Regulation — California
CA Insurance Code 790.03(f) — unfair discrimination + AI
California Insurance Code Section 790.03 lists the unfair or deceptive acts and practices in the business of insurance in California. Subdivision (f) is the unfair-discrimination clause the CA Department of Insurance uses to reach AI-driven underwriting decisions that produce different outcomes across protected classes.
What the regulation actually says
"Making or permitting any unfair discrimination between individuals of the same class and equal expectation of life, in the rates charged for any contract of life insurance or of life annuity or in the dividends or other benefits payable thereon, or in any other of the terms and conditions of the contract."
CA Insurance Code § 790.03(f)(1) — life-insurance branch of the unfair-discrimination clause
"Making or permitting any unfair discrimination between individuals of the same class and of essentially the same hazard in the amount of premium, policy fees, or rates charged for any policy or contract of accident or health insurance or in the benefits payable thereunder, or in any of the terms or conditions of such contract, or in any other manner whatever."
CA Insurance Code § 790.03(f)(2) — accident + health branch
What this means in plain English
Two things California uses this section to enforce against AI-driven underwriting:
- Rating factors that correlate with protected classes. Even if the AI does not use race directly, if zip, credit tier, or occupation proxy for race and produce different rate outcomes, 790.03(f) can be the hook.
- Terms and conditions differences. Not only premium but any policy term. Decline-vs-bind is the biggest "term" difference. Refer-SIU is the second.
The California DOI has broad market-conduct-exam authority + can order corrective action + can seek civil penalties. Public consent orders in CA are searchable and searched.
What triggers the exposure in the sample
I3 (age 25-45, mid credit, mixed urban/lower-income zip) decline / refer-SIU lane rate rose from 11% to 62% silently. If any affected applications originated in California, 790.03(f) sits behind the CA DOI's market-conduct examination + the California AG's Unruh Civil Rights Act reach. Both are active on insurance-AI patterns 2025-2026.
What the $499 Snapshot shows against this rule
- Per-applicant-group distributional-shape analysis on the CA subset of decisions
- Signed independent-verifier declaration — the third-party evidence CA DOI examiners weigh more heavily than internal audit
- Reproducibility record (model version pinned + decision hash bound) — supports the specific-reason reconstruction CA DOI can request in exam
- 3 fix-first items scoped to the AI surface + the CA state footprint
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$499 Snapshot. 3 business days.
Independent-verifier determination scoped to your California AI surface + 3 fix-first items + signed declaration.
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Snapshot credit applies to Baseline ($2,500) or Enterprise Attestation ($35-55K) upgrade within 30 days.