Insurance score

Submitted by fireyone on Thu, 05/07/2009 - 10:23
Forums

WE recently updated are auto insurance and I was surprised when I got the new packet in the mail covering are policy. They are saying our score was adversely affected by our credit scores.
We both have really good credit and my husband has excellent credit with just one charge off 6.5 years ago.
How can a charge off that old effect an insurance score? I am hoping it isn't because we recently paid off 75% of our outstanding debts. The bank had told us with our credit score paying them off was not an issue since we have good credit history.
To my understanding paying off debt matters more if you are building credit. Any ideas how people with high credit scores get low insurance scores?

rachael (not verified)

Hi fireyone

It is true that both, credit score and insurance score are based on information present in your credit report. But insurers weigh and consider different factors than a creditor does. For example, insurers are more interested in how you have managed your credit over a certain period of time rather than how much credit you have applied for recently. According to insurers, people who make late payments are the ones who tend to have more insurance claims. Paying off debts will not remove them from the credit report instantly. Therefore you should go through your recent credit report and update it.

If you have opted for debt settlement, it is likely, your credit score has gone down considerably and has affected your insurance score.
You can also get a version of your insurance score from TrueCredit available through TransUnion for $9.95. The site provides separate scores for auto and homeowners coverage, and advice for improving your insurance score. Even though your insurer may use his own calculation, the general advice can help anyone improve his or her score.

Fri, 05/08/2009 - 05:12 Permalink

Hi,

The fixed rate doesn’t apply to property taxes and insurance premiums—these are controlled by the government and your insurance provider respectively. But since your monthly payments are mostly made up of principal and interest, you can expect fairly stable payments with only minimal changes.

Home Loan Modification

Sat, 05/09/2009 - 07:47 Permalink