(Oregon) Did Geico illegally raise my premiums?

[Pikop_Andropov]

I'm located in Clackamas county, Oregon for jurisdictional purposes.

So I just recently learned that my auto insurance company may have taken an adverse action against me in order to increase my premiums, and this action isn’t permitted in my state. Please correct me if I’m wrong, but for some time now, in the State of Oregon, insurance companies have not been permitted to use a current policy holding customer's credit history to raise their rates or cancel or refuse to renew their policy – this is only permitted for new applicants when first being offered a policy.

Well, sometime in 2023, when I went to renew my Geico policy, all the options available to me were astronomically higher than what I was previously offered. After renewal, I received a notice in the mail from Geico informing me that they had accessed my credit information and used this as justification for raising my rates.

So I guess I have a couple of questions:

1. Is my interpretation of the law in Oregon correct?
2. Did Geico violate the law?
3. What can I do about it?

For #3, I’m specifically wondering if I can request to be reimbursed for the difference I have had to pay over the last 2 years after my premiums were increased.

Just to be perfectly clear, no other legitimate factor can be used to explain the increase in premiums– no accidents, no DUII’s, no tickets, didn’t move, didn’t get a new car, didn’t change genders etc. Plus they straight up informed me why my premiums increased– so no mystery there!

Any advice is very appreciated!
Thanks!
–Dan

 

[LdiJ]

I'm located in Clackamas county, Oregon for jurisdictional purposes.

So I just recently learned that my auto insurance company may have taken an adverse action against me in order to increase my premiums, and this action isn’t permitted in my state. Please correct me if I’m wrong, but for some time now, in the State of Oregon, insurance companies have not been permitted to use a current policy holding customer's credit history to raise their rates or cancel or refuse to renew their policy – this is only permitted for new applicants when first being offered a policy.

Well, sometime in 2023, when I went to renew my Geico policy, all the options available to me were astronomically higher than what I was previously offered. After renewal, I received a notice in the mail from Geico informing me that they had accessed my credit information and used this as justification for raising my rates.

So I guess I have a couple of questions:

1. Is my interpretation of the law in Oregon correct?
2. Did Geico violate the law?
3. What can I do about it?

For #3, I’m specifically wondering if I can request to be reimbursed for the difference I have had to pay over the last 2 years after my premiums were increased.

Just to be perfectly clear, no other legitimate factor can be used to explain the increase in premiums– no accidents, no DUII’s, no tickets, didn’t move, didn’t get a new car, didn’t change genders etc. Plus they straight up informed me why my premiums increased– so no mystery there!

Any advice is very appreciated!
Thanks!
–Dan

Did you contact the state department that handles insurance issues in your state and discuss the issue with them? They are the ones who would have the best answers and are also the one's in a position to do something about it if what Geico did was not legal.

The hotline for insurance complaints appear to be the following:

Consumer Hotline 888-877-4894 (toll-free)

 

[Pikop_Andropov]

Did you contact the state department that handles insurance issues in your state and discuss the issue with them? They are the ones who would have the best answers and are also the one's in a position to do something about it if what Geico did was not legal.

The hotline for insurance complaints appear to be the following:

Consumer Hotline 888-877-4894 (toll-free)

Thank you for this resource, I will discuss the issue with them!

--Dan

 

[quincy]

Here is a link to the law - and it appears to me, after a brief review, that your interpretation of the law is correct.

https://oregon.public.law/statutes/ors_746.661

You could be eligible for a refund.

 

[adjusterjack]

3. What can I do about it?

For #3, I’m specifically wondering if I can request to be reimbursed for the difference I have had to pay over the last 2 years after my premiums were increased.

You refer to the law but that question suggests that you haven't actually read the statute.

Read what it says about getting your policy rerated by making a written request.

Since the letter was sent after your last renewal don't count on going back two years. Your credit history may have only been used for the current policy year and previous rate increases explained by across the board increases by the entire insurance industry for the past several years.

Don't waste your time with the insurance department until you have requested the rerate as I suspect that the first question from the insurance department investigator is did you request the rerate.

If GEICO refuses to rerate then you'll have good reason for a complaint to the insurance department.

 

[quincy]

You refer to the law but that question suggests that you haven't actually read the statute.

Read what it says about getting your policy rerated by making a written request.

Since the letter was sent after your last renewal don't count on going back two years. Your credit history may have only been used for the current policy year and previous rate increases explained by across the board increases by the entire insurance industry for the past several years.

Don't waste your time with the insurance department until you have requested the rerate as I suspect that the first question from the insurance department investigator is did you request the rerate.

If GEICO refuses to rerate then you'll have good reason for a complaint to the insurance department.

Customers have the right to request a rerate of their policy - but no more than once annually.

 

[Pikop_Andropov]

You refer to the law but that question suggests that you haven't actually read the statute.

Read what it says about getting your policy rerated by making a written request.

Since the letter was sent after your last renewal don't count on going back two years. Your credit history may have only been used for the current policy year and previous rate increases explained by across the board increases by the entire insurance industry for the past several years.

Don't waste your time with the insurance department until you have requested the rerate as I suspect that the first question from the insurance department investigator is did you request the rerate.

If GEICO refuses to rerate then you'll have good reason for a complaint to the insurance department.

I didn't actually know what the statue was until user Quincy linked me... but now that I have read it, I'll say this:

In December 2022, I received a FCRA notice from Geico after renewing my auto insurance policy, which had been in effect since 2017, so I had been a long established policy holder at that point. The notice basically said Hey Dan the so-called "man"... Listen bud, we accessed your credit information and we gotta say... it is INCREDIBLE.... how terrible it is. We've never seen anything like it-- honestly, we had no idea a credit score could go lower than 0, but here you are! We thought there was gross hair on the screen, but turns out, that was just the negative in front of your credit score (eew!). So yeah...That’s why you have to pay double now--it makes being seen with you in public a little bit more bearable in the event that we have to actually adjust a claim for you in person... sorry (not sorry!) TTYN --Geico” so the reason for the increase isn’t really in dispute here!

My understanding of the law is that insurers generally cannot use credit information to increase premiums during policy renewals, with limited exceptions. Since my policy was simply renewed, and not a new application or a requested re-rate, it seems Geico may have acted outside the law.

I was unaware of this law at the time and accepted the premium increase without question. However, I now intend to explore potential options for reimbursement of the excess premiums paid due to this apparent violation.

I don’t think a re-rate would apply to my situation; it would if Geico had used my credit information adversely in my initial application for insurance, and I desired a reconsideration after my credit had improved. But my situation is actually just the opposite– I started with favorable terms and experienced a sudden increase in premiums after my credit had taken a considerable nose-dive, and I don't believe it's made any notable improvement. I will keep it in mind however, since it certainly wouldn't hurt to ask for a re-rate; according to the statute I just read it looks like the worst they could do is leave my rate right where it is: in the sh*thole!

Before escalating the matter, I plan to contact Geico directly to discuss the issue and see if they are willing to address it amicably. In my experience, sometimes just asking nicely results in a better outcome than going balls-to-the-wall and filing complaints with government authorities– but I won’t hesitate to explore that avenue if Geico is dismissive. And I also understand that a considerable length of time has passed since the adverse event, but I’m hoping that the clock on the statute of limitations has actually only just begun based on some half-baked idea I have about "the date of discovery"– but hey, what do I know about the law? That’s what I have you guys for!

--Dan

 

[quincy]

I didn't actually know what the statue was until user Quincy linked me... but now that I have read it, I'll say this:

In December 2022, I received a FCRA notice from Geico after renewing my auto insurance policy, which had been in effect since 2017, so I had been a long established policy holder at that point. The notice basically said Hey Dan the so-called "man"... Listen bud, we accessed your credit information and we gotta say... it is INCREDIBLE.... how terrible it is. We've never seen anything like it-- honestly, we had no idea a credit score could go lower than 0, but here you are! We thought there was gross hair on the screen, but turns out, that was just the negative in front of your credit score (eew!). So yeah...That’s why you have to pay double now--it makes being seen with you in public a little bit more bearable in the event that we have to actually adjust a claim for you in person... sorry (not sorry!) TTYN --Geico” so the reason for the increase isn’t really in dispute here!

My understanding of the law is that insurers generally cannot use credit information to increase premiums during policy renewals, with limited exceptions. Since my policy was simply renewed, and not a new application or a requested re-rate, it seems Geico may have acted outside the law.

I was unaware of this law at the time and accepted the premium increase without question. However, I now intend to explore potential options for reimbursement of the excess premiums paid due to this apparent violation.

I don’t think a re-rate would apply to my situation; it would if Geico had used my credit information adversely in my initial application for insurance, and I desired a reconsideration after my credit had improved. But my situation is actually just the opposite– I started with favorable terms and experienced a sudden increase in premiums after my credit had taken a considerable nose-dive, and I don't believe it's made any notable improvement. I will keep it in mind however, since it certainly wouldn't hurt to ask for a re-rate; according to the statute I just read it looks like the worst they could do is leave my rate right where it is: in the sh*thole!

Before escalating the matter, I plan to contact Geico directly to discuss the issue and see if they are willing to address it amicably. In my experience, sometimes just asking nicely results in a better outcome than going balls-to-the-wall and filing complaints with government authorities– but I won’t hesitate to explore that avenue if Geico is dismissive. And I also understand that a considerable length of time has passed since the adverse event, but I’m hoping that the clock on the statute of limitations has actually only just begun based on some half-baked idea I have about "the date of discovery"– but hey, what do I know about the law? That’s what I have you guys for!

--Dan

Although I assume you have looked over your credit reports to see if there are errors, I don’t see that this was mentioned. Did you review your credit reports to check for errors?