Commissioner issues regulations prohibiting gender discrimination in automobile insurance rates
News: 2019 Press Release
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones has issued new regulations that prohibit the use of gender in private passenger automobile insurance rating in California. The Gender Non-Discrimination in Automobile Insurance Rating Regulation became effective on January 1, 2019.
“My priority as Insurance Commissioner is to protect all California consumers, and these regulations ensure that auto insurance rates are based on factors within a driver’s control, rather than personal characteristics over which drivers have no control,” said Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones.
This is not the first regulatory action Commissioner Jones has taken to prevent gender-based discrimination in California’s insurance industry. In 2012, the Commissioner promulgated regulations that prohibit and prevent the denial of coverage or denial of claims for medical services based upon an insured or prospective insured’s actual or perceived gender identity. Prior to his election as Insurance Commissioner, then Assemblymember Jones authored legislation (Assembly Bill 119, in 2009) to prohibit gender-based discrimination in the pricing of health insurance. Thanks to that law, California eliminated gender-based pricing in health insurance before that became the national standard under the Affordable Care Act.
The Commissioner’s Gender Non-Discrimination in Automobile Insurance Rating Regulation mandates that all automobile insurance companies operating in California file a revised class plan that eliminates the use of gender as a rating factor.
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Media Notes:
- Gender Non-Discrimination in Automobile Insurance Rating Regulations
- Gender Non-Discrimination in Healthcare Insurance Regulations
The California Department of Insurance, established in 1868, is the largest consumer protection agency in California. Insurers collect $340 billion in premiums annually in California. Since 2011 the California Department of Insurance received more than 1,000,000 calls from consumers and helped recover over $469 million in claims and premiums. Please visit the Department of Insurance website at www.insurance.ca.gov. Non-media inquiries should be directed to the Consumer Hotline at 800-927-4357. Teletypewriter (TTY), please dial 800-482-4833.