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Yes

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Yes, and if we note the fine print during the application process, we will find that insurance companies already do. Take, for instance, the Allstate on-line quote page "More about you":

Under the category "General Bill Payment History" a side box informs: "Billing history is one of the elements of credit we review to determine an insurance score." Allstate also maintains a website entitled "Allstate's Use of Credit Information to Evaluate Insurance Policies" which further describes the process.

State Farm Insurance not only publishes its intent to use credit history as a business tool but also declares the use to be: "expressly permissible under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act."

The real cloak is that full disclosure is not healthy for the American economy. If everyone took time to read disclaimers and fine print the buying process might slow to a crawl. Consider the following transactions that have hidden charges beyond the list price:

1)Real estate fees, inspections, points, charge backs, unknown variable interest rates, assessments...
2)Automobile taxes, destination charges, administration fees, sliding scale trade in values, ...
3)Credit card variable interest rates, late fees, over the limit fees ...
4)Cell phone text messaging charges, roaming fees, time-zone differentials ...

My brother-in-law recently took his SUV to a dealer advertising a $19.95 oil change special. When it came time to pay the bill, it amounted to little under $50. When inquiring of the service manager regarding the amount he was informed of an oil disposal charge as well as a customary shop fee for things such as cleaning rags and WD-40 lubricant. He told me he was upset at first but then recalled that the food service company he worked for had recently added on charges to the customer such as fuel surcharges and minimum order fees. He called it masked inflation.

The point is that full disclosure is available to all who take the time for research. Creative pricing is not an issue of deception but simply an indicator of what the market will bear.

Learn more about this author, Swan Herbert.
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