The folks over at “No On Oregon Measure 42″ have started scouring local news outlets for information in support of their cause. An editorial relayed from the Hillsboro Argus shows an encouraging sign of someone getting it:
[Passing Measure 42] would raise the possibility that the 60 to 70 percent of Oregonians with good credit could face increasing insurance rates without the credit scores being used to determine the history of each insurance holder, thus forcing them to pay similar rates as less ideal customers.
However, this also reminds me of one of the things that annoyed me from back when I worked with personal lines — how mathematical/statistical/actuarial realities could be hidden and distorted by politics and perception. With auto insurance loss costs generally trending downward, and with Oregon outside the part of the country where homeowners insurance pricing has been hot…if Measure 42 passes, the resultant rate hike on the majority of consumers could be at least partially masked by other trends. Consumers may not know that Measure 42 cost them money.