Understanding How Your Credit History May Affect Your Car Insurance Coverage

The reason that some insurance companies use credit information is because there is a direct correlation between consumer's credit history behaviors and expected claims that may occur. Therefore, they feel that people with better credit behavior are less likely to have severe insurance losses.

The companies that do use credit scoring will still use other factors in determining your premium. They will also use your age, driving history, type of vehicle, where you live in determining how much you should pay for your insurance. Therefore, if you have not established a credit history yet, the companies that use credit history may not be best for you. They may not allow you to be eligible for certain discounts, which could result in higher premiums.

Is it fair for an insurance company even look at my credit information without my permission? The answer is yes. The Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act says "Reasonable procedures. It is the purpose of this title to require that consumer reporting agencies adopt reasonable procedures for meeting the needs of commerce for consumer credit, personnel, insurance, and other information in a manner which is fair and equitable to the consumer, with regard to the confidentiality, accuracy, relevancy, and proper utilization of such information in accordance with the requirements of this title." Found at http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fcra.htm

If you feel that your credit history is better then the insurer can find, make sure the insurer has your correct name, address, social security number, and date of birth.

Some insurance companies will look directly at your actual credit reports when determining your rate, however most will use what is called an "insurance credit score." An insurance credit score is developed by using statistical techniques and methods to predict the likelihood a consumer will have a higher than anticipated loss. These are similar to what lenders use to predict the reliability of an applicant repaying a loan.

Insurance companies use many factors in determining your credit score. Here are some examples of those factors:

• Public records: bankruptcy, collections, foreclosures, liens, charge-offs, etc.
• Past payment history: the number and frequency of late payments and the days between the due date and late payment date.
• Length of credit history: the amount of time you have been in the credit system.
• Inquiries for credit: the number of times you have recently applied for new credit, including mortgage loans, utility accounts, and credit card accounts.
• Number of open lines of credit: the number of credit cards, whether you use them or not.
• Type of credit in use: major credit cards, store credit cards, finance company loans, etc.
• Unused credit: how much you owe compared to how much credit is available to you.

Your insurance credit score may differ from company to company, as they will use different factors in determining your premium. Notice that we call it an insurance credit score. This means that it encompasses many factors including credit.

Since each insurance company uses different techniques to determine your credit score it is hard to tell you what a good credit score is. Usually a good credit score will result in lower premiums.

Your agent or company is not obligated to tell you your credit score. In fact, they might not even know what it is. All they usually know is that your credit score qualifies you for a specific rate or policy. Some companies also offer better rates under each qualifying tier.

If you feel that there is incorrect information on your credit report, you should tell the credit bureau. If you report an error, the credit bureau must investigate the error and get back to you within 30 days. You can ask the credit bureau to send a notice of the correction to any creditor or insurer that has checked your file in the past six months. Once the errors are corrected, it is a good idea to get a new copy of your credit report several months later to make sure the wrong information has not been reported again.

The three national credit bureaus are:

Trans Union (www.transunion.comor 800-888-4213).

Equifax (www.credit.equifax.comor 800-685-1111).

Experian (www.experian.com or 888-397-3742).

Tell your insurance company. Do not wait until the credit bureau investigates the errors to contact your insurer. Tell your insurance company right away and ask if the errors will make a difference in your insurance. If the errors are big, tell your insurer that you are disputing the information and ask if they will wait to use your credit information until the errors are corrected. Small errors may not have much affect on your insurance credit score. If the errors are big, it can make a significant difference in your premium. Some companies are unable to adjust the premiums until the score is corrected, but it does not hurt to ask.

If you have taken the steps to improve your credit score, you should ask your insurance company to re-evaluate your credit score at renewal.

Source : www.carinsurance.com

Best Car Insurance Company - How Is A Person To Choose?

How is the average insurance buyer ever going to determine which car insurance company is the best? That sounds like a nightmare instead of a shopping comparison. Insurance agencies are located in every major city and suburb in America. These agencies are either independent agents that represent several insurance companies or exclusive agents that represent one company. These are insurance companies that use the agent distribution as their method of marketing their products.

Some insurance companies have chosen to eliminate the agent and use the mail, the telephone, or the internet to sell their products. The property and casualty companies are always in a battle for market penetration. The insurance companies have to walk a fine line between new acquisitions and expense to do business. This is important information for the consumer because they are the ones making the final decision on who is winning. The best insurance company for you may be completely different than one preferred by your next door neighbor. Time and experience have a way of guiding you to your choice of companies.

Things to Consider

1. Insurance Agent - The car insurance agent has been the single most successful means of insurance distribution in insurance history. The neighborhood agent has ties to the community and is easily accessible. That is a great value to a great many people especially with people who want person to person advice and counsel.

2. Direct Distribution - This is the name that we will give to the insurance companies that sell you insurance with 800 telephone numbers or through the internet and mailing services. They sell direct to you and you are serviced by them through customer service call centers. The direct distributor claims to have lower rates because they have eliminated the agent.

Once you determine how you want to be serviced then you can begin a search for those types of insurance companies. AM Best is a rating guide that you can find in your local library that gives you the financial strength of each insurance company.

Article Source: http://www.insurancearticle.com

Cheap car insurance; a good example for oxymoron.

Whenever you think about car insurance you already know it is going to cost a small bundle.

Not to mention those of us who have had a couple of fender benders, they certainly know that their policy is not going to be anywhere close to be called cheap.

I think that a better way to look at insurance in general is from the bottom up. What does that mean?
Well, think of how much it would cost you to have to pay out of your own pocket for the repair of two, or more, vehicles. Or even worse, what if the accident has caused serious injuries?

You see, suddenly the insurance rate you are considering to pay does not seem all that expensive anymore.

Anyway, the fact that cheap insurance is definitely one of those expressions we can define as oxymoron remains. Unfortunately car insurance will never be cheap. But there are a few things we can pay attention to which, over time, may result in significant saving.

- Insurance is a product like any other therefore you know that if you buy "more" you usually get a better price, right? So why not bundle up two or three kind of insurances? Many insurance companies can cover your needs for home insurance, life insurance and car insurance.

Offering to do business for all your insurance needs with the same company will certainly give you the leverage necessary to obtain lower rates, for all your polices.

- How many accidents are you planning to have in the next ten years? That sounds like a tricky question, does it? Of course you are not planning to be involved in any accident, but if you are an average driver statistics say that you will have one accident every ten years.

If you have a deductible of five hundred dollars your insurance premium will be low enough to save you at least three thousand dollars over a time span of ten years. There you have it! If you get your "statistical" accident you'll have to pay the five hundred dollars deductible, but because you have bought a higher deductible, in time, you will actually save a bundle since your monthly payments are lower than what they would have been if you had chosen to buy a smaller deductible.

- Do you know that you can reach an agreement with your insurer about the amount of money you would ask for pain and suffering? Yes, it is called "Limited Tort".

This is how it works. Because you agree not to request more than a certain amount of money for the inconveniencies occurred consequently to an accident, your monthly payments could be considerably less.

You will still be able to sue and receive monetary relief if you had to go through rehabilitation or if you have lost money because you could not work for some time. You are just agreeing that you won't be asking for a few million dollars.

Check with your insurer, not all states have limited tort options, but if you live in a state that does you can save up to twenty percent of your policy rate.

Article Source: http://www.insurancearticle.com