S111 —

S111 1RSenate [FirstStatement Reprint]1/11/21 STATEMENT TO   SENATE, No.

111 STATE OF NEW JERSEY 219th LEGISLATURE   PRE-FILEDwith FORSenate INTRODUCTIONFloor INAmendments THE(Proposed 2020by SESSIONSenator  GILL)   SponsoredADOPTED: by:

Senator JANUARY NIA11, H.2021         These amendments include employment status, homeownership status, and marital status in the factors that automobile insurers may not consider when assigning a risk to a rating plan.  The amendments also prohibit insurers from taking education, occupation, homeownership status, marital status, or credit score into consideration in determining a consumer’s eligibility for insurance or in calculating a rate for an insured, or in any insurance score used to calculate an insured’s rate.

GILL District 34 (Essex and Passaic) Senator  M.

TERESA RUIZ District 29 (Essex) Senator  NILSA CRUZ-PEREZ District 5 (Camden and Gloucester) Senator  NELLIE POU District 35 (Bergen and Passaic)   Co-Sponsored by:

Senators Turner and Gopal         SYNOPSIS      Prohibits use of education, occupation, homeownership status, marital status, or credit score in certain automobile insurance determinations.

  CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT      As amended by the Senate on January 11, 2021.

   An Act concerning certain automobile insurance underwriting rules and amending P.L.1997, c.151.

       Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

        1.   Section 15 of P.L.1997, c.151 (C.17:29A-46.2) is amended to read as follows:

     15.  a.   Insurers shall put in writing all underwriting rules applicable to each rate level utilized pursuant to section 14 of P.L.1997, c.151 (C.17:29A-46.1).  An insurer may take into account factors, including, but not limited to, driving record characteristics appropriate for underwriting and classification in formulating its underwriting rules;

provided that no underwriting rule based on motor vehicle violations shall be formulated in such a manner as to assign any named insured to a rating tier other than the standard rating tier applicable to the insured's territory solely on the basis of accumulating four motor vehicle points or less.  No underwriting rule shall operate in such a manner as to assign a risk to a rating plan on the basis of the territory in which the insured resides or any other factor which the commissioner finds is a surrogate for territory.  No underwriting rule shall operate in such a manner as to assign a risk to a rating plan on the basis of an insured’s:

(1) educational level;

(2) employment, trade, business, occupation or profession;

1[or]1 (3) 1employment status;

(4) homeownership status;

(5) marital status;

or (6)1 credit score, or any information derived from an insured’s credit report.  1An insurer shall not take any of these factors into consideration in determining a consumer’s eligibility for insurance or in calculating a rate for an insured, or in any insurance score used to calculate an insured’s rate.1  An insurer which knowingly fails to transact automobile insurance consistently with its underwriting rules shall be subject to a fine of not less than $1,000 for each violation.

     b.    All underwriting rules applicable to each rate level as provided for in section 14 of P.L.1997, c.151 (C.17:29A-46.1) shall be filed with the commissioner and shall be subject to his prior approval.

All underwriting rules shall be subject to public inspection.

Except as provided in subsection d.

of section 27 of P.L.1990, c.8 (C.17:33B-15), insurers shall apply their underwriting rules uniformly and without exception throughout the State, so that every applicant or insured conforming with the underwriting rules will be insured or renewed, and so that every applicant not conforming with the underwriting rules will be refused insurance.

     c.     An insurer with more than one rating plan for private passenger automobile insurance policies providing identical coverages shall not adopt underwriting rules which would permit a person to be insured for private passenger automobile insurance under more than one of the rating plans.

     d.    An insurer that revises its underwriting rules with respect to the assignment of insureds to rating tiers based on the number of accumulated motor vehicle points, as provided by subsection a.

of this section, as amended by P.L.2003, c.89, shall certify to the commissioner that the revised rule will produce rates that are revenue neutral based upon the insurer's current coverages and book of business.

(cf:

P.L.2003, c.89, s.40)        2.    This act shall take effect on the 90th day following enactment.