With the state budget behind them, House Democrats are pushing a package of bills empowering Michigan's insurance boss to order insurance refunds and eliminate so-called "credit scoring" to determine the rates.

The rates Detroit consumers pay for auto insurance coverage, which is mandated under Michigan law, are among the nation's highest. As many as 60 percent of Detroit drivers are uninsured -- in violation of the law -- because they can't afford it, reform proponents claim.

"It's outrageous that consumers who have been overcharged by their insurance companies have no clear right to a refund," said state Rep. Marc Corriveau of Northville, one of the bills' sponsors.

A practice widely described as credit scoring -- using a person's credit rating as one of the factors in setting insurance rates -- is under attack by critics in the Detroit area. Democrats want to ban the use of this rating factor and give Michigan's insurance commissioner added authority to step in if insurers are overcharging.

The reforms' sponsors also want to add consumer members to the board of the insurance fund that covers the costs of catastrophic auto injuries.

The Livonia-based Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association sets annual charges that auto insurers -- and their customers -- must pay into the state-created, privately run fund covering people who suffer profound injuries in accidents. Those charges, tacked on to drivers' insurance bills, have gone from $14.41 at the end of 2001 to more than $137.33 now, Democrats said.

In the Senate, where Detroit Sen. Martha Scott makes a daily speech calling for lower insurance rates, Republican leaders said they'd take a look at any proposals the House sent over.

For the full article, see Gary Heinlein, "Bill aims to reform insurance policies; House Democrats want to end 'credit scoring' used by auto insurers to set individual rates", Detroit News, November 2, 2007.