2019 Delaware Code
Title 18 - Insurance Code
Chapter 83. The Use of Credit Information in Personal Insurance [For applicability of this chapter, see 81 Del. Laws, c. 108, § 3]
§ 8305 Extraordinary life circumstances [Effective May 1, 2018] [For applicability of this section, see 81 Del. Laws, c. 108, § 3].
(a) Notwithstanding any other law or regulation, an insurer that uses credit information shall, on written request from an applicant for insurance coverage or an insured, provide reasonable exceptions to the insurer’s rates, rating classifications, company or tier placement, or information that has been directly influenced by any of the following events:
(1) Catastrophic event, as declared by the federal or state government.
(2) Serious illness or injury, or serious illness or injury to an immediate family member.
(3) Death of a spouse, child, or parent.
(4) Divorce or involuntary interruption of legally-owed alimony or support payments.
(5) Identity theft.
(6) Temporary loss of employment for a period of 3 months or more, if it results from involuntary termination.
(7) Military deployment overseas.
(8) Other events, as determined by the insurer.
(b) If an applicant or insured submits a request for an exception as set forth in subsection (a) of this section, an insurer may, in its sole discretion, but is not mandated to do any of the following:
(1) Require the consumer to provide reasonable written and independently verifiable documentation of the event.
(2) Require the consumer to demonstrate that the event had direct and meaningful impact on the consumer’s credit information.
(3) Require such request be made no more than 60 days from the date of the application for insurance or the policy renewal.
(4) Grant an exception despite the consumer not providing the initial request for an exception in writing.
(5) Grant an exception where the consumer asks for consideration of repeated events or the insurer has considered this event previously.
(c) An insurer is not out of compliance with any law or rule relating to underwriting, rating, or rate filing as a result of granting an exception under this section. Nothing in this section shall be construed to provide a consumer or other insured with a cause of action that does not exist in the absence of this section.
(d) The insurer shall provide notice to consumers that reasonable exceptions are available and information about how the consumer may inquire further.
(e) Within 30 days of the insurer’s receipt of sufficient documentation of an event described in subsection (a) of this section, the insurer shall inform the consumer of the outcome of the request for a reasonable exception. Such communication shall be in writing or provided to an applicant in the same medium as the request.
81 Del. Laws, c. 108, § 1.
