Linguistic Profiling: A Continuing Tradition of Discrimination in the Home Insurance Industry?

“Linguistic profiling,” the identification of a person’s race from the sound of their voice and the utilization of that information to discriminate on the basis of race, has been documented in the home rental market. This article examines this phenomenon in the home insurance industry. From an analysis of matched-paired tests conducted by fair-housing organizations, we find that home insurance agents are generally able to detect the race of someone who contacts them by telephone and that this information affects the services provided those who inquire about purchasing a home insurance policy.