I live in a state ( Texas ) that recently (Jan '2000) allowed insurance companies to use CR scores as part of determining which rate you could get for insurance. This is a very hot topic with the legislature and the state board of insurance, but for now all consumers in my boat are stuck.== I had wreck in Dec.96, and agent said I could go from middle rate company (one of three for Farmers Insurance) back to best rate, when accident fell off in Jan.2000. Instead, I got bumped up to highest rate company, and have been there ever since, because Farmers pulled score to renew insurance in Feb. 2000. [[INSURANCE FOR CAR AND HOUSE IS NOW 40% MORE THAN BEFORE.]] I am told it is because Farmers uses TransUnion score, which is in very low 600'S. I had a Chap 13 BK in June of '96, which was discharged in Dec. 2000. And of course, what doesn't make sense is that I had the BK while I was in the top group, the only reason my rate changed was because of credit score; everything was fine until they started using these scores to rate insurance holders . ( I have had no wrecks, zero tickets , etc since Dec.96, am 49 year old female, homeowner. ) I did what I thought was the right thing after declaring Chap 13BK. I stuck to the payments, paid cash, did not apply for any new credit cards, and have used only a debit card for the last 6 years.. The Chap13 BK was successfully discharged in Dec. 2000. The only loans that I have now are my mortage// 8 down, 22 to go//which was refinanced in the fall by same co. down to 7.25....and I have a Sallie Mae loan for my daughter's college for 6K. My CR's show around 8 negatives ( varies by one or two in the BIG 3) all related to the Chap13BK, and 17 positives. I wasn't too worried about getting on the right track, because I am no longer in debt, and I know that the Chap13 related entries will fall off in June of '2003, seven years after the filing date of the Chapter 13. \\ But in the meantime, I need to get my credit scores up, so that I can get my insurance rates down. Any advice? or am I just stuck until the summer of '2003? Would getting a secured card or two help, if the companies reported to the 3 agencies. And if so, any suggestions as to which ones might be best? I can put down $300-$500 on one or two secured cards if it would help to run a balance of $100 or so. Or should I just accept being SOL until time goes by? Or does someone know of insurance agency for Texas metro area for car and home for that does not use Credit scoring for rating its purchasers? Any help would be appreciated.
For auto insurance check out Progressive. I switched to them in January and while they do check credit scores the rep did not seem to know much about how the credit scores were used. See said she did not see my score. http://www.progressive.com/insurance.asp I think you should get a secured credit card to improve your credit score. The best place to get one is from a credit union if you are a member of one or can join one. If not check out the following link. Remember that not all of these credit cards report so you should call and ask if they report to the three credit bureaus. If you don't need a credit card and just want it for building your credit, consider getting just a $250 line. You don't want to carry a balance on a secured card because of the high interest rate. Just use it once every 2 to 4 months and pay the bill off as soon as it comes in. Just once you might want to run the card up to the credit line and pay it of but other than that charging a lot wont help you FICO score. Just charge something under $5.00 so you know you can pay the bill. http://www.cardoffers.com/reviews/cards/category_card/specificA.asp?category=secured It is a good idea to always have three open credit lines. If one of the other loans get paid off you should get another credit card. A card that is easy to get is the Target Guest card. This is Targets store credit card. The interest rate is high, but it is an easy card to get. Remember to apply for the Guest card and not the Visa. The Visa is harder to get. http://www.target.com/common/financialservices/apply_online.jhtml Good luck Erik.
Why criticise those who are trying to help?? If you have a better idea, other than "don't buy insurance," post it.
My friend just went with nationwide auto insurance. http://www.nationwide.com Her credit is so bad that her previous company(Safeco) cancelled her and no one was willing to offer her insurance. Nationwide didn't do a credit check on her and she said their rates were reasonable. I knwo they offer homeowner's too. I use California Casualty(AKA A+). They said they don't and have no plans to do credit checks on customers. They aren't in Texas though, but if any of the other Creditnetters are looking they are really good. They just paid for my Jaguar to be totally repainted($7000) after Husband drove it in the winter and the sand on the road ruined it. They didn't even make us pay part even though the paint before was 8 years old. I've also heard that Geico doesn't check. Good luck Kimberly
1* The criticism is against Insurance and scoring not the poster(s) 2*It will work if people would do it.QUOTE]Originally posted by breeze 1*Why criticise those who are trying to help?? If you have a better idea, post it other than 2*"don't buy insurance," . [/And why criticise me I'm on the consumers side.
You criticised Erik's post as "treating the symptom and not the problem." Not buying insurance would be stupid, not to mention disastrous. Then, you have an accident and get sued and get a judgment against you. The cure would be worse than the disease. If we follow your advice we would not use credit, not buy insurance, not own houses or drive cars, not have electricity or running water, not have telephones or cable TV.... no thanks.
I have a promotional inquiry on my TU (I think) report and I distinctly remember receiving literature from them in the mail. I'm wondering if they score you first and then try and sign you up??
Nationwide pulls credit in most states. I bet the person was in California. Nationwide recently installed a quote system that prevents them even giving a wuote without pulling credit - only in states whre it is not allowed or severely restricted do they not pull credit.
I bet you're right. It was Washington but it was last fall before the law took affect here but they may have known it was coming. My friend called almost every insurance company trying to find one that didn't check credit. She only found 3. Nationwide, California Casualty and Geico. I'm sure this has all changed though.
I just want to add that I have herd from two people that Geico will drop you within a couple of weeks if you get some insurance points. They seem to be vary sensitive to this. I have herd that most other companies will wait until you contract is up before drooping you. Because of this it would seem that once a person can get a good rate, they would be better of to get a one year contract.
I have progressive insurance and they definitely pulled my credit before issuing me a policy. It wasn't my rep that did it, it was corporate headquarters.
Yeah, progressive will pull. I was just shopping around and got a stupid hard inquiry when I just wanted a quote. They never informed me that I was getting a credit check. Luckily it was on Experian and that was back in the good old days when you could remove all inquiries.
Not true. Especially for preferred customers - if they have a long good track record with GEICO, their accident or ticket will actually be forgiven. Now if you call up and get a quote, and don't tell them the truth and they find out about within the deadline set by your state - zap!! you are gone - they don't want your business. Same thing if they issue your policy with a condition attached - like saying they want certain information within 30 days. If they don't get that information, you will be cancelled. Whoever told you this was only telling part of the story, or their experience was from the '70's when GEICO dumped a whole lot of people who were costing them money. Even then, they non-renewed them, they didn't cancel them outright. It is illegal to just cancel someone flat in the middle of the contract. The nature of the insurance contract itself is that the company has to live with it for the term of the policy (6 months) you do not. You can cancel any time, they can't. Incidentally, GEICO is one of the few auto insurers that are not losing money. The others are operating at a loss, and making up the difference somewhere else. This isn't propaganda spouted by the naive - I have been in the industry for 18 years, and have represented many different companies.
They make up the difference by forcing folks with low scores to subsidize those having a higher score.
I know - a lot of insurance horror stories are true, so I can see why. But people also kind of paint themselves in the best light when telling these stories. My latest campaign is the guys coming back from Afghanistan - a lot of them are coming home to insurance, DMV nightmares!! Anybody want to help them? I am looking to start a grassroots email campaign with state authorities to honor their "soldiers and sailors relief act" rights. These guys need some advocates. They were over there getting shot at for us, and the corporate machinery is grinding them up. Email me if you want to help.
