Just how much of your auto insurance rate is based on your driving record and on your education and employment history? According to an analysis from the Consumer Federation of America with results recently released, the latter factors matter more than you may realize.
CFA’s study examined the top 10 insurance companies. Over May and June, the organization posed as two different individuals online: a factory worker with a high school diploma and a plant supervisor with a college degree. Beyond these two distinctions, all aspects of the fabricated individuals were identical, including sex, marital status, and driving records.
What CFA found is, four (American Family, Farmers, GEICO, Liberty Mutual, and Progressive) out of the 10 insurance companies profiled offer lower rates to drivers with higher education and more prestigious employment. Along with this, the drivers in lower positions and with less education are quoted rates up to 40 percent higher.
In a statement on Monday, J. Robert Hunter, CFA’s director of insurance, said to the press: “Lower – and moderate-income people should not be required to pay more, based on factors like education and occupation that have nothing at all to do with driving risk. These higher premiums are an important reason why many low and moderate income Americans drive uninsured.”
CFA elaborated on this point at the July 22 conference, explaining that basing rates on education and employment indirectly targets race and income.
This recent instance isn’t the first the CFA went after the insurance industry’s borderline-illegal practices. In 2012, a report from Hunter and Mark Romano revealed common estimating computer software is frequently manipulated to lowball claims.
However, in this instance, it’s not the software itself that intentionally underpays claimants. Rather, insurance companies alter the parameters, including payment ranges and other codes, to give themselves savings up to 20 percent.
