Dehoyos v Allstate Corporation
Racial Minorities Claim that Allstate's Credit Scoring Doesn't Yield Fair Insurance Rates
A nationwide class action has been filed against Allstate Insurance Company alleging that Allstate's policy of using credit scores as a tool for determining automotive and homeowner insurance policy premiums is discriminatory and violates the civil rights of minority policyholders. The action was brought under the federal civil rights act and federal housing laws. The suit claims that Allstate uses credit scores, a factor which the plaintiffs believe has no reasonable relationship to risk of loss, to justify higher premiums for minority policyholders. The plaintiff seek to stop what they claim are the discriminatory sales of these policies.
Allstate has tried to have this case dismissed based on the McCarran-Ferguson Act, which bars federal law from impinging on a state's laws regulating the business of insurance. In Texas, the determination of policy premiums based on credit scores is highly regulated by the state. However, the trial court and the 5th circuit court of appeals have denied Allstate's arguments and allowed the case to continue. Allstate claims that its practices are not discriminatory and are fully authorized by state law.
