Online Auto Insurance Quotes

[Dawn]

My daughter is shopping for auto insurance online.  This is a process I am not familiar with because we have been with the same company/agent for ages.

When you get on-line quotes, do they check your credit report at that point, before they provide the quote?

I am concerned that she is going to ask for quotes from multiple providers and will be getting penalized each time for each request. 

[SmartCookie]

She can get fairly accurate quotes without using her SSN.  Typically when you do use your SSN, it is only a soft INQ on your CBRs, hence no penalty.  I've never had a hard INQ from auto insurance even when accepting the quote.  They also check some other types of reports, not just the 3 major CBRs.  Really nothing to worry about with any of the major companies.  Good that it sparked your concern though.

[smallfry]

Careful here. I went online and got a quote from Ameriprise. EQ shows it as a soft but myFICO still shows this as a hard pull on my EQ report. Watch this carefully.

[SmartCookie]

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smallfry wrote:
Careful here. I went online and got a quote from Ameriprise. EQ shows it as a soft but myFICO still shows this as a hard pull on my EQ report. Watch this carefully.

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Well ew!  Sounds like a coding error and I hope it was the hard INQ that was the error.  There is another topic on the resold vs direct reports... guess we need to add this to the list of possible inaccuracies.  Were you able to do anything with it?  I wonder how much it matters being that it's 'only' on the resold.  They need to get it together.

[gamecockmd]

I thought insurance companies had their own algorithm for credit scoring and didn't use the FICO score as part of there risk analysis. Am I mistaken?

[Dawn]

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gamecockmd wrote:
I thought insurance companies had their own algorithm for credit scoring and didn't use the FICO score as part of there risk analysis. Am I mistaken?

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It may depend upon what state you are in.  In Texas, they use your credit report/score in addition to other sources.  My son's recent application to move off our policy to his own states:

"Consumer reports, including credit and insurance loss history reports, may be ordered in conjunction with this application.  We may also obtain and use a credit-based insurance score developed from information contained in these reports.  We may use a third party in connection with the development of your insurance score.  These reports provide information that assists with determining your eligibilitiy for insurance and the price you are charged."

My daughter's  boyfriend was caught off-guard when he got an initial on-line quote and didn't realize that this one was based upon a "best case scenario."   In this case, they didn't check his credit until after he accepted and officially "applied."    His actual premium was significantly higher after they ran his credit.  Needless to say, he got an adverse action notice and a big shock when he had to start paying.

From what I am finding elsewhere, sometimes they pull the report before providing a quote and sometimes they don't.  The results also seem to be mixed as to whether or not the pulls with official applications for insurance are hard or soft. 

Message Edited by denbar2003 on 10-15-2007 06:31 PM

[gamecockmd]

Yeah- I know they use *A* credit scoring process but I thought the insurance industry used their own system and didn't use FICO so there should be no credit pull showing up on the FICO based reports *if* I am correct.

[Dawn]

My other daughter told me a few minutes ago that her credit report(s) show an entry from State Farm at the time she moved onto her own policy.  She doesn't understand the reporting well enough to be able to tell me if it was hard or soft, though.  We had all opted out of pre-screened offers, so it must have been specifically related to her application for insurance.

[smallfry]

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@SmartCookie wrote:

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@smallfry wrote:
Careful here. I went online and got a quote from Ameriprise. EQ shows it as a soft but myFICO still shows this as a hard pull on my EQ report. Watch this carefully.

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Well ew! Sounds like a coding error and I hope it was the hard INQ that was the error. There is another topic on the resold vs direct reports... guess we need to add this to the list of possible inaccuracies. Were you able to do anything with it? I wonder how much it matters being that it's 'only' on the resold. They need to get it together.

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What can you do with something that doesn't exist. The first day it did appear as a hard on my EQ report. I disputed it with EQ and by the time I got a letter and report back from them it had floated over to the soft side of the report. Nothing I can do. EQ shows 0 inquiries while EQ FICO shows 1. Not a big deal really.