Alexandria Senator Jay Luneau filed legislation barring car insurance companies from charging women, widows or widowers, and those with low credit scores higher premiums.
One argument is that those who are recently widowed start driving more. Luneau said they’ve had experts testify to the Legislature that this is false.
“One lady that talked to us about it told us she had driven just about every day taking her husband back and forth to the hospital and doctors and things of that nature and that she rarely drove except to go to the grocery store after her husband died and they still increased her rates,” said Luneau.
Another defense from the industry was that those recently widowed are not married and thus should be charged the higher rates seen by single people.
Luneau said it’s unacceptably discriminatory to charge women more than men just because of their gender.
“We had testimony last year that clearly showed that a male and a female with the same job same credit history, same everything except the male had a DWI and the female didn’t, the female still paid more,” said Luneau.
Credit score can also impact rates. Luneau said credit scores are often inaccurate and discriminate against the working class.
Insurance Commissioner Donelon argued last year that passing this legislation would not reduce overall premiums, just shift the burden to other drivers. Luneau disputed that claim but says even if true.
“Driving record should dominate in this decision and if you have a poor driving record your insurance should be higher, you are a greater risk,” said Luneau.
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