Proposition 42 Fearmongering

our state has an interesting proposition on our ballot for the upcoming november election. proposition 42 would increase the restrictions on the use of credit scores by insurance companies. there is already in effect, since 2003, a ban on the use of credit scores to determine rates for current insurance customers. proposition 42 would add to this restriction new customers.

i decided to check into the "no on 42" people. i found some interesting little tidbits. for starters, nowhere does their site say this new restriction would raise rates, only that it "may". i also noticed they were backed by 48 businesses, 21 of them which are in the insurance industry.

i'm smelling a little bit of bias here..............

i put little trust into those studies that claim a person's credit history determines their accident and claim filing history. these studies are funded by the insurance industry. what i find interesting is something i read insurance companies "assume". according to one website that explained some of the logic behind the insurance industry's reasoning for using credit history to determine rates, if you file a claim for minor damage due to an accident, it's often because you lack the income/funds to pay for the expense yourself........ read that again. the insurance companies say if one files a claim for minor damage due to an accident it's usually because they lack the income. now why is it the insurance industry says credit report scores do not show or determine ones income? why is it the insurance industry says they do not ever ask for a person's income nor is income considered when establishing rates? here is some little proof, in a roundabout way, that THE INDUSTRY DOES INDEED use income as a means for determining rates.

also interesting is that insurance companies are not required to show you the score they assigned to you. therefore, most of them don't. i am smelling more dirty little maneuvering here..........

sigh. need i mention that insurance scoring is quite profitable, especially since almost nobody qualifies for the lowest-tier pricing. insurance premiums are a recurring little for insurance companies, and the scores help justify higher premiums.

i see this resistance to proposition 42 as simply about keeping the insurance industry free to continue to swim in their capitalist profit making. i think the measure is fair. using numbers to determine someone's potential for filing claims is ridiculous. numbers only assume. they never take into consideration the person in his or her entirety.

vote YES on 42.