Three property-casualty insurer groups made an impassioned pleabefore state legislators last week to defend the appropriateness ofusing data about an applicant's education and occupation whensetting rates for personal lines products.

In a joint statement, the American Insurance Association,National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies and the PropertyCasualty Insurers Association of America told the state legislatorsthat consumers benefit with lower rates, more choices and greatermarket stability when insurers are able to use suchinformation.

Such tools lead to "accurate underwriting," representatives ofthe three groups told members of the National Conference of StateLegislators during a special hearing at NCOIL's quarterly meeting.The insurer groups said the data's use in personal linesunderwriting is "objective and supported by statisticalevidence."