Anyone have their car insurance premiums spike after filing bk?

[soleprop]

I paid 6 months of car ins. premium in advance prior to filing bk; my policy is due again tomorrow and I was informed via letter that the policy has been adjusted upwards over $200. I have had no tickets or accidents in the last 6 months; I'm about to call the ins. company and have a conversation about why they've raised the premium so much.

I'm curious if any of you have had a similar experience?

I'm also curious if you haven't had this experience, and if that's the case - who is your ins. company???? I may be in the market for a new quote in about 5 minutes.

[Nicollette]

I filed a Ch 13 May of 07 and my insurance stayed the same. I'm insured with State Farm and pay monthly. My insurance just renewed and I'm still paying the same.

[WoodSprite]

Ouch! I'm so sorry to hear that, Soleprop. And I was just about to post a big noisy hooray because State Farm DIDN'T raise my rates. I was awfully nervous about this.

There was some discussion of this a month or so ago: http://www.bkforum.com/showthread.ph...ferrerid=15486. A lot of this discussion was about NY, but there's useful info for you, too.

I hate to be the bearer of even more bad news, but I'm sure I've read that even in states where credit scoring/profiling is illegal, and your existing carrier is not allowed to drop you over a BK, if you apply to a new carrier they will certainly run a credit check, and they will assign your rates according to what they find.

Flamingo seems to have a good handle on this issue; perhaps she'll weigh in with some more hopeful info.

[Keebler]

Allstate raised my rates a full 50% BEFORE I filed. Keep in mind that I had been a loyal Allstate customer for 20 years or more and the only thing that had changed for me was my credit score.

I ended up using my state's insurance company complaint statistics to find another insurance company. The one I chose had rates that weren't the lowest but right in line with most of the others and they had a complaint rate that was solidly below average.

I got 10x the coverage for less than Allstate was charging BEFORE the rates got jacked up!

[soleprop]

hi again - and thank you guys for replying. i spoke with my ins. carrier and found out that $50 of the increase is because i had a one-time $50 discount when i started the policy 6 months ago, and am not seeing that discount this time. there was $94 of perceived increase but that was actually assessed because they found older things on my driving record that haven't dropped off yet (they will by this spring, they are quite old speeding-related tickets).

so nutshell - carrier didn't increase my rates due to my bk (whew) - false alarm. i'm sticking with them, and hopefully the premium will go down in May, '09 when i renew again.

[WoodSprite]

hi again - and thank you guys for replying. i spoke with my ins. carrier and found out that $50 of the increase is because i had a one-time $50 discount when i started the policy 6 months ago, and am not seeing that discount this time. there was $94 of perceived increase but that was actually assessed because they found older things on my driving record that haven't dropped off yet (they will by this spring, they are quite old speeding-related tickets).

so nutshell - carrier didn't increase my rates due to my bk (whew) - false alarm. i'm sticking with them, and hopefully the premium will go down in May, '09 when i renew again.

Oh, thank goodness! Congratulations!

[soleprop]

Oh, thank goodness! Congratulations!

yup - it is a relief, i'd rather be frustrated with myself for previous driving habits than be frustrated with the ins. company for adding to what has already been a hard financial path ;).

[Nicollette]

I just heard on the upcoming news at 6pm, they are gonna be talking about how credit scores can affect insurance premiums. I better tune in to this one

[soleprop]

oh nao. yeah i don't have tv, so can you hit this thread with whatever you learn? i really will cry if my current carrier does pull a credit report and adjust the rates now. i pay the 6 months-at-a-time format, thinking it helps them not consider me a risky client, but i bet it wouldn't be enough to negate my current credit scores...

[allavdj]

We have Geico and while they sent us a letter that said (basically) "Your credit sucks so we're gonna jack your insurance rates", our insurance only went up like...$3.00 a month.

[WoodSprite]

i don't have tv, so can you hit this thread with whatever you learn?

Me neither...let us know if anything has changed.

i really will cry if my current carrier does pull a credit report and adjust the rates now.

from http://www.insure.com/articles/carin...ring-laws.html:

Minnesota

May not reject, cancel or nonrenew a policy solely on the basis of credit information. If will use credit information, must notify consumer. If use a credit scoring system, must have methodology on file with the commissioner.

Code sections limiting collection of information do not apply to credit scoring, as long as the agent informs the policyholder.

Looks as if Flamingo's advice is, once again, the way to go: call your Insurance Commissioner's office. I never did get much help from mine, but I seem to remember that people are a LOT nicer in Minnesota!

[Flamingo]

I paid 6 months of car ins. premium in advance prior to filing bk; my policy is due again tomorrow and I was informed via letter that the policy has been adjusted upwards over $200. I have had no tickets or accidents in the last 6 months; I'm about to call the ins. company and have a conversation about why they've raised the premium so much.

I'm curious if any of you have had a similar experience?

I'm also curious if you haven't had this experience, and if that's the case - who is your ins. company???? I may be in the market for a new quote in about 5 minutes.

If your state allows credit-based insurance scoring or credit profiling as to insurance, what happened to you is totally normal. However, if your state does not allow it and you believe your rates were due directly to the bankruptcy now on your records, contact your State Department of Insurance.

[Nicollette]

oh nao. yeah i don't have tv, so can you hit this thread with whatever you learn?

I sure will

[StartingOver08]

I don't have TV either - cut it off a few months ago before I filed. I am not missing it - have any of you missed it?

[Stilltheone]

Nope, our insurance hasn't changed. In fact, it went down. We have a 20 year discount with State Farm.