| Entities | Washington (6) |
| Topics and Issues | COVID-19 (41) |
With the support of Insurance Commissioner Mark Kreidler (D) and Governor Jay Inslee (D), S.B. 5010 was introduced in the 2021 legislative session in Washington. In advance of a January 14, 2021 hearing on the bill, CDIA submitted a letter of opposition.
During the legislative process, there were a series of letters issued by Commissioner Kreidler. On Jan. 22, 2021, Kreidler sent a letter to the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of Washington questioning the veracity of comments the IIABW made about the bill. On that same day, he also sent a letter to Sen. Mark Mullet (D), the chair of Business, Financial Services & Trade in response to questions posed by Mullet to Commissioner Kreidler.
On July 14, 2020, Insurance Commissioner Kreidler sent a letter to insurance executives asking for their support in his “legislative effort in Washington state to eliminate the use of credit scoring to determine what someone pays for insurance.” Kreidler said that his “reasoning is straightforward: The use of credit scoring is unfair and has a disproportionate economic impact on low-income individuals and communities of color here and throughout the rest of our nation.” The commissioner’s office has a webpage devoted to the proposed insurance scoring ban. The insurance industry responded with a joint letter from the American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA), the National Association of Mutual Insurers (NAMIC) and the Northwest Insurance Council (NWIC). There were also induvial responses from APCIA, NWIC, ACLI, and NAMIC. A July 2020 Insurance Journal story summarized the “Credit Scoring Battle [that is] Brewing Between Washington Commissioner and Insurer Groups.” In October 2020, APCIA, NAMIC, and NWIC sent a letter to Commissioner Kreidler in support of the use of credit for insurance decisions.