HB 195 Summary

• Insurers must disclose at time of application and at renewal that they will obtain credit information or insurance scores for personal insurance underwriting and rating.

• Insurers taking adverse action based on credit history or insurance scores must provide written notice specifying the significant factors involved and inform consumers of their right to request reconsideration and obtain a free credit report.

• Insurers must reunderwrite and rerate policies within 24 months using current credit information or risk characteristics, and cannot fail to renew or reunderwrite policies at renewal based solely on credit history or scores without consumer waiver.

• Consumers can request exceptions to rates, rating classifications, or underwriting rules if their credit has been affected by extraordinary life circumstances including illness, death, divorce, identity theft, job loss, military deployment, or catastrophes.

• Insurers must respond to exception requests within 30 days; if denied, consumers may appeal to the director within 30 days, and the director must decide within 30 days based on what a prudent person would consider fair and reasonable.