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Insurance Discrimination

The Women’s Law Project has confronted gender discrimination in the insurance industry for more than twenty years. In its first effort in 1988, WLP partnered with the American Civil Liberties Union to eliminate use of gender in setting Pennsylvania insurance rates. Bartholomew v. Grode yielded a major victory in the area of auto insurance, leading the State Insurance Commissioner to ban gender-based rates in all forms of insurance.

In 1993, after the WLP discovered that insurance companies were discriminating against domestic violence victims, attorneys filed a complaint with the Pennsylvania Insurance Department and spearheaded legislative efforts throughout the country at both state and federal levels to assure victims’ access to insurance. WLP managing attorney Terry Fromson became a consumer representative to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and helped draft model laws in each affected area of insurance coverage. At the request of the U.S.Department of Justice’s Office of Violence Against Women, the WLP authored a report to Congress on insurance discrimination against domestic violence victims. To date, forty-three states have adopted laws banning insurers from denying, canceling, or rating insurance and denying claims on the basis of domestic violence. The WLP provided technical assistance to state commissioners, legislators and advocates in most of these states. Protection has been included in several bills adopted by Congress, which the WLP assisted in drafting.

Activities and Accomplishments:

Legislative

  • The WLP and the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence were instrumental in ensuring the passage of Pennsylvania House Bill 1632 (see Act 78 of 2006) amending the Unfair Insurance Practices Act to close a gap in the protection it provides. The act prohibits denying property and casualty claims to one spouse based on the intentional act of the other spouse – capturing a devastating aspect of abuse through property destruction. The bill was signed into law by Governor Rendell on
    July 7, 2006.

Publications and Resources