Jeffrey Johnson is a legal writer with a focus on personal injury. He has worked on personal injury and sovereign immunity litigation in addition to experience in family, estate, and criminal law. He earned a J.D. from the University of Baltimore and has worked in legal offices and non-profits in Maryland, Texas, and North Carolina. He has also earned an MFA in screenwriting from Chapman Univer...

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UPDATED: May 2, 2012

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It is illegal to refuse to sell insurance to someone because of the person’s race, color, sex, religion, national origin or ancestry. In many states this list of “prohibited classifications” also may include (subject to various limits to change rates, marital status, age, occupation, language, sexual orientation, physical or mental impairment, or the geographic location where a person lives. Beyond the prohibited classifications, insurance underwriting decisions generally must be based on reasons that are related in some way to the risk to be insured. In many states insurance companies can refuse you a policy or charge you a higher rate based on your credit score. In most states an individual has a legal right to be informed of the reasons for any refusal to issue an insurance policy.