UTAH LEGISLATURE PASSES CREDIT-SCORING BILL

Legislative action was completed March 6 on Utah House Bill 110 after the bill was amended to allow insurers to use credit-based insurance scores for initial underwriting in auto insurance. On rates, the bill still allows the scores to be used only to give customers discounts, which in effect destroys their usefulness according to the National Association of Independent Insurers (NAII). The Senate amended HB 110 to allow insurance scores to be used in initial underwriting as long as other risk-related factors also were considered and then passed the measure. The House concurred later in the day, the final day of the legislature’s 2002 session. The bill now goes to Gov. Michael Leavitt. Other bills that NAII opposed at least in part but which passed in the legislature’s closing hours included: HB 342, allowing rental car companies to obtain diminished value and administrative fees incurred in collecting a claim for a damaged vehicle; Senate Bill 119, revising some provisions for reporting liabilities for premium assessments related to workers’ compensation insurance and adding actuarial, accounting and legal experience as fields from which directors of the state Workers’ Compensation Board are selected; and SB 171, a Uniform Arbitration Act bill that includes a provision allowing for an award of punitive damages.