Insurance and credit score

If you're shopping for a new homeowners or auto policy, it helps to know how you look to the insurers. A majority of insurance companies use credit scores to determine both eligibility and rating classification.

Many insurance companies link some behaviors and risks to credit scores. Some insurance companies, for example, use credit scores as part of a rating basis for homeowner's and auto insurance premiums. Some insurers only consider the credit score on the initial application for a policy; others pull your score every three years and re-evaluate the risk. . It is estimated that a low credit score could cost you between 10 and 50 percent more in auto and homeowner's insurance premiums.

Proponents say credit scoring accurately predicts the likelihood that groups of people will file a future claim for insured damages. They say a bad credit history indicates financial irresponsibility, which translates into irresponsible behavior in other areas.

May 11, 2007

Improving Credit Score

Checking Credit Score

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4/23/08

A credit inquiry typically lowers your score by five points or less. Credit inquiries reduce credit scores because lenders believe that multiple inquiries are associated with high risk of default.

1/20/08

With the introduction of the VantageScore in addition to the FICO score, consumers are confused about the credit score range and about the credit scoring in general. Here are the main differences between the two credit scoring systems.

11/28/07

Zopa Ltd., a United Kingdom player in the person-to-person online lending market, is starting operations in the U.S. where it will join a handful of other companies, including Prosper Marketplace Inc.'s Prosper.com, that have popularized the market in recent years.

6/25/07

Equifax Inc. emphasized that VantageScore(sm) and the Equifax Risk Score 3.0 are not - and never have been - impacted by the authorized user manipulation. Authorized user information is excluded in calculating both VantageScore and the Equifax Risk Score 3.0.

6/18/07

Although Fair Isaac Corp., the Minneapolis company that created the FICO score doesn't give out many details about the changes, the company spokesman said there will be more segments in their scoring model.

6/11/07

As credit scores take more important role in many parts of our lives, more ideas are popping up everyday to boost our credit scores. Recently, some borrowers with low credit scores are turning to a fast-growing business on the Internet: “Credit Renting.”

6/8/07

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of two large insurers, limiting the circumstances under which companies must tell customers their credit ratings are affecting the amount they pay.

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