or rates, rating plans, or modifications issued by any insurer
or insurance company group.

 JUSTIFICATION :
              

In order to comply with New York State law a person operating a car
must have limited liability auto insurance. Currently, auto insurers
doing business may use any range of factors to determine premiums
which leads to adverse treatment of low-to moderate-income drivers.
In the State of New York, insurance companies are using factors other
than a driver's experience and driving record to calculate a drivers'
premium. Insurers use a wide range of socioeconomic and non-driving
factors to determine a driver's premium. Insurers use credit scores,
occupation, level of educational attainment, marital status, and
homeownership in addition to already prohibited factors such as age
and sex. Some insurance companies even use consumer data to determine
whether a customer is likely to shop around, and then sets prices for
its policies accordingly. Using socioeconomic and non-driving factors
that are not inherently related to a person's ability to operate a
car, safely, forces good drivers who are of lower socioeconomic status
to pay more for our State's obligatory auto insurance.  By using
rating factors such as these, good drivers of lower socioeconomic
status are not treated equally in the auto insurance market place.

The Western New York Law Center, among other state and national
organizations, has conducted research looking into the impact of
socioeconomic factors on auto insurance premiums for New York Drivers.
The Western New York Law Center recently did a study that examined
over 5,000 rate quotes for drivers in Western New York. They found
that a woman with a lower socioeconomic status pays as much as 227.11%
more for limited liability auto insurance than a driver with the same
driving record and a high socioeconomic status. A man with a lower
socioeconomic status is charged 174.26% more for limited liability
auto insurance than a driver with the same driving record and a high
socioeconomic status. Simply put, when all driving related factors are
held constant, drivers with lower levels of education, occupational
status, marital status, and renters all pay between 1.74 to 2.27 times
as much for auto insurance as their higher status peers.

It is time to stop allowing these rating practices which aid in
perpetuating the cycle of poverty.

 PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

2016: S.7904 - Referred to Insurance

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :

None

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
Immediately