Current:Home > MarketsNew Rhode Island law bars auto insurers from hiking rates on the widowed -Summit Capital Strategies
New Rhode Island law bars auto insurers from hiking rates on the widowed
View
Date:2025-04-16 00:09:31
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A new Rhode Island law prohibits auto insurers from charging policyholders more solely because they have been widowed.
The new law bans insurers from treating widows or widowers any differently than married people in terms of classification or rates beginning with policies issued after Jan. 1, 2025. Democratic Gov. Dan McKee signed the bill into law on Friday.
Democratic Rep. Arthur Handy, a co-sponsor of the bill, said he learned of the change in rates after his wife, Tish DiPrete, died in 2021. Handy said marital status is one of many factors companies weigh when they decide what their risk is to insure a driver.
“But a person doesn’t become a bigger risk as a result of losing their spouse. Besides being baseless, it’s just callous to add higher insurance rates to the heavy burdens of those who are grieving their spouses,” he said.
Another sponsor, Democratic Sen. Valarie Lawson, said the issue was brought to her attention by a constituent whose husband had died and was notified that her car insurance would be increasing by $450 a year, according to Lawson.
“Everyone who has experienced loss knows how devastating it is to deal with the practical matters and expenses and the uncertainty of a major life change on top of the heavy emotional toll of the grieving process,” Lawson said in press release.
“Adding an additional expense to the lives of those mourning a loved one is unnecessary and unfair,” she added.
The bill had the backing of the local insurance industry, according to supporters.
Rhode Island isn’t the first state to take such a step.
In 2015, then-Delaware Insurance Commissioner Karen Weldin Stewart and then-Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Teresa Miller both announced they would no longer approve auto insurance company’s rate submission that included what many people call the widow’s penalty.
veryGood! (922)
Related
- Selena Gomez's "Weird Uncles" Steve Martin and Martin Short React to Her Engagement
- When a staple becomes a luxury
- Live updates | Biden says Gaza’s largest hospital ‘must be protected’ as thousands flee the fighting
- Plane skids off runway, crashes into moving car during emergency landing in Texas: Watch
- A South Texas lawmaker’s 15
- The SAG-AFTRA strike is over. Here are 6 things actors got in the new contract.
- Alaska House Republicans confirm Baker to fill vacancy left when independent Rep Patkotak resigned
- Why Jacob Elordi Is Throwing Shade at Ridiculous Kissing Booth Movies
- What were Tom Selleck's juicy final 'Blue Bloods' words in Reagan family
- His 3,600 mile, Washington-to-Florida run honored vets. But what he learned may surprise you.
Ranking
- Rolling Loud 2024: Lineup, how to stream the world's largest hip hop music festival
- House blocks Alejandro Mayorkas impeachment resolution
- Parents of Michigan school shooter will have separate trials, judge says
- CBS shows are back after actors' strike ends. Here are the 2024 premiere dates
- Buckingham Palace staff under investigation for 'bar brawl'
- How gender disparities are affecting men
- Why David Cameron is a surprising choice as new UK foreign policy chief after fateful Brexit vote
- Leonardo DiCaprio Raps for A-List Guests at Star-Studded 49th Birthday Party
Recommendation
As Trump Enters Office, a Ripe Oil and Gas Target Appears: An Alabama National Forest
YouTube will label AI-generated videos that look real
'None that are safe': Colorful water beads are child killers so ban them, lawmaker says
ICYMI, The Best Custom Gifts Are on Etsy—and On Sale
Scoot flight from Singapore to Wuhan turns back after 'technical issue' detected
The Excerpt podcast: Republicans face party turmoil, snow's impact on water in the West
Columbia will set up fund for victims of doctor convicted of sex crimes, notify 6,500 patients
Jim Harbaugh news conference: Everything Michigan coach said, from 'Judge Judy' to chickens