Credit History and the effect it has on your Auto Insurance Rates
Posted by Hermien | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 01-02-2011
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A lot of auto insurance companies consider your credit information when determining your insurance premium. Thus if you are on the lookout for new auto insurance, keep in mind that many insurance companies are looking at your credit history to determine your auto insurance rates.
The main reason why some insurance companies use credit information is because they feel there is a direct link between a consumer’s credit history behaviors and expected claims that may occur. For this reason, they feel that people with a good credit behavior are less likely to suffer insurance losses than those with a bad record.
While some insurance companies will research your credit reports when determining your rate, others will use what is known as an insurance credit score. An insurance credit score is put together by using statistical techniques and methods to predict the chance that a consumer will have higher than anticipated losses.
Insurance companies use many factors to determine your credit score. Below are listed some examples of these factors:
- Past payment history: the number and frequency of late payments and the days between the due date and late payment date.
- Length of credit history: the amount of time you have been in the credit system.
- Unused credit: how much you owe compared to how much credit is available to you.
- Inquiries for credit: the number of times you have recently applied for new credit, including mortgage loans, utility accounts, and credit card accounts.
- Number of open lines of credit: the number of credit cards, whether you use them or not.
- Type of credit in use: major credit cards, store credit cards, finance company loans, etc.
- Public records: bankruptcy, collections, foreclosures, liens, charge-offs, etc.
It is very possible that your insurance credit score may be very different from one company to the next. This is put down to the fact that different insurers use different factors to determine your premium.. Take note that even though it is called an insurance credit score, it includes numerous factors of which credit is only one. Since each insurance company uses different techniques to determine your credit score it is hard to predict what a good credit score is. Most of the time a good credit score will result in lower premiums.
Your insurance company can decide whether or not to tell you what your credit score is. You might be surprised that they do not even know what it is in some cases. All they usually know is if your credit score qualifies you for a specific rate/policy or not. Some companies also offer better rates under each qualifying tier.
If you have taken the steps to improve your credit score you should ask your insurance company to re-evaluate your credit score at renewal.





