Welcome back!
Your credit score affects your auto insurance rate, even though many people don’t know that fact. What this means for many Americans is that when they are having the worst time financially, they might be surprised to find their car and homeowner’s insurance premiums go up. To many this is akin to kicking you when your down. Just ask Florida residents that have had difficulty keeping up with their normal bills only to find their insurance premiums rise dramatically.
The insurance industry states that your credit score is one of the top factors that are used when determining your premium factors and their reasoning is that many people having financial troubles are more apt to let policies lapse, which could cause a questionable accident during a grace period. The other factor they consider is that those having financial troubles might concoct insurance claims to get a little extra money. Those same figures also show that homeowners having trouble are more likely to commit arson.
These risk factors affect anybody that runs late on payments or have a hard time making the payments on their insurance through monthly payment plans. It is just a fact that those having financial trouble will opt in for the monthly payment option and if they are always late will fall into that grace period. If your constantly in that grace period or they have to continually call you then your higher maintenance and they put you in the same category as those who chose to drive without insurance.
I guess it’s understandable that the insurance companies would consider this in determining your rate, however, most people are completely unaware that a price rate increase is coming, which causes them to start the process all over, looking for a lower premium and getting bad ratings because of that factor. For most drivers and homeowners that have had no claims, this process is exasperating, and worst of all the insurance companies don’t even take into account how punctual you are with your payments to them.
The fact remains that most don’t realize that credit scores are figured in before tickets and accidents, which certainly doesn’t seem fair to those that are having a few financial problems, but have never had a ticket or accident on their record. Truth be told a lot of times there rates are higher than those with numerous accidents.
Because auto insurance coverage is required by mortgage and lien holders and is required by law in most states in order to register your vehicle, this problem becomes an issue that is hard to avoid. Driving without insurance will get you a ticket and your license suspended and all kinds of legal trouble should you be involved in an accident.
Insurance companies have people assigned to do nothing more than pull your credit score and reevaluate your insurance premiums and you can bet that they will do it at least once a year. If you have started paying bills on time, it can take as much as a year to see the change in your credit score and a lowering of your auto insurance premium. Your credit score affects your auto insurance rate and if you have been experiencing credit problems, the next problem will be higher auto insurance premiums, unfortunately.