Washington, D.C. – Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Teresa Miller issued an official notice to insurance companies stating that the question of whether price optimization techniques may be used to determine policyholder rates is a resounding no. The Commissioner reminded insurers about Pennsylvania’s longstanding prohibition against the use of price optimization. “It is well-settled that the property and casualty insurance rates cannot be excessive, inadequate or unfairly discriminatory,” the Commissioner stated in the notice. “These prohibitions can be found in all of this Commonwealth’s property and casualty rate regulatory acts and the Unfair Insurance Practices Act.”
Pennsylvania is the eighth state to notify insurers that price optimization violates state insurance statutes that require cost-based pricing and prohibit unfair discrimination in setting insurance premiums. Indiana, Washington, Florida, Maryland, Ohio, California and Vermont have previously issued notices to insurers with the same message as the Pennsylvania bulletin: utilizing non-risk related consumer characteristics to set insurance prices is illegal. The Consumer Federation of America (CFA) and the Center for Economic Justice (CEJ) applauded Commissioner Miller for the action and have asked all state Insurance Commissioners to similarly enforce their state laws which prohibit so-called price optimization.
In recent years, insurance companies have begun to use “price optimization” to raise customers’ premiums based on individual shopping habits and perceived “price elasticity of demand,” which is a measurement of a consumer’s tolerance for price changes and can also reflect their level of access to other choices. Price optimization aims to determine how much insurers can increase rates for each individual customer beyond what is appropriate based on his or her risk profile.
“Most Americans are required by law to buy auto insurance and by their mortgage company to buy homeowners insurance, and it is terribly unfair and entirely illegal for insurance companies to vary premiums based on whether or not they are statistically likely to shop around,” said J. Robert Hunter, Director of Insurance for CFA and former Texas Insurance Commissioner. “It is the obligation of Insurance Commissioners to protect consumers from this kind of price gouging, and we applaud Commissioner Miller for her action.”
According to the consumer groups, price optimization marks a radical departure from the actuarial practice of pricing insurance premiums according to the risk of loss posed by the policyholder. The purpose of price optimization is to extract as much profit as possible from policyholders who are often required to purchase insurance policies.
“Price optimization by insurers is Big Data run amok and simply price gouging by a fancy name. Consumers are being punished for activities and circumstances unrelated to risk and without any disclosure or transparency by insurers,” said Birny Birnbaum, Executive Director of CEJ. “The state actions by eight Insurance Commissioners are the first steps in returning insurance practices to the foundation of pricing insurance based on risk of loss.”
Contact: J. Robert Hunter, 703-528-0062; Birny Birnbaum, 512-784-7663
The Consumer Federation of America is a national organization of more than 250 nonprofit consumer groups that was founded in 1968 to advance the consumer interest through research, advocacy, and education.
The Center for Economic Justice is a non-profit organization that works to increase the availability, affordability and accessibility of insurance, credit, utilities, and other economic goods and services for low income and minority consumers.