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SECOND REGULAR SESSION
SENATE BILL NO. 852
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR MAY .
4877S.01I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary
AN ACT
To repeal section 375.918, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof one new section relating to the use
of credit scores in determining certain insurance rates.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Section 375.918, RSMo, is repealed and one new 1
section enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as section 375.918, 2
to read as follows:3
375.918. 1. As used in this section, the following 1
terms mean: 2
(1) "Adverse action", a denial, nonrenewal of, or a 3
reduction in the amount of benefits payable or types of 4
coverages under any contract, existing or applied for, in 5
connection with the underwriting of insurance. An offer by 6
an insurer to write a contract through an affiliated insurer 7
does not constitute an adverse action; 8
(2) "Contract", any automobile insurance policy as 9
defined in section 379.110, or any property insurance policy 10
as defined in section 375.001, including such a policy on a 11
mobile home or residential condominium unit or a policy of 12
renters' or tenants' insurance. Contract shall not include 13
any policy of mortgage insurance or commercial insurance; 14
(3) "Credit report", any written or electronic 15
communication of any information by a consumer reporting 16
agency that: 17
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(a) Bears on a person's credit worthiness, credit 18
standing, or credit capacity; and 19
(b) Is used or collected wholly or partly to serve as 20
a factor in the underwriting of a contract; 21
(4) "Credit scoring entity", any entity that is 22
involved in creating, compiling, or providing insurance 23
credit scores; 24
(5) "Insurance credit score", a numerical 25
representation of the insurance risk a person presents using 26
the person's attributes derived from a credit report or 27
credit information in a formula to assess insurance risk on 28
an actuarial or statistical basis; 29
(6) "Insurer", any insurance company or entity that 30
offers a contract; 31
(7) "Underwriting", the selection of the risk that 32
will be assumed by the insurer on a contract, and 33
specifically the decision whether to accept, deny, renew, 34
nonrenew, reduce, or increase the amount of benefits payable 35
or types of coverages under the contract. 36
2. An insurer using a credit report or insurance 37
credit score as a factor in underwriting shall not take an 38
adverse action based on such factor without consideration of 39
another noncredit-related underwriting factor. 40
3. No insurer shall take an adverse action against an 41
applicant or insured based on inability to compute an 42
insurance credit score without consideration of another 43
underwriting factor, unless the insurer can justify the 44
credibility that the lack of an insurance credit score has 45
in underwriting to the director of the department of 46
commerce and insurance. 47
4. An insurer using a credit report or insurance 48
credit score as a factor in underwriting a contract shall 49
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disclose at the time of the original application for the 50
contract or on the application itself that the insurer may 51
gather credit information. 52
5. An insurer using a credit report or insurance 53
credit score as a factor in underwriting of a contract shall 54
not take an adverse action on such contract based on 55
information that is the subject of a written dispute between 56
the policyholder or applicant and a consumer reporting 57
agency, as noted in such person's credit report, until such 58
dispute has reached final determination in accordance with 59
the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. Section 60
1681, et seq. In the event that information is the subject 61
of a written dispute under this subsection, the sixty-day 62
period provided by section 375.002 or section 379.110 shall 63
be extended until fifteen days after the dispute reaches 64
final determination. Nothing in this subsection shall be 65
construed to require any consumer reporting agency, as 66
defined by the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. 67
Section 1681, et seq., to include any information on a 68
credit report beyond the extent required by the federal Fair 69
Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. Section 1681, et seq. 70
6. If the use of a credit report or insurance credit 71
score on a contract results in an adverse action, the 72
insurer shall provide the policyholder or applicant: 73
(1) Notice that a credit report or insurance credit 74
score adversely affected the underwriting of the contract; 75
(2) The name, address, and telephone number of the 76
consumer credit reporting agency that furnished the credit 77
information, in compliance with the notice requirements of 78
the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. Section 79
1681, et seq.; 80
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(3) Notice of the right to obtain a free credit report 81
from the consumer credit reporting agency within sixty days; 82
and 83
(4) Notice of the right to lodge a dispute with the 84
consumer credit reporting agency to have any erroneous 85
information corrected in accordance with the federal Fair 86
Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. Section 1681, et seq. 87
7. Within thirty days from the date the insurer 88
provides notice of an adverse action pursuant to subdivision 89
(1) of subsection 6 of this section, the applicant or 90
insured may in writing request from the insurer a statement 91
of reasons for such action. For purposes of determining the 92
thirty-day period, the notice of an adverse action is deemed 93
received three days after mailing. The statement of reasons 94
shall be sufficiently clear and specific so that a person of 95
average intelligence can identify the basis for the 96
insurer's decision without further inquiry. An insurer may 97
provide an explanation of significant characteristics of the 98
credit history that may have impacted such person's 99
insurance credit score to meet the requirements of this 100
subsection. Standardized credit explanations provided by 101
credit scoring entities comply with this subsection. 102
8. If an insurer bases an adverse action in part on a 103
credit report or insurance credit score, the applicant or 104
insured may within thirty days of such adverse action make a 105
written request for reunderwriting following any correction 106
relating to the credit report or insurance credit score. 107
9. An insurer may obtain and use a current credit 108
report or insurance credit score on new business or renewal 109
contracts, but shall not take an adverse action with respect 110
to renewal contracts based upon such credit report or 111
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insurance credit score until or after the third anniversary 112
date of the initial contract. 113
10. Insurance inquiries shall not directly or 114
indirectly be used as a negative factor in any insurance 115
credit scoring formula or in the use of a credit report in 116
underwriting. 117
11. Nothing in this section shall be construed as 118
superceding the provisions of section 375.002 and section 119
379.114. Nothing in this section shall be construed as 120
prohibiting any insurer from using credit information in 121
determining whether to offer a policyholder or applicant the 122
option to finance or establish a payment plan for the 123
payment of any premium for a contract. Nothing in this 124
section shall apply to any entity not acting as an insurer 125
or credit scoring entity as defined in subsection 1 of this 126
section. 127
12. No credit scoring entity shall provide or sell to 128
any party, other than the insurer, its insurance company 129
affiliates or holding companies, and the producer from whom 130
the inquiry was generated, data or lists that include any 131
information that in whole or in part is submitted in 132
conjunction with credit inquiries about consumers. Such 133
information includes, but is not limited to, expiration 134
dates, information that may identify time periods during 135
which a consumer's insurance may expire, or other nonpublic 136
personal information as defined under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley 137
Act, 15 U.S.C. Sections 6801 to 6809. The provisions of 138
this subsection shall not preclude the exchange of 139
information specifically authorized under the federal Fair 140
Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. Section 1681, et seq., the 141
Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, 15 U.S.C. Sections 6801 to 6809 and 142
other applicable federal law. The provisions of this 143
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subsection shall not apply to data disclosed in connection 144
with a proposed or actual sale, merger, transfer or exchange 145
of all or a portion of an insurer's or producer's business 146
or operating unit, including but not limited to, the sale of 147
a portfolio of contracts, if such disclosure concerns solely 148
consumers of the business or unit and such disclosure is not 149
the primary reason for the sale, merger, transfer or 150
exchange. 151
13. A violation of this section may be enforceable 152
under section 374.280. 153
14. The provisions of this section shall apply to all 154
contracts entered into on or after July 1, 2003. 155
15. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the 156
contrary, for any contract that is an automobile insurance 157
policy as defined in section 379.110 that is entered into on 158
or after August 28, 2026, no insurer shall utilize any 159
information obtained directly or indirectly from a consumer 160
reporting agency or any insurance credit score that relies 161
on information obtained directly or indirectly from a 162
consumer reporting agency for the purpose of determining the 163
rate charged for such contract. 164
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