The ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Rep. Ayanna Pressley and 18 other members of Congress asked six insurers to explain how they use credit-based insurance scores to underwrite and price homeowners insurance. The letters were sent to USAA, State Farm, Progressive, Liberty Mutual, Farmers and Allstate, with responses requested by August 17. The lawmakers raised concerns that consumers with weaker credit histories pay significantly higher premiums even though property and casualty insurance does not depend on a customer’s ability to repay debt. Citing research indicating that credit scores can affect premiums as much as or more than disaster risk in many parts of the country, they argued that credit histories may reflect job losses, medical bills, predatory lending or inaccurate information rather than the risk associated with a home.