A spokesman for the Maryland Insurance Administration declined to comment. The dispute reveals how a long-used insurance industry technique, ostensibly aimed at managing risk, can open the door to bias. As they evaluate a customer, agents are expected to decide whether a potential customer seems honest or reliable, or judge how tidy or well maintained their home is. “There are all kinds of conscious and unconscious biases involved.”Insurers have also been accused of discriminating against Black and Hispanic customers in other ways. But the accusation against Erie is that its policies kept Black and Hispanic homeowners out of its customer rolls in the first place.

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Persons: Matthew Cummings, ”, Daniel Schwarcz Organizations: Maryland Insurance, University of Minnesota Law School, State Farm, Erie Locations: Erie, Chicago