Study suggests those with less education, blue-collar jobs pay more for auto insurance
SEATTLE -- A new analysis of some of the country's top insurance companies finds many are unfairly charging customers based on education and occupation, including Seattle drivers.
The Consumer Federation of America (CFA) looked at the Top 10 insurance companies in the U.S. and found that price quotes were often 40 percent higher for drivers with less education and blue-collar employment status, according to NBC News.
The CFA went online to get price quotes for two hypothetical customers.
One was a factory worker with a high school diploma. The other was a plant supervisor with a college degree. The two fake customers were identical in almost every other way -- both were single women in their 30s who rented in a moderate neighborhood and drove a 2003 Honda Civic. Neither had any vehicular accidents or violations within the last 10 years.
The CFA did the online price shopping in May and June. They tried to get quotes from the 10 largest companies in 10 metropolitan areas such as Atlanta, Louisville, Chicago, Houston, Denver, Phoenix, Oakland, Seattle, Baltimore and Hartford.
The CFA data found that five of the insurance companies tended to consider education and occupation while setting rates. Those companies included American Family, Farmers, GEICO, Liberty Mutual and Progressive.
For more on what the analysis found when it came to insurance carriers and rates in Seattle, you can read the complete story here.