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1 | AN ACT concerning regulation.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The Use of Credit Information in Personal | |||||||||||||||||||
5 | Insurance Act is amended by changing Section 20 as follows:
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6 | (215 ILCS 157/20)
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7 | Sec. 20. Use of credit information. | |||||||||||||||||||
8 | (a) An insurer authorized to do business
in this State | |||||||||||||||||||
9 | that uses credit information to underwrite or rate risks shall
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10 | not:
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11 | (1) Use an insurance score that is calculated using | |||||||||||||||||||
12 | income, gender,
address, ethnic group, religion, marital | |||||||||||||||||||
13 | status, or nationality of the consumer
as a factor.
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14 | (2) Deny, cancel, or nonrenew a policy of personal | |||||||||||||||||||
15 | insurance solely on
the basis of credit information, | |||||||||||||||||||
16 | without consideration of any other applicable
underwriting | |||||||||||||||||||
17 | factor independent of credit information and not expressly
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18 | prohibited by item (1). An insurer shall not be considered | |||||||||||||||||||
19 | to have denied,
cancelled, or nonrenewed a policy if | |||||||||||||||||||
20 | coverage is available through an
affiliate. If an insurer | |||||||||||||||||||
21 | denies, cancels, or does not renew a policy of personal | |||||||||||||||||||
22 | insurance based on credit information, it must provide the | |||||||||||||||||||
23 | affected party with a notice as described in Section 35 of |
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1 | this Act and an opportunity for the affected party to | ||||||
2 | explain its credit information under the procedures | ||||||
3 | outlined in Section 22 of this Act.
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4 | (3) Base an insured's renewal rates for personal | ||||||
5 | insurance solely upon
credit information, without | ||||||
6 | consideration of any other applicable factor
independent | ||||||
7 | of credit information. An insurer shall not be considered | ||||||
8 | to
have based rates solely on credit information if | ||||||
9 | coverage is available in a
different tier of the same | ||||||
10 | insurer.
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11 | (3.5) Use credit information in any way when setting | ||||||
12 | personal auto insurance rates.
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13 | (4) Take an adverse action against a consumer solely | ||||||
14 | because he or she
does not have a credit card account, | ||||||
15 | without consideration of any other
applicable factor | ||||||
16 | independent of credit information.
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17 | (5) Consider an absence of credit information or an | ||||||
18 | inability to calculate
an insurance score in underwriting | ||||||
19 | or rating personal insurance, unless the
insurer does one | ||||||
20 | of the following:
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21 | (A) Treats the consumer as otherwise filed with | ||||||
22 | the
Department, if the insurer presents information | ||||||
23 | that such
an absence or inability relates to the risk | ||||||
24 | for the insurer and submits a
filing certification | ||||||
25 | form signed by an officer for the insurer certifying | ||||||
26 | that
such treatment is actuarially justified.
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1 | (B) Treats the consumer as if the applicant or | ||||||
2 | insured had neutral
credit information, as defined by | ||||||
3 | the insurer.
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4 | (C) Excludes the use of credit information as a | ||||||
5 | factor and uses only
other underwriting criteria.
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6 | (6) Take an adverse action against a consumer based on | ||||||
7 | credit
information, unless an insurer obtains and uses a | ||||||
8 | credit report issued or an
insurance score calculated | ||||||
9 | within 90 days from the date the policy is first
written or | ||||||
10 | renewal is issued.
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11 | (7) (Blank).
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12 | (8) Use the following as a negative factor in any | ||||||
13 | insurance scoring
methodology or in reviewing credit | ||||||
14 | information for the purpose of underwriting
or rating a | ||||||
15 | policy of personal insurance:
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16 | (A) Credit inquiries not initiated by the consumer | ||||||
17 | or inquiries
requested by the consumer for his or her | ||||||
18 | own credit information.
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19 | (B) Inquiries relating to insurance coverage, if | ||||||
20 | so identified on a
consumer's credit report.
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21 | (C) Collection accounts with a medical industry | ||||||
22 | code, if so identified
on the consumer's credit | ||||||
23 | report.
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24 | (D) Multiple lender inquiries, if coded by the | ||||||
25 | consumer reporting agency
on the consumer's credit | ||||||
26 | report as being from the home mortgage industry and
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1 | made within 30 days of one another, unless only one | ||||||
2 | inquiry is considered.
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3 | (E) Multiple lender inquiries, if coded by the | ||||||
4 | consumer reporting agency
on the consumer's credit | ||||||
5 | report as being from the automobile lending industry
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6 | and made within 30 days of one another, unless only one | ||||||
7 | inquiry is considered. | ||||||
8 | (b) An insurer authorized to do business
in this State | ||||||
9 | that uses credit information to underwrite or rate risks | ||||||
10 | shall, at annual renewal upon the request of an insured or an | ||||||
11 | insured's agent, re-underwrite and re-rate the insured's | ||||||
12 | personal insurance policy based on a current credit report or | ||||||
13 | insurance score unless one of the following applies: | ||||||
14 | (1) The insurer's treatment of the consumer is | ||||||
15 | otherwise approved by the Department. | ||||||
16 | (2) The insured is in the most favorably priced tier | ||||||
17 | of the insurer, within a group of affiliated insurers. | ||||||
18 | (3) Credit information was not used for underwriting | ||||||
19 | or rating the insured when the personal insurance policy | ||||||
20 | was initially written. | ||||||
21 | (4) The insurer reevaluates the insured at least every | ||||||
22 | 36 months after a personal insurance policy is issued | ||||||
23 | based on underwriting or rating factors other than credit | ||||||
24 | information. | ||||||
25 | (5) The insurer has recalculated an insurance score or | ||||||
26 | obtained an updated credit report of a consumer in the |
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1 | previous 12-month period. | ||||||
2 | An insurer that uses credit information to underwrite or rate | ||||||
3 | risks may obtain current credit information upon the renewal | ||||||
4 | of a personal insurance policy when renewal occurs more | ||||||
5 | frequently than every 36 months if consistent with the | ||||||
6 | insurer's underwriting guidelines.
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7 | (Source: P.A. 96-560, eff. 8-18-09.)
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