Bill > SB5589

This bill directs the Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner to conduct a comprehensive study examining how insurers use credit history, credit-based insurance scores, and other rate factors that may disproportionately impact different demographic groups when setting personal insurance premiums and coverage eligibility. The study will involve collecting information from insurance entities, investigating potential disparate impacts on Washington residents based on race, ethnicity, sex, socioeconomic status, and national origin, and analyzing alternative rating factors that could reduce discriminatory practices. The insurance commissioner must contract with actuaries and consultants to analyze current insurance rating practices, identify potential alternative rating methods, and evaluate the potential impacts of these approaches on consumer costs and insurance availability. The study will result in two reports - a preliminary report due by December 31, 2025, and a final report by September 15, 2026 - which will provide policy recommendations about potentially prohibiting, allowing, or conditionally permitting the use of credit-based scoring in insurance rating. Importantly, all data collected for this study will be kept confidential, with only aggregate, non-identifying information to be made public. The bill includes an expiration date of December 31, 2033, after which the study and its provisions will no longer be in effect.

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https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=5589&Year=2025&Initiative=false