H. B. 3311
(By Delegates Miley and R. Thompson)
[Introduced March 25, 2005; referred to the
Committee on Banking and Insurance then the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §33-6B-3 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to prohibiting the number of
inquiries reflected in a credit report, credit score report or
CLUE report from adversely affecting an application for
insurance; and, prohibiting reliance on information which is
false or potentially false.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §33-6B-3 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 6B. DECLINATION OF AUTOMOBILE LIABILITY INSURANCE.
§33-6B-3. Declinations; prohibited reasons.
The declination of an application for a private passenger
policy of automobile liability insurance by an insurer, agent or
broker is prohibited if the declination is:
(a) Based upon the race, religion, nationality or ethnic group, of the applicant or named insured;
(b) Based solely upon the lawful occupation or profession of
the applicant or named insured, unless the decision is for a
business purpose that is not a mere pretext for unfair
discrimination:
Provided, That this provision does not apply to
any insurer, agent or broker that limits its market to one lawful
occupation or profession or to several related lawful occupations
or professions;
(c) Based upon the principal location of the insured motor
vehicle unless the decision is for a business purpose which is not
a mere pretext for unfair discrimination;
(d) Based solely upon the age, sex or marital status of an
applicant or an insured, except that this subsection does not
prohibit rating differentials based on age, sex or marital status;
(e) Based upon the fact that the applicant has previously
obtained insurance coverage with a substandard insurance carrier;
(f) Based upon the fact that the applicant has not previously
been insured;
(g) Based upon the fact that the applicant did not have
insurance coverage for a period of time prior to the application;
(h) Based upon the fact that the applicant or named insured
previously obtained insurance coverage through a residual market
insurance mechanism;
(i) Based upon the fact that another insurer previously declined to insure the applicant or terminated an existing policy
in which the applicant was the named insured;
(j) Based solely upon an adverse credit report or adverse
credit scoring;
(k) Based, in any part, upon the number of inquiries reflected
in a credit report, credit score report or CLUE report or upon any
information contained in any of these reports, the accuracy of
which is disputed by the applicant.
Nothing in this section may be construed to prohibit an
insurer, agent or broker from using legitimate, documented,
underwriting data in making their own independent risk assessment
of an applicant for insurance.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to
prohibit the number of
inquiries reflected in a credit report, credit score report or CLUE
report from adversely affecting an application for insurance; and,
prohibiting reliance on information which is false or potentially
false.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
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