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Article
Whose Safety Net? Home Insurance and Inequality
Law & Social Inquiry
  • Tom Baker, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School
  • Karen McElrath, Fayetteville State University
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-1996
Abstract

Drawing on prior theoretical and empirical work that has begun to constitute the insurance field as a distinct sociolegal research project, this study uses quantitative and qualitative data collected following Hurricane Andrew in 1992 to explore distributional questions within that field. Survey results show that higher income, age, and education were associated with having home insurance and that Hispanics and blacks were less likely than non-Hispanic whites to have insurance. The study provides the first quantitative evidence of bias in the insurance claims process by documenting a statistically significant and substantial ethnic difference in the timing of insurance payments. The qualitative research helps to explain the difference in the timing of insurance payments as the product of unconscious bias by insurance adjusters. The study concludes by proposing market-structuring regulation to reduce the inequality encountered.

Publication Citation

21 Law & Soc. Inquiry 229 (1996)

Citation Information
Tom Baker and Karen McElrath. "Whose Safety Net? Home Insurance and Inequality" Law & Social Inquiry (1996)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/tom-baker-jd/74/