Hi! I have a question. My husband and I were recently pre-approved for a mortgage. Anyway, a friend of mine suggested USAA for home owner's insurance. She said that if I would switch my auto policy to USAA too that I would get an even bigger discount. I called them and the problem is that they said that in addition to some insurance information about us, they would need to pull a credit score! Is this a hard inquiry??? I mean, we are not actually applying for new credit but I'm still unsure. The representative on the phone sounded unsure too. Anyway, I'm VERY reluctant to do this because we are only preapproved and I'm afraid the scores may drop. The auto policy can wait but we would need to homeowner's prior to closing(set for Aug. 25th). I realize that we still have plenty of time but I'm just trying to figure out how much our monthly expenses will be once we are in our home. TIA for any help.
Yes it will be a hard inquiry Also usually they pull a hard inquiry for home owner's insurance as well
Just what I did not want to hear. :-( Do you know if Geico pulls a hard inquiry too? I already have auto insurance with them. I'm actually pleased with the rate they give us for auto insurance but my friend said that the home owner's insurance quote they gave me sounded a bit high....I guess if I can convince Geico not to pull another report I will stay with them until after we close.... THANKS FOR YOUR HELP! I REALLY APPRECIATE IT!
I think that you should wait till you are approved to start all these inquiries. That way you dont loose the points BEFORE you get the mortgage.
I agree about waiting until you are approved to get insurance quotes. GEICO homeowners is not actually GEICO - it is underwritten by another company (actually the same company AmEx is using now), and issued on GEICO "paper" - they are using a more competitive company now than they were even last month, so your rates will most likely be lower. They will pull credit for the homeowner's policy, though.
Re: Auto/H.O. insurance + credit sc I aksed my insurance agent yesterday how much credit scores impact upon rates. She said as far as she knew - they did a little (she wasn't sure). She KNEW their inquiries impacted scores as she said they did not run credit for insurance until after the house actually closed. I'm not sure all companies are smart/nice enough to do that. Since the person you got on the phone didn't know whether or not if was a hard inquiry (it IS) - you are better off waiting until after closing. Congratulations on the pre-approval. May you find the house of your dreams (at a price you can afford too!) Smiles, Mommy2cats
We use Amex for our home owners insurance and I must say their customer service was great and their rates beat all the others by a landslide So far I have been really happy.
Re: Auto/H.O. insurance + credit sc cfand3boyz, We are going to settlement tomorrow on our home. We already had Geico A.I (10 yrs). and Renters Ins. (2 yrs) A hard inquiry was pulled for Home Owners Ins. ( TransUnion in Maryland). The Home Owners Ins. is written under Travelers Ins. Hope this helps.
Re: Auto/H.O. insurance + credit sc I have USAA, great company. In their latest magazine they have a 2 page article on credit and insurance rates. I must say I have not yet made peace with this concept yet. Seems to be another way to increase rates (profit). Also, seems to discriminate a bit against those with hard times in the past. I would feel better if they would let us know, your rate is % higher/lower because of your credit score than average. Interesting topic.
Re: Auto/H.O. insurance + credit sc Thanks for all of the responses! Monicagee, CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!! Good luck tomorrow. Talk to you all later!
Re: Auto/H.O. insurance + credit sc DISPUTE IT!!! FRAUDULENT INQUIRY~~~NO LOAN OR CREDIT CARD WAS APPLIED FOR!!! I tried...but they came up with the SCAM of "PERMISSABLE PURPOSE."
*I think that you should wait till you are approved to start all these inquiries. That way you dont loose the points BEFORE you get the mortgage. ohnostuck ================== require the insurance to get the loan knowing it will lower your score then raising your interest because your score is to low. Catch 22 AnyOne! *So what do you do when they raise the rate on the loan later after getting the insurance which caused the score to go down?
Re: Auto/H.O. insurance + credit sc Re: Auto/H.O. insurance + credit sc I have USAA, great company. In their latest magazine they have a 2 page article on credit and insurance rates. I must say I have not yet made peace with this concept yet. Seems to be another way to increase rates (profit). Also, seems to discriminate a bit against those with hard times in the past. I would feel better if they would let us know, your rate is % higher/lower because of your credit score than average. Interesting topic. KCPaul ========================== Credit for insurance is one big snow job plain and simple. End of story.
I thought that you said that you were a mobile home broker LB? They can not raise your rate when it is locked, or after it has been approved (aI don't mean pre-approved).
We have GEICO for auto and home. I have recent copies of all my reports and onl they TU report shows a hard inquiry from Travelers/A+. That's the only one. The rep explained that all of our paperwork would be from Travelers but when we called for claims or cs then GEICO takes the call.
I guess I'm a little confused. At what point are you considered approved? After appraisal? After closing? Our credit,bank statements,w-2's,etc have already been checked and the loan officer (also the vice president at the main branch of this mortgage company) said everything is fine. Soooo will they send some sort of paper saying that we are fully approved or something? If so, when should we get this? After appraisal? Thank you so much. This whole process is very confusing......... Oh and thanks to everyone that posted a comment. I really appreciate it.
showing up at closing in a new Mercedes, bad sign. (Let's re-check credit here) The loan is not done until the final papers are signed and you get the keys.
Thanks...the only reason I asked is because many are saying to wait until it is final to apply for insurance. Here in VA, they require that you provide proof of insurance at closing. So I was wondering at what time is it okay to get the credit checked. I guess I'm not going to worry about it. I will wait until a week or two prior to closing. If I haven't heard anything from the lender to suggest that I won't be approved, I will proceed with insurance application. Thanks....
The main PROBLEM with so many credit reports being "PULLED" related to the new house...YOU MAY GET A HIGHER INTEREST RATE THAN YOU STARTED WITH BECAUSE OF ALL THEIR INQUIRES...THIS WHY IT IS SO IMPORTANT THAT YOU APPLY FOR NOTHING, TILL YOU HAVE THE KEYS IN YOUR HAND!!! They MAY or MAY NOT "discount" all their INQUIRES...
