SPRINGFIELD (WGEM) – Illinois state lawmakers took a step Tuesday towards banning car insurance companies from discriminating when setting premiums.
The state House Insurance Committee passed a bill banning car insurance companies from discriminating based on age, race, color, national or ethnic origin, immigration or citizenship status, sex, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity or gender expression when setting premiums. The bill is an initiative of Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, a Democrat.
Supporters argue the legislation will make the insurance market fairer for everyone but others fear it could lead to rate increases, especially for seniors and people with good driving records.
“We know that there is discrimination particularly in certain zip codes. We talk about safe drivers, we talk about seniors, we talk about law enforcement but you’re balancing those discounts on the backs of the poor and I have a problem with that,” said state Rep. Rita Mayfield, D-Waukegan.
“Illinois has a rich, decades-long history of allowing insurance companies open and competitive market places and that is working tremendously well right now,” said state Rep. Jeff Keicher, R-Sycamore.
In addition to being a lawmaker, Keicher is an insurance agent.
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Thaddeus Jones, D-Calumet City, said he plans to meet with the representatives from both Secretary of State’s Office and the insurance industry to craft an amendment with compromise language to improve the bill. He then plans to bring the bill back to the committee once the amendment is written.
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Based in New York, Stephen Freeman is a Senior Editor at Trending Insurance News. Previously he has worked for Forbes and The Huffington Post. Steven is a graduate of Risk Management at the University of New York.