ING Investigated by Georgia For Racial Pricing

Georgia Insurance regulators are heading up a multistate investigation of ING subsidiary Life Insurance Co. of Georgia, after finding evidence the company had systematically charged higher, race-based premiums to African-American customers. Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine told the Wall Street Journal in an article published late last week that the company charged higher rates to blacks than whites as recently as the 1980s.

A lawsuit on behalf of black policyholders is pending against Life of Georgia in federal court in Florida, following an investigation led by Florida regulators that began last year. Life of Georgia denies the allegations.