S.D. Insurers Ask Steuck to Spike Credit Scoring Bill

South Dakota draft legislation regarding credit scoring is unnecessary, burdensome and would open the door for even more restrictive alternatives in the legislature if introduced, a leading industry representative has told Insurance Director Gary Steuck.

The draft legislation, DRR26, would hew closely to the National Conference of Insurance Legislators’ model act on credit scoring and supersede the state’s current bulletin on the matter, according to Mark Heyde, president of the South Dakota Insurance Alliance.

In a message to supporters, Heyde said the status quo, arrived at via “a working commitee of insurance companies, agents and regulators,” seems to be working and that “there is definitely an increased cost of doing business for insurance carriers” if an NCOIL-type model is enacted.

Heyde appeared most concerned that proposing such a bill, mild as it might be, in the legislature “will again open the door for legislative discussion on a topic that is hard for anyone outside of our industry to fully understand.”