Getting new insurance and credit scores

[jb300]

Well here I am a year plus post BK. Being self employed to say this has been a struggle is an understatement. I have vowed to NOT get another CC until we are more on our feet again. That has sometimes meant that I am down to $10.00 in my pocket, period. I have never struggled so much in my life. I know I need to repair my credit some but just am not ready to get a CC since we are still struggling. I think it would be too easy to try to rely on them and that is what I don't want to do.

The good news, we are starting to gain, a little. Now I need to find some new house insurance and find out after all these years of excellent credit that now my bad credit is an issue for getting a decent insurance quote. Are there any insurance companies that don't use the credit scores?

[backtoschool]

Well here I am a year plus post BK. Being self employed to say this has been a struggle is an understatement. I have vowed to NOT get another CC until we are more on our feet again. That has sometimes meant that I am down to $10.00 in my pocket, period. I have never struggled so much in my life. I know I need to repair my credit some but just am not ready to get a CC since we are still struggling. I think it would be too easy to try to rely on them and that is what I don't want to do.

The good news, we are starting to gain, a little. Now I need to find some new house insurance and find out after all these years of excellent credit that now my bad credit is an issue for getting a decent insurance quote. Are there any insurance companies that don't use the credit scores?

Unfortunately it depends on the state you live in. If you live in a state that allows insurance companies to use credit scores, then pretty much all the mainstream insurance companies in that state will look at your credit as part of their underwriting decision. If you pick an insurance company that will give you a member discount or discounts for other reasons, you may be able to offset the higher price due to your credit score with discounts due to your group membership or other affiliation (USAA and AAA come to mind as companies that will give you a discount for being a member, etc....)

[jb300]

As an example. I was given a quote today that prior to knowing about my credit situation my rate with $250.00 deductible for a year was $593.00. After they checked the credit, I HAD to have $1000.00 deductible and the premium went to $972.00 for the year.

[mrskal]

Try State Farm, they gave me a much better rate than I had before I was even late on anything or doing BK. The broker I have used (good friend), and have had for a long time, told me that he could not beat their price, so go with them and they dont go by credit. Not sure if it was true, but I am going to save a huge amount on my cars over what our friend has had us at for years. The cars were a huge savings and the home was also the best I found.

[tobee43]

Well here I am a year plus post BK. Being self employed to say this has been a struggle is an understatement. I have vowed to NOT get another CC until we are more on our feet again. That has sometimes meant that I am down to $10.00 in my pocket, period. I have never struggled so much in my life. I know I need to repair my credit some but just am not ready to get a CC since we are still struggling. I think it would be too easy to try to rely on them and that is what I don't want to do.

The good news, we are starting to gain, a little. Now I need to find some new house insurance and find out after all these years of excellent credit that now my bad credit is an issue for getting a decent insurance quote. Are there any insurance companies that don't use the credit scores?

when we moved to florida i had NO idea they used credit scores and could not understand our insurance rates....they renewed every 6 months on the autos here which was confusing enough in itself.

so this time...i called and called and here's what we found...go through AAA........we got a MAJOR company like travelers...etc....and it was a must better policy..(we have and had full coverage it's just we now only have a $50 deductible) . i was honest with the rep right off the bat and she said...well we can call around until we find a company that will NOT do the scores!! i'm thinking this will work!

we had really just rec'd our discharge...so i figured our scores were really bad...however, was surprised when the rep from AAA called and said...no your scores are 690 and 685 so i can get you the cheapest policy yet. cool!

now, here's what I DID NOT KNOW...but learned..i thought AAA??? what??? they tow cars...well no...they have connections with every single insurance co. in the usa...and they apply their OWN discounts to you....very excellent. so now we pay over $300 less for a better policy and also it's an entire yearly policy and not every 6 months....of renewal after renewal. it was the way for us to go and just a thought for you to consider.

[jb300]

Well I haven't been a AAA member for about 3 years now. I was also wondering about AARP. I am old enough to be able to be a member of that too. I am definately going to have to find something different.

[tobee43]

no you don't need to be a member of AAA...although we are...also AARP...they had no good offers... you just get your phone book and call the AAA office and they will connect you with someone in their insurance area. that's what we did anyway. it was so worth it!

[LSUTiger32]

$600-900 a year for insurance......be thankful. I pay almost $4,000 a year. Credit or no credit. And no, we don't deserve to. Homeowners insurance paid less than 10% of all claims in New Orleans for Katrina.....still they used it as a reason to jack the rates 300% plus.

[backtoschool]

$600-900 a year for insurance......be thankful. I pay almost $4,000 a year. Credit or no credit. And no, we don't deserve to. Homeowners insurance paid less than 10% of all claims in New Orleans for Katrina.....still they used it as a reason to jack the rates 300% plus.

Is your rate so high because you have to get a special rider for hurricanes? That price is outrageous!

[LSUTiger32]

Is your rate so high because you have to get a special rider for hurricanes? That price is outrageous!

Yes and no. We do have to have wind and hail coverage but the insurance companies jacked the rates up even though they didn't pay most of the claims during Katrina. I paid $800 a year before Katrina. Flood insurance paid most of the claims but they use Katrina as an excuse to keep the rates that high.

[jb300]

Well I am screwed for right now. Since we are remodeliing this house and got in the middle of it when the economy went south, I don't have siding on my house. It is tyveked but I can't afford to do the siding right now. The guy I talked to at AAA today was very helpful and told me to stop looking for now. He said I don't want a cancellation on my history because then they couldn't write me when I do get things cleaned up. He said that any insurance company would not write me right now. I have special construction insurance at the moment.

I am learning fast that these insurance companies have way tooooooo much power in this country.

[platter]

I have Allstate on three vehicles and I'm wondering if after a bankruptsy, if that might go up. That would depend on how often they check one's credit history and I think they might only check on new applicants unless they do randoms. (That is costly to run those.) I have AAA Plus for towing and later I'm going to check and see if they might have a better rate than Allstate. (When I checked before, a year or two ago, Progressive, Geigo and one other, didn't have a rate that was substantial in difference.)

[platter]

Bump ... anyone know if one's insurance can go up on vehicles? Guess they'd have to run a new check to find out, eh?

[jb300]

If you change insurance and they run the new credit check, which most of them do, it is going to affect your rates.

[backtoschool]

Bump ... anyone know if one's insurance can go up on vehicles? Guess they'd have to run a new check to find out, eh?

Insurance can go up if you are renewing a policy. In the state I live in, they renew the policies every six months, which means they do a soft pull on your credit every six months. I use AAA and have a rate that is much lower than what other insurance companies quoted me.