AIA: HB 80 Would Hurt Delaware Drivers

WASHINGTON, D.C. (PRWEB) April 05, 2017

Eric Goldberg, Vice President for the American Insurance Association (AIA), issued the following statement urging the Delaware House Economic Development/Banking/Insurance/Commerce Committee to reject HB 80, legislation that would severely restrict the state's auto insurance underwriting and rating system. HB 80 is scheduled to be heard this afternoon in Committee. If passed, HB 80 would prevent insurers from using traditional, longstanding rating factors such as a driver's age, education, gender, occupation, credit-based insurance score, or marital status in determining the rate for an auto insurance policy. Multiple studies have demonstrated that these factors are correlated to the risk of loss.

A statement from Mr. Goldberg follows:

"AIA urges the Committee to reject HB 80, adverse auto insurance rating factors legislation. The bill sets forth both mandatory and acceptable rating factors, and requires insurers to assign the same relative weight to each of these factors. However, changing these rating factors would only impede innovation and product development, and therefore stifle competition, to the ultimate detriment of Delaware's drivers. Equally important, the bill does absolutely nothing to reign in the underlying costs of auto insurance.

One example contained in the bill ranks a driver's status as a nonsmoker as being more important than claim history and severity. And yet, there is no publicly known or available data to support this assertion. HB 80 would lead to good drivers subsidizing insurance costs for bad ones. It has the potential to greatly hurt Delaware's auto insurance market. That is why we are respectfully urging the Committee to defeat this bill."

Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2017/04/prweb14220796.htm