Comments on: GEICO Sued for Charging Blacks More for Auto Insurance

By: YeOleImposter

YeOleImposter — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 18:56:39 +0000

Did you read the article? No where did GEICO single out drivers by race. They used “education and employment status as factors”. The person suing GEICO said that this was a hidden way to discriminate against blacks.

By: Auto Insurance Guru

Auto Insurance Guru — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 04:58:20 +0000

There may be legitimate reasons for doing this. Maybe this community of people are known for more auto accidents than say another community. However i think its really generalization. There are very good black drivers and poor ones, and very good white drivers and poor ones. So i believe each person should be treated as an individual rather than being classed by colour.

By: YeOleImposter

YeOleImposter — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 15:40:19 +0000

I am not sure how you define risk factors. These are not 'arbitrary assesments'. The companies have statistical evidence that shows that people with poor credit submit more claims than people with good credit.

Speaking of arbitrary and unfair -- companies since the beginning have charged males more than females, single more than married, etc. These are just as 'arbitrary'.

The only reason not to allow companies to use credit factors is if society wants those with good credit to subsidize the insurance of those with poor credit and since most who argue against using credit try to paint this as rich vs. poor -- maybe they think of this as another way of redistributing wealth.

By: Saper Agency

Saper Agency — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 10:30:58 +0000

this is not fair an insured’s premium in any case should be based on risk factors – not arbitrary assessments by the insurer – its management or even actuaries or even direct insurance agent on the ground or in the field as opposed to actual risk assessment factors – in this case being the driving record and accident reports on the person or persons applying for the auto insurance

By: YeOleImposter

YeOleImposter — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 04:16:58 +0000

So are you saying that most 50 year old school bus drivers are black? Or that there are no 25 year old blacks with a college degree? Sounds like racial profiling to me.

Also, why would a 50 year old school bus driver (black or white) have bad credit? Poor money habits have to do more with what you do with the money you have not with how much you actually make.

By: john doe

john doe — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 15:32:52 +0000

The truth is that this does happen. Just changing the status in the app from High school to Bachelors degree on the app will cause a huge rate increase, or change in company placement. Here is the problem, a 25 year old with a degree and a dui will get a better rate than a 50 year old school bus driver that has never gotten a ticket of accident. the system clearly discriminates against people who have started out with either less opportunity or who chose at a young age to peruse a trade or career of their choice. If you don’t think GEICO discriminates against race consider that they offer no services to Spanish speaking Americans. legal or not. Ok I know you will say that people should learn to speak the language. but is it good business to require them to speak the language in order for them to do business with you.?

By: Nashville DUI Guide

Nashville DUI Guide — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 05:13:29 +0000

Yeah, I think they should discriminate. If there is statistical evidence that shows a relationship between a certain trait and accidents, that that should be considered. They already discriminate on some traits, so why pick and chose. If you can discriminate on one trait, they should all be fair game.

By: Julie Davis

Julie Davis — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 17:06:53 +0000

I think as long as you are “discriminating” by individual traits that can be demonstrable to show an increase or decrease in accident rates then it is ok. The insurance companies have been having trouble proving that credit reports have ANYTHING to do with accident rates. However men drive much more aggressively then women (sorry), especially young women and have clearly higher rates of car accidents per mile. So if blacks have clearly demonstrable higher rates of accidents then whites overall I don’t care if it is not politically correct, I don’t want to pay for their bad driving.

By: Car Insurance For Teenagers

Car Insurance For Teenagers — Thu, 29 May 2008 18:45:36 +0000

I disagree with the comments about discriminting against someone because of their grades. Young drivers get a discount if their grades are good and I've got no problem with that.

Insurance companies only look at risk, and if they find that students with good grades are statistically safer drivers, then the students should pay less.

[Editor's Note: I have removed the URL in this post since it appears this may be spam, It is close to the topic at hand but nobody mentioned students or grades in the post or the comments]

By: YeOleImposter

YeOleImposter — Wed, 14 May 2008 00:28:39 +0000

I don’t know that they were discriminating, that is the point of the post.