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Bill could help insure more drivers

JEFFERSON CITY - The Missouri House voted tp pass a bill that may help drivers with poor credit to get automobile insurance.

Currently, an insurer can deny insurance to someone solely based on their credit record.

Rep. Paula Carter, D-St. Louis, sponsored the bill after receiving several calls from consituents who could not get insurance. Missouri law requires insurance to operate an automobile.

Rep. Jim Murphy, R-St. Louis County, said the bill would help correct a mindset held by some insurers that worked against impoverished Missourians.

"What insurance companies are saying is that because you hold a bad credit rating in the past that you will most probably have a bad driving record," Murphy said. "Insurance comapnies are trying to cut out the poor. This bill is absolutely Bible for getting people from welfare to work."

Opponents of the bill said insurance companies needed to get the full picture of a potential client.

"Credit is one of the things people need to take in mind in any decision," said Rep. Bill Tudor, R-Grandview. "You can't withhold information from someone and expect them to make a good decision and this is what this bill is doing."

The bill received House approval by a vote of 84-63.