Florida Regulators Issue Rebuke to Racially Biased Insurers.

Publication: The Miami Herald (Miami, Florida) (via Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News)

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COPYRIGHT 2000 The Miami Herald

Byline: Gregg Fields and Phil Long

Apr. 28--A history of discrimination against black policyholders by the life insurance industry has produced a sharp rebuke from Florida regulators.

Before the civil rights movement, blacks were routinely categorized as a higher risk than whites for some types of life insurance, meaning they paid substantially higher premiums for the same coverage.

Although insurers have long since dropped the practice, a months-long investigation by Florida regulators found that many elderly blacks never received a reduction in their premiums on old policies. Nor were they reimbursed for their excess payments made before the industry instituted reforms.

State Insurance Commissioner Bill Nelson filed a...

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