First Regular Session 116th General Assembly (2009)
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HOUSE ENROLLED ACT No. 1246
AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning insurance.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana:
SOURCE: IC 27-2-21-16; (09)HE1246.1.1. -->
SECTION 1. IC 27-2-21-16 IS AMENDED TO READ AS
FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2009]: Sec. 16.
(a) An insurer that
uses credit information to underwrite or rate risks shall not do the
following:
(1) Use an insurance score that is calculated using income,
gender, address, ZIP code, ethnic group, religion, marital status,
or nationality of the consumer as a factor.
(2) Deny, cancel, or decline to renew a personal insurance policy
solely on the basis of credit information.
(3) Base an insured's renewal rate for a personal insurance policy
solely on credit information.
(4) Take an adverse action against a consumer solely because the
consumer does not have a credit card account.
(5) Consider an absence of credit information or an inability to
calculate an insurance score in underwriting or rating a personal
insurance policy, unless the insurer does one (1) of the following:
(A) Presents to the commissioner information that the absence
or inability relates to the risk for the insurer and treats the
consumer as approved by the commissioner.
(B) Treats the consumer as if the consumer had neutral credit
information, as defined by the insurer.
(6) Take an adverse action against a consumer based on credit
information unless the insurer obtains and uses:
(A) a credit report issued; or
(B) an insurance score calculated;
not more than ninety (90) days before the date the personal
insurance policy is first written or the renewal is issued.
(7) Use credit information unless the insurer recalculates the
insurance score or obtains an updated credit report at least every
thirty-six (36) months. However, the following apply:
(A) At annual renewal, upon the request of an insured or the
insured's agent, the insurer shall re-underwrite and re-rate the
personal insurance policy based on a current credit report or
insurance score unless one (1) of the following applies:
(i) The insurer's treatment of the consumer is otherwise
approved by the commissioner.
(ii) The insured is in the most favorably priced tier of the
insurer, within a group of affiliated insurers.
(iii) Credit information was not used for underwriting or
rating the insured when the personal insurance policy was
initially written.
(iv) The insurer reevaluates the insured at least every
thirty-six (36) months after a personal insurance policy is
issued based on underwriting or rating factors other than
credit information.
This clause does not require an insurer to recalculate an
insurance score or obtain an updated credit report of a
consumer more frequently than one (1) time in a twelve (12)
month period.
(B) An insurer may obtain current credit information upon the
renewal of a personal insurance policy when renewal occurs
more frequently than every thirty-six (36) months if consistent
with the insurer's underwriting guidelines.
(8) (7) Use the following as a negative factor in an insurance
scoring methodology or in reviewing credit information for the
purpose of underwriting or rating a personal insurance policy:
(A) A credit inquiry:
(i) not initiated by the consumer; or
(ii) requested by the consumer for the consumer's own credit
information.
(B) A credit inquiry relating to insurance coverage.
(C) A late payment or a collection account with a medical
industry code on the consumer's credit report.
(D) Multiple lender inquiries:
(i) coded by the consumer reporting agency on the
consumer's credit report as being from the home mortgage
industry; and
(ii) made within thirty (30) days of one another.
(E) Multiple lender inquiries:
(i) coded by the consumer reporting agency on the
consumer's credit report as being from the automobile
lending industry; and
(ii) made within thirty (30) days of one another.
(b) An insurer that uses credit information to underwrite or rate
risks shall, at annual renewal upon the request of an insured or an
insured's agent, re-underwrite and re-rate the insured's personal
insurance policy based on a current credit report or insurance
score unless one (1) of the following applies:
(1) The insurer's treatment of the consumer is otherwise
approved by the commissioner.
(2) The insured is in the most favorably priced tier of the
insurer, within a group of affiliated insurers.
(3) Credit information was not used for underwriting or
rating the insured when the personal insurance policy was
initially written.
(4) The insurer reevaluates the insured at least every
thirty-six (36) months after a personal insurance policy is
issued based on underwriting or rating factors other than
credit information.
(5) The insurer has re-underwritten and re-rated the insured's
personal insurance policy based on a credit report obtained or
an insurance score recalculated less than twelve (12) months
before the date of the request by the insured or the insured's
agent.
(c) An insurer that uses credit information to underwrite or rate
risks may obtain current credit information upon the renewal of a
personal insurance policy when renewal occurs more frequently
than every thirty-six (36) months if consistent with the insurer's
underwriting guidelines.