Improved FICO Scores = Lower Insurance Rates!

[Anonymous]

UPDATE: I received my revised premium this morning and it went down over $350 annually or more than 20%!

Like others pointed out, my credit score was not actually considered in the revisement, but the substantive material of my credit report was considered. In my case, that involved four collections and two 30-day lates being removed. I've since contacted regarding my renters insurance as well.

In my state, they only do soft pulls once every three years so if I hadn't contacted them I would've been stuck paying the higher rate for another two years -- so my savings really is closer to $700!

[Anonymous]

mkpush great work! Admire your tenacity and diligence in pursuing better insurance rates. Since we could start a debate on the relevance of credit to insurance risk I won't. Your obtaining a drop in your rates of over 20% is notable and may serve as a guide to others. As always, it pays to shop insurance rates from time to time since companies have different rate structures and some do not benefit long term customers (I know this doesn't seem logical but it is).

[iv]

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@daybreakgonesXe wrote:

Very nice! Just as a side note, not all states use FICO scores for certain insurance rates, such those that require you to have auto insurance. My state in NJ is an example.

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Just to clarify, NJ does allow the use of credit scoring for insurance in general, but not for certain required-minimum policies.

From http://www.state.nj.us/dobi/division_consumers/pdf/insurescore.pdf

Auto insurance companies that use insurance scoring must notify policyholders of the practice, the factors that affect the scoring, and whether an “adverse event” is being considered.

Other protections prevent auto insurance companies from using insurance scoring as the only factor in determining rates. DOBI also requires auto insurance companies to submit their scoring model to the Department and to fully disclose the factors used in establishing the model as well as its statistical justification. New Jersey auto insurance scoring models cannot consider race, ethnicity, sex, age, religion, income, address, unpaid medical bills, and the number of inquiries made within 30 days for home and auto loans.

DOBI protections also: 1) prohibit auto insurance companies from using insurance scoring for consumers covered by the Dollar-a-Day or Basic Policy programs; 2) prevent auto insurance companies from putting a consumer without a credit history in a below-standard tier without actuarial justification; and 3) requires auto insurance companies to protect policyholders who have been with the company for seven years and had no claims or violations.

DOBI’s guidelines also require auto insurance companies to provide exceptions for consumers whose credit information has been directly influenced by extraordinary life events, such as catastrophic illness or injury; death of a spouse, child or parent; temporary loss of employment; divorce; or identity theft. In such cases, auto insurance companies may consider only credit information that is not affected by the event or shall assign a neutral insurance score.

[Thomas_Thumb]

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@Anonymous wrote:

@Btw, @Thomas_Thumb, congrats on the 850s! Any advice? I've read some perspectives that say the only way to a perfect score (besides what is obvious) is to have all four different types of credit. i.e. Installment, Revolving, Mortgage & Consumer Finance (which I assume is a personal loan or a personal line of credit?) Do you have any perspective on this?

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Thanks.

What some say is needed for Fico 08 850 scores is a bit overblown.Also, a mortgage is a type of installment loan. Here is what I have:

1) A single open installment loan - which is a 15 year mortgage in my case. Mortgage is currently around 35% Balance to Loan Ratio. However, I still had 850 scores back when the ratio was above 50%

2) A total of 4 open revolving credit cards.(one of there is a Best Buy "store" card, not a Visa/Mastercard hybrid card).

3) A single AU revolving credit card (which Fico 08 ignores)

4) A single AMEX charge card - this is treated differently than revolving credit cards.

5) I have 1 closed store charge card and 2 closed credit cards on file in addition to the above. Prior paid and closed mortgage fell off report last year

I have no consumer finance account. No personal loan, personal line of credit or home equity line of credit required.

So what do you really need for an 850 Fico 08? Not 100% sure but the following is foundational:

1) A clean file - no delinquencies or derogatories

2)  One open installment loan that has established payment history and/or is substantially paid down but not paid off.

 - For a mortgage a balance to loan ratio (B/L) under 60% is sufficient.

 - For a share secured loan it appears that B/L needs to be under 10%. Perhaps because this type of loan has a much shorter time horizon than a mortgage.

Note: mortgages ARE coded and categorized differently from other installment loans on credit reports.

3) Three (or more) revolving credit cards (not AU)

4) Is another type of account needed? I don't think so but I do have a charge card which is a different type of account. So, I can't confirm lack of need.from personal experience. I do know others who have reported 850s without a charge card but they had some other type of open account such as a car loan in addition to a mortgage.

Certainly 3 types of open accounts are sufficient for 850s such as

a) Mortgage, revolving credit cards and charge card

b) Mortgage, car installment loan and credit cards.

[Anonymous]

Great information, thanks for taking the time to post. Everyone seems to talk a lot about utilization, but hadn't heard anything about B/L which is helpful. I have an auto loan that's at about 62% and three student loans that are at about 90%. My total debt is only about $25k, so I've thought about doing some balance transfers on cards that have 0% for 12mos to save on interest and pay down balances. I also didn't know that FICO measures charge cards differently. Do you have a preference between AmEx Platinum & PRG?