NEWS: PRESSLEY, WARREN, LAWMAKERS PROBE INSURANCE COMPANIES ON USAGE OF CREDIT-BASED INSURANCE SCORES AS COSTS RISE

The following information was released by the office of Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley:

"Insurers should not charge consumers higher premiums simply because of their personal credit history, which could have been impacted by job loss, a surprise medical bill, predatory lending, or simply inaccurate information, rather than the actual risk associated with a home."

WASHINGTON Today, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), a member of the House Financial Services Committee, and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, led 18 members of Congress in a set of letters to USAA, State Farm, Progressive, Liberty Mutual, Farmers, and Allstate requesting information on the usage of credit-based insurance scores in homeowners insurance underwriting and pricing.

In the letters, the lawmakers underscored concerns that insurance companies are unfairly jacking up rates based on customer credit history:

The lawmakers called on the insurance companies to provide information on how they use credit-based scoring when offering or pricing homeowners insurance policies, requesting responses from the companies by August 13.

The letters are cosigned by Representatives Andre Carson (D-Ind.), Sean Casten (D-Ill.), Sylvia Garcia (D-Tex.), Al Green (D-Tex.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), Nikema Williams (D-Geo.), and SenatorsRichard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Mary.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).