Credit Scoring: FTC, 11 States Plan Studies On Credit Scoring

With public concern about credits scores far from extinguished, 11 state insurance departments-dubbed "the coalition of the willing"-are planning to conduct their own multi-state study of the effects of credit-based insurance scoring on consumers.The 11 states-Alabama, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and West Virginia-have issued calls to insurance companies for individual policyholder data in order to conduct their research on the effects of scores, which insurers use to price auto and homeowners policies.

Meanwhile, the Federal Trade Comm-ission (FTC), in conjunction with the Federal Reserve Board, is beginning its own research on credit scores. The FTC/Fed study is mandated by the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACT), which was signed into law late last year.