Unfortunately, you're wrong. I know someone who has been in the insurance business for over 20 years.. They told me that they (the insurance company) has done their own research over many years. They have compared different attributes to the occurance of claims/false claims. They have found, through their results, that there is a correlation between people with poor credit having a greater number of claims than people with good credit...thus the increase in premium. I don't agree with it, it makes my premiums higher also, but it's the way they're currently operating. jmart
Breeze, I understand what you are saying, but does that mean that I have to get rid of my car? I mean, I live in NY. Everyone and their grandfather can look at my credit for any particular reason. If I tell my insurance company not to pull an inquiry, where else can I go?
Nah, don't get rid of your car. I thought you said you weren't having that problem with Eerie... If you ever do, even New York has somecompanies operating there that do not pull credit. Marty' Girl was going through all kinds of controtions trying to get insurance without getting an inquiry - she went to an independent agent like I said, and got what she needed - no inquiry. There are many companies you never hear about, that don't advertise, they just market through their independent agents. You wouldn't recognise the names, but they are good companies.
Not to be a pest, but is it: or: Could you give sources for the info? I searched on insure.com and couldnt find a really great article, but here i found It says Bill Bradford is a spokesperson for the National Association of Independent Insurers. Is this a normal association Breeze? Actually, to my mind, the question is largely irrelevant whether there is an "actuarial basis". The question is whether it should be legal for them to use credit in determining your rates. Personally, I dont think it should be legal. However, take the company jmart mentioned as an example. They did their research and concluded that credit standing effects risk. Say that few, some or even most outside "experts" (and non-experts, which on this question I think everyone here is) disagree with this conclusion. Why should the company ignore their research and follow outside experts?
Well, jmart, I have been an agent for 17 years. There is propaganda and there are facts. Here's the propaganda. Read this and see if you agree, especially the part about only 2% of credit reports contain errors. Get serious!!! http://www.naii.org/sitehome.nsf/14f66c97d229e4d586256a7e005aa886/$FILE/Credit.pdf And here is what really happens a good deal of the time. PIRG has the statistics - not propaganda - you can read the real information at their site. http://www.pbs.org/moneymoves/hot_topics/ht_105/creditscore.html read the whole article. It's about a contractor who takes someone to court, wins the case for $500, and it is reported as a judgment against him for a debt of $500. It takes months to get it corrected. just substitute "insurance industry" for "credit industry."
Insurance agencies can charge one person one premium and charge the next guy a higher premium only because he lives in an adjacent County where statisics show a higher rate of accidents. WTF? THIS IS STUPID, STUPID, STUPID. Maybe one day (and I am sure it will take Govt. regulation to do it), people will be charged for past or present history instead of "forecasted" risks or mindless statistics. I guess it is "guilty until proven innocent" in regards to the Insurance Institution. They can stick those statistics up their asses just like Sir Issac can with regards to scoring statistics! My 2 cents.
==This claim by insurers is the false claim! If it was true credit scores cause losses all an insurer has to do to prevent losses is give everybody high scores. Insurers are operating a scam that should be outlawed by banning them from pulling and using reports. They know most reports are wrong.That is why fico was developed to take advantage of that. What a rip off! How do you analyze inaccurate information and arrive at any reliable conclusion from it? Ans. is you don't! Insurers saying it's so doesn't make it true. Who will file a claim when their house burns down, when their car is stolen or they are hospitalized??? Is it the people with the high or low score?
Actually, the cure is much simpler, but it would lower the premiums people pay instead of raise them. The argument is, that these people (I sould say "we") will file claims in order to get cash. Usually that is along the lines of comprehensive coverage (auto), or smaller damages under homeowner's like damage cause by a power outtage. What they used to do is raise your deductible if you filed too many claims for small losses that could not be verified (like saying you lost $500 worth of frozen food due to a power outtage). However, the credit bureaus are behind this as much as the insurance companies. They have developed these sophisticated scores that are supposed to predict who will do this sort of thing. Take me for example: my "insurance score" with TU was too low for AmEx to give me auto insurance. I have had USAA's best rate for about 6 years, and I have $100 deductibles on auto and homeowner's. AmEx cannot beat it, and they will not even give a $100 deductible. I haven't had a ticket or an accident since 1974, and I filed one small claim, when wind from a hurricane blew some roof shingles from a building onto my car, and messed up the paint. I think it was about $250. But TU says I would be a bad risk. AmEx's poor agent kept repeating "AmEx is a preferred insurer" as if USAA was not, LOL. I just ignored his comments, and thanked him politely for his time. I didn't report him for giving me a quote even though he knew I would be turned down (that's illegal - it's called "baiting"). Poor guy probably has a tough time making a living, if he's on commission. USAA does not check credit.
I COMPLAIN ABOUT CREDIT REPORT FOR INSURANCE ALL THE TIME...I HAVE A F.I.C.O. OF 704!!! I DON'T WANT THEM NOSING IN MY CREDIT...I DON'T DRIVE BY MY CREDIT REPORT!!! I PAY IN FULL BEFORE COVERAGE STARTS!!! I HAVE ONE TICKET 7 MPH OVER (1983). NEVER HAD A CLAIM. NO PARKING TICKETS. NEVER HAD AN ACCIDENT!!!
Doodyhead, I have an Equifax score of 713 and I refuse to conduct business with any insurance company that pulls my credit report. As George stated above, I pay ahead and it is really none of their business if I have good credit or bad credit. But let me tell you I have a worse driving record then some people with bad credit reports. I have four tickets (but only one counted...got out of the rest by attending defensive driving) and one accident, but that was the deer's fault. Dani
LOL Dani, reverse examples, but we both prove the point. You notice the insurance companies have never published these alledged statistics.
Wait...so they wouldnt give you a policy period? I thought they just might charge you a higher rate or not give you a discount?
The agent wanted me to talk to the underwriters, but I refused. The quote he gave me, which was their best rate, was higher than what I have with USAA, had a $250 deductible, where I have a $100 deductible; they would not put my Mom's car on the same policy with mine - USAA allows us to do this. And they wanted me to grovel for it??????? Actually, I wish I had pursued it and then perhaps I could have forced them to tell me my TU insurance score. But I would not do business with them. On top of all that, I filled out the app online, it was not at all clear to me that they were going to pull a credit report (I think the fact that it's the insurance score, makes them change the wording in their disclosure), I got a page that said someone would contact me, and no one ever did - no quote, no decline, no nothing. Then, I got a mail solicitation for auto insurance about 2 months later, and I'm thinking "What the heck????" So I logged on and got a screen for retrieving a "saved quote" - it couldn't retrieve anything, so I called to see what was wrong. I got a kid who could not see my application info, he gave me another number, I called it, and they told me my score was too low, but "this would be your premium if you did qualify..." It's illegal to do that (I'm an agent), but I discussed it with him anyway, and he tried to talk me into having an underwriter review my case. What a garbled up mess!!! Don't do business with insurance companies who pull credit. Vote with your feet. Put your money where your mouth is. Premiums are their lifeblood. Don't give 'em any.
