7 Action News exposed how some auto insurance companies are charging some people higher rates based on their gender or marital status.
Now a new poll finds that most Michigan residents are against this.
“The non-driving factors across the board are unpopular,” said Paul King, President of ROI Insight.
King says his poll of 800 people from around Michigan finds across the board, regardless of party, hometown, or gender, consumers consider non-driving factors used to set rates unfair and want them banned.
Right now insurance companies use numerous non-driving factors such as gender, marital status, age, credit score, and zip code to set rates.
King says the Coalition Protecting Auto No-Fault or CPAN commissioned the poll.
It also found people support no-fault insurance, which pays for your losses and medical expenses no matter who caused the accident.
The poll asked potential voters how much they would need to save to give up those benefits. They said 37%.
Right now there is an effort in Lansing to repeal no-fault requirements, but no plan to save consumers that amount.
“They want the state of Michigan to do a better job of regulating and setting those rates,” said King of consumers.
So what does the insurance industry have to say?
WXYZ asked for comment on non-driving risk factors and was provided a statement that didn’t mention them:
The Legislature must pass real reforms to crack down on fraud and abuse, stop hospitals from charging consumers three and four times more for the same medical procedure and stop forcing Michigan drivers to pay for lifetime health care coverage through their auto insurance,” said Mark Fisk, spokesperson for the Insurance Alliance of Michigan in a statement
