Insurance Rates and Credit Scores
This is a guest post from Eric Kossian of Leavenworth Insurance
What do Insurance Rates and Credit Scores have in common?
Your good credit score can save you up to 50% off home insurance!
I know a lot of people don’t like this (the ones with bad credit) and I agree that it is not fair for those otherwise credit upstanding citizens who, due to no fault of their own, had a divorce or family medical situation that ruined their credit. Nevertheless, the truth is, from an actuarial standpoint, people with excellent to good credit can get huge discounts on home, auto and excess liability insurance because they are statistically much less likely to have a claim (and that’s what insurance companies are ultimately concerned about – not your driving record, etc)
So, if you have excellent to good credit I suggest you shop your insurance because while almost all preferred companies now give discounts for good credit, the amount of the discount varies widely. I literally had a customer with very good (not excellent or just good) that sold his home to a friend and retained the mortgage. The friend had terrible credit due to the wife’s medical problems. The price of the insurance on the same exact home went from $400’s to $970!!!
If you have poor credit then do whatever you can to improve your credit score! You can get a FREE credit report annually (by law) by going to http://www.annualcreditreport.com/.
And you can stop getting credit card mail (that tempted you to rack up bills you couldn’t pay by calling 888-568-8688. While you are at it you can get on the national DO NOT CALL LIST to stop telemarketers from calling both land lines and cell phones – you have to dial this number from each phone! – 888-382-1222 and repeat this every 5 years or every time you get a new number.
By the way, it is only for residential numbers; business numbers are exempt. Clean up your credit report by paying old bills off or calling the creditor to set up payments or negotiate a reduction, pay ALL your bills within 30 days (the people with the lowest credit scores pay all bills as soon as they arrive in the mail – you want good credit? – do what they do – that way you are never late.)
Then shop your insurance. For that matter, you may save money by shopping your insurance now while your credit is poor too. If you have no idea how to get your finances in order, get the book, Your Money Or Your Life – it’s a classic and it’s the best (and you don’t set up a budget!!!). It will tell you exactly how to go from wherever you are at to getting on the road to financial independence (say that 3 times slowly – doesn’t’ that have a nice sound to it?) Good work! (there is no luck involved – you can do it!)
You can reach Eric Kossian at Leavenworth Insurance at 509-548-5488 or [email protected]
