OREGON LEGISLATURE PASSES CREDIT SCORING BILL.

The Oregon Senate Aug. 20 approved a bill to restrict insurers' use of credit information for personal lines underwriting and rating.

After pending in the House Rules Committee for three months, the bill, SB 260, passed the House Aug. 15. It now goes to Gov. Ted Kulongoski, who is expected to sign it.

The bill has been considerably modified since its introduction Jan. 24 to limit how insurers use credit information. The bill now contains the following provisions:

* Insurers cannot cancel or nonrenew a policy in effect for more than 60 days based in whole or in part on credit information;

* Insurers must provide consumers with a summary of significant credit reasons if it makes an adverse underwriting decision based on credit information;

* An insurance score cannot consider the absence of credit or the inability to determine a consumer's credit history unless these factors are used as allowed by rules adopted by the director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services, and

* Insurers can only use rating factors other than credit history to rerate a policy at the time of renewal.