Insurance Commissioner Won’t Endorse Ban on Credit Scoring

The state (TX) insurance commissioner said Tuesday that he won’t recommend that the Legislature ban the use of credit scores in setting insurance premiums, saying such a move could disrupt the home and auto markets.

Last month, the department released a study showing that black, Hispanic and low- to moderate-income customers generally have much lower credit scores than Anglos, Asians and higher income customers. As a result end up paying higher insurance premiums, with the discrepancy in some cases as high as 400 percent.