Lawmakers and advocates want to ensure insurance companies don't discriminate against undocumented immigrants

Dec. 23--ALBANY -- While undocumented immigrants can now apply for a drivers license without much hassle, lawmakers and advocates want to ensure they get a fair shake when it comes to car insurance.

Concerns have cropped up about the ways in which insurance companies calculate their rates and some fear the newly eligible drivers could face discrimination or be forced to unfairly pay sky-high premiums.

Assemblyman Marcos Crespo, one of the sponsors of the Green Light Law that gave all New Yorkers the ability to apply for a license regardless of immigration status, penned a letter to the state's Department of Financial Services last week calling on the agency to "pursue regulatory decisions and oversight that will ensure New Yorkers -- no matter their race, gender, age, or socioeconomic status -- are not discriminated against by automobile insurance companies."

Proponents of the new law have argued that it will make the roads safer and point to other states where insurance rates and accidents decreased following the passage of similar legislation.

In Connecticut, where a similar law was enacted in 2015, officials reported a reduction in hit-and-run crashes and a decline in unlicensed-driving tickets. In California, Stanford University researchers found a 7% to 10% decrease in hit-and runs as well as savings on property damage.

For the most part, driving history determines the price of car insurance. But other factors related to demographic information is also used to determine rates including education level, occupation, and ZIP code.

A ProPublica analysis from 2017 confirmed what many had believed for years: that minority neighborhoods pay higher car insurance premiums than predominantly white neighborhoods with similar risk factors.

The state Department of Financial Services has already taken several regulatory steps prohibiting insurance companies from using a driver's race, occupational status or education when setting rates.

The agency will also be issuing guidance to auto insurers and consumers as drivers newly licensed under New York's Green Light Law apply for insurance. A spokesman said the state will ensure all laws and regulations are properly followed and will not tolerate any discrimination based on immigration status.

Crespo will be pushing a pair of bills next year that will prohibit auto insurers from discrimination on the basis of "socioeconomic factors in determining algorithms used to construct actuarial tables, coverage terms, premiums and rates."

Rev. Kirsten Foy and other advocates also called on the state to ensure insurance companies aren't discriminating against minorities or immigrants.

"For years, some of the most vulnerable drivers across the country have been subject to outright racism, sexism, classism, and ageism," Foy wrote. "By charging these drivers such high rates, car insurance companies are holding back struggling New Yorkers from improving their financial position in life."

Alex Timm, the CEO of Root Insurance, an auto insurance company that tracks drivers and sets prices based on customers' behavior behind the wheel, joined Crespo in calling for oversight.

"With hundreds of thousands of new drivers getting licensed, now is the time for New York to embrace technology that will reduce racial and economic discrimination and give everyone access to the protection and insurance coverage they deserve," he said.

Timm touted his own company's approach to insurance as a way to avoid discrimination based on where a driver lives or their socio-economic status.

"The fastest way to break this costly and discriminatory spiral is to push car insurers to rate drivers primarily on how well they actually drive, not the demographic category they fall in or where they live," he said.

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