As many of you are aware, Ontarian’s credit scores are currently being used to determine how much they pay for their home insurance. IBAO is asking the Ontario Government to ban this controversial practice.
To further push the issue to the front lines of Provincial Parliamentarians minds, IBAO commissioned a poll in early November to 802 Ontario consumers and found that 3 out of 4 Ontario consumers were not aware that their credit scores were being used to determine how much they pay for their home insurance.
It was in 2005 that the Ontario government banned the practice of using credit scoring in auto insurance policies. 76% of those polled in IBAO’s latest study support extending the credit score ban to home insurance.
In early November, a group of the association’s members united at Queen’s Park to speak with Provincial Parliamentarians about this very real concern. Following their appearance, Liberal Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) Mike Colle introduced his private member’s Bill 130: The Homeowners Insurance Credit Scoring Ban Act, 2010. His actions were a great victory for the cause. You can show support for Bill 130 by emailing MPP Mike Colle at mcolle,mpp.co@liberal.ola.org.
IBAO’s president, Bryan Yetman was at Queen’s Park today sharing the poll results with MPPs and the media.
Bryan told reporters, “Our priority is to protect the interests of our customer. These results clearly indicate that the average Ontario consumer is unaware that their credit score is currently being used to price their home insurance. They also indicate that insurers that use credit scoring are doing a lousy job informing their policyholders that they are using this very private and sensitive information against them.”
Unfortunately, the use of credit scoring impacts consumers who can least afford it. These include seniors, newcomers to Canada, the unemployed, single income families and small business owners making use of lines of credit.
“We can see no reason for the Ontario government to wait any longer to end this practice. It is unfair to consumers and consumers are rightfully opposed to it,” concluded Yetman.
MRP Market Research Professionals Inc. conducted the poll during the first week of November 2010, surveying 802 Ontarians. Results are considered accurate +/-3.5% 19 times out of 20.