The Florida Cabinet – consisting of Governor Jeb Bush, Attorney General Charlie Crist, Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher and Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson – has approved a rule that would severely restrict, if not prohibit, auto and homeowner insurance companies from using a person's credit score to determine rates or coverage.  Steven Parton, general counsel for the state Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR), said the insurance industry has “turned a blind eye to the effects of credit scoring,” forcing blacks, Hispanics, women, the elderly and the poor to pay higher rates. The new rule will not immediately stop insurers’ use of credit scoring to determine rates, however, because companies have asked a state administrative law judge halt the regulation. OIR counsel Parton contends that even under the new rule insurers can still use credit histories but have to show that specific groups are not being discriminated against.

February 8, 2006