Credit Impact On Auto Insurance

[Jutz]

Hey rebuilders,

I figured you all might want to hear yet another positive aspect to raising your score.  Obviously I'm still in my rebuild mode, however I decided to do some shopping of my Auto Insurance, because I felt my policy was a bit high.  I have generally just gone with the cheapest company, so I had Progressive, which was costing my $115 a month.  (I live in the city with the highest auto accident per capita in the country).

I ran a quote for eSurance amongst others, and they came back at $65/month!  After adding a couple of features on, it was only $71, exactly how I wanted it.

With this info, I called Progressive to see if they could do anything to keep my business, and she ran a new soft pull and said my credit profile had risen quite a bit since the last policy and actually came back at $90.  My bad credit was costing me at least $25 a month just to insure my car!

With eSurance, I qualified for a myriad of different pay options, which the rep told me was not available to everyone, so I assume I'm in an OK credit tier there, so I know my credit helped save me this $45 a month as well.

Just goes to show you how much more you may be spending with bad credit!  Keep on it rebuilders!

[Mama-j]

Very good to know. My policy ends next month and by then I hope to hit high 600 even 700 so I can't wait to ask for a new quote.

[starry1]

Good to know because with my credit and having a teen driver, I'm paying ridiculous rates.

[Scupra]

I work for state farm and we cannot "re fresh" your credit rating. It only comes into play when you first sign up. From then you build up your profile while insured. Credit does not really come into play though, has more to do with your insurance history and how many comprehensive claims you have. Before I filed BK I got into our best tier and had a mid 500 score, I have 0 claims and over 12 months insurance with a single insurer. Now homeowners insurance will heavily affected when it comes to forgiving a past claim!

[mtrsprt]

Driving history and insurance claims now almost has hardly any large impact on insurance premiums, IF you have gone more than 5 years without incident....  FIFTY Percent of your premium is based on your auto insurance score with MOST higher end companies.  State Farm, AAA, Liberty, Met Life etc etc all use auto insurance score.

It's abosolutely ourageous.   My current auto insurance score is on the lower side of the scale.  The last quote I received was $1470.00/year for my two vehicles.   If my auto insurance score was on the high side, my yearly premium would be cut in HALF..........  Yet I am 37 years old, with a spotless record, and never made one insurance claim in my life..........

It's totally unfair to us that actually drive safe and responsibly, never cost an insurance company a single dime.  Just based on STATISTICS that someone with a lower auto insurance score cost an insurance company more money, WE have to pay for it.....

[DonMzBhavin]

I completely agree. Credit score is clearly not the absolute best indicator of who will pay and who won't. I'm pretty sure that if everyone had had enough money to pay for this and that there would be noone claiming bad credit. Especially in this financial debacle, some people have to decide between utilities and taking a 30, 60 or 90 day late. I insure with Geico and I definitely feel that I am paying too much. I previously had a 2009 Dodge Journey that I paid $90 a month for full coverage insurance 100/300 coverage @ 25, now I recently purchased a 2012 Suzuki and I am paying $125 for the vehicle. Despite the fact that I got over a $450 yearly discount with being a student, clean driving record, new car, alarm system, etc..it just seems unfair to me that I pay all this money for the possiblity of being hit and then when I go yet another year with no claims, accidents etc. I don't get one penny back!!!!! I feel that my credit is part of it. I went from a 675 down to 537 then to 467 when I filed BK. Now back in the mid 600s and its really frustrating. I think that credit shouldn't be so timed based. I pay on time now that I've cleared a failed marriage. Dropping from 2 incomes to one can definitely make the difference in trying to stay afloat, drowning, and drifting ...

Can u say being raped willingly!! Its crazy and then after my 6 months renewal, I was told you're gettng the best rate...Been with them over 10 years since my driver permit days. They even went further to say you are getting the best rate and if you shop around you will definitely agree...

Jury is still out on that one.

[uptown4784]

This is why statefarm charged me 3500 dollars for 6 months for insurance. I was like woahhh must be because my credit score sucks

[DonMzBhavin]

Wow thank for the info. I went to Esurance.com put in my info and it came back with a quote of $70 and I went with max coverage 250/500 It would push me up to 97.46 per month instead of $125.